Movements · nz_rogernomics_1984_1993 Rogernomics + Ruthanasia (New Zealand radical liberalisation) NZL · 1984 – 1993· Fourth Labour Government (1984-90) + National Government (1990-93)
Leaders: David Lange (Labour PM) · Roger Douglas (Labour Finance) · Ruth Richardson (National Finance) · Bill Birch
Doctrine — stated goals and content One of the most thoroughgoing market-liberal reform programmes in any developed democracy. Removed agricultural subsidies, floated dollar, cut tariffs 40% → <10%, privatised SOEs (Telecom, airlines, postal bank, coal mine, BNZ), corporatised remaining public enterprises under SOE Act 1986, introduced zero-inflation-target legislation for Reserve Bank (1989) — world-first inflation-targeting central bank — Fiscal Responsibility Act (1994), Employment Contracts Act 1991 decoupling from national awards. Enacted by Labour coalition (left-wing label) then continued by National. D.3.1 strong content-over-coalition case.
Policy-content fingerprint — how the framework codes this movement on its axes ↑
trade openness → regulatory.trade_openness
Trade policy openness — tariffs, non-tariff barriers, FTAs, industrial protection.
increased · strong
more open trade
↑
product market competition → regulatory.product_market_competition
Product-market regulation, entry barriers, licensing burdens, network-industry regulation, price controls.
increased · strong
more competition-friendly (lower entry barriers)
↑
central bank independence → monetary.central_bank_independence
De jure and de facto independence of the central bank from fiscal authority. Per D.1.5 scope, one of the framework's defensible monetary positions.
increased · strong
greater independence (legal, operational, personnel)
World-first formal inflation-targeting legislation.
↑
labour market flexibility → regulatory.labour_market_flexibility
Ease of hiring/firing, collective-bargaining scope, minimum wage rigidity, temporary/permanent contract regulation.
increased · strong
more flexible (easier hiring/firing, less rigid bargaining)
Employment Contracts Act 1991 abolished national award system.
↓
spending level → fiscal.spending_level
General government spending as share of GDP, excluding transfers already captured under fiscal.transfer_expansion to avoid double-counting.
decreased · moderate
lower spending share
Policies enacted · nz_float_1985 · nz_tariff_reduction_1984_1996 · nz_soe_act_1986 · nz_rbnz_inflation_targeting_1989 · nz_employment_contracts_act_1991 · nz_fiscal_responsibility_act_1994 · new_zealand_rogernomics_1984_1990 What the data says — linked outcome hypotheses The movement's outcome claims are tied to these hypotheses. Verdicts update as models run.
not yet written radical_liberalisation_growth_effect
Schools of thought aligned or opposed References Bollard-Lattimore (1987), The Economics of Structural Change Evans et al. (1996) 'Economic Reform in New Zealand' IESET — an empirically-grounded, adversarially-reviewed framework for contemporary economic policy questions. Every hypothesis pre-registered in git before the data is examined.