Is there a doctor in the house?

Few would argue against the view that Dr Michael Cullen’s handling of the economy has been masterly if a little miserly. But his pronouncements of late suggest a far less deft hand. For example, to imply that the recently announced deficit is somehow the fault of the National Party’s two-year-old call for tax cuts owes less to logic and accuracy than politicking and desperation. Frankly, Dr Cullen like the government of which he is a key part, looks tired and devoid of ideas. And what of the deficit itself? Where did that come from it? It has come out of the blue, or the black to be more accurate. The operating balance in the seven-month period was in deficit by $394 million, $4.2 billion below forecast. That primarily reflected $2.5 billion lower-than-forecast returns on the financial asset portfolios of the NZ Superannuation Fund, the Accident Compensation Corp. and the Earthquake Commission. The second biggest negative contributor to the accounts apparently was a $1 billion more-than-forecast loss on the re-valuation of the ACC claims liability. Ah, so there we have it. It’s my fault! The fact that I injured my back last year and the complete inability of medical practitioners funded by ACC to fix it are the reasons we have this deficit. Perhaps therefore its time for me, along with the Economy, to change doctors.

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