Sam F. said:

"I'm sure New Zealand is a nice place to visit if you're a rich American or European, but many people actually trying to make a living and raise a family there are not making much headway. Monetary gains have been mostly consumed by inflation or tax hikes over the last six years. You Americans get tax cuts even when you're deep in the red, while Kiwi taxpayers continue to pay unnecessary billions. Please invade. Now!"

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I would classify myself as a "poor American" but I still found New Zealand nice to visit (incredible natural beauty on the South Island). However it was very expensive. We got to Auckland from San Francisco with Air New Zealand on what must have been a subsidized flight. The cost of the famliy's tickets barely paid for the aircraft's kerosene but I wasn't complaining. When we got off the plane we were probably a thousand dollars ahead of "fair value" in terms of holiday cost. However we then began to bleed money and by the time we left New Zealand, I'd say the trip's cost was back to "fair value" (buming off my brother-in-law helped).

IMHO, what's happening with Americans getting tax cuts while we're deep in the red, is we're living off our seed corn and transfering debt to foreign holders of US dollars and securities. From the end of World War II to about 1969, we enjoyed a period of extreme prosperity. I'd say the same was also true for Australia (the lucky country) and New Zealand. However during the 1970s, a combination of things changed or malfunctioned (losing the Vietnam War, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Europe's economic recovery, depletion of North American petroleum reserves, etc.). We didn't know it at the time but we hit our high water mark and have been slowly going down hill ever since. Australia is still in pretty good shape because of its vast mineral reserves and rich agriculture. Australia can stay afloat for the next 50 years selling high grade iron ore, anthracite and bauxite to emerging industrial economies, e.g. China. Unfortunately America is mined out. Almost all of our petroleum is gone along with most of our mineral deposits (we had huge iron and copper ore deposits that are now gone). Our consumer product manufacturing can not compete against Asian manufacturers due to our high labor costs. We still have rich agricultural resources (the American midwest and California's central valley). However competing in agriculture against Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, etc. is almost as hopeless as competing against China manufacturing consumer goods. High tech was supposed to save our bacon but we're not spending enough money on research and development. High tech still remains our best hope for the future and we need to wise up to that. At least were not in Europe's position of aging demographics tied to a suffocating welfare state.

Gary