Reserve Bank's Orr laments 'short-termism'; spruiks NZ as global leader for change
By Tina Morrison
Sept. 7 (BusinessDesk) - Reserve Bank governor Adrian Orr lamented the dominance of short-term thinking in his first
public speech since taking over as head of the central bank in March.
"I summarise the key plague on economic society as ‘short-termism’. This is the overt focus on the next day, week, or
reporting cycle," Orr said in a speech to the Financial Services Council in Auckland.
"A short-term focus can be driven by the need to survive from day-to-day. However, it is too often driven by the desire
to consume at an unsustainable rate," he said. "The desire for instant gratification or reward can often leave behind a
trail of unintended consequences."
Orr said consequences of short-term thinking could lead to economic growth coming at the expense of a sustainable
environment, social cohesion and cultural acceptance. While some critics may say the Reserve Bank should focus on
inflation and interest rates, Orr said the bank had a strong vested interest in, and influence on, the long-term
economic wellbeing of New Zealand.
"The long-term issues are critical to our task of maintaining low and stable consumer price inflation, promoting a sound
and dynamic financial system, and meeting the currency needs of the public," he said.
While millions of people had been lifted out of poverty in the last couple of hundred years, there remained massive
global challenges that were often resolved through financial crises, wars or civil unrest, or at the cost of someone
else or something, such as the environment, Orr said, singling out environmental degradation, mass urbanisation, ageing
populations, mass migration and income and wealth inequalities as current challenges.
In New Zealand, challenges included our environmental impacts, migration and urbanisation, creaking infrastructure, a
rapidly ageing population, over-exuberant house prices, low productivity growth, and persistent and stubborn
unemployment and low incomes, particularly amongst Pasifika and Māori, he said.
Still, capitalism could be improved, he said, noting the rapidly growing clusters of global capital concerned with
better managing the failures that can arise from 'short-termism'.
"Hopefully, these efforts will in part head off the usual manner in which we ‘reset the clock’, through some kind of
crisis or unrest," he said. "Significant global firms, investors, regulators and representatives of civil society are
banding together to work hard on resolving the perils of short-termism."
New Zealand had the opportunity to lead the globe in positive change if it became more long-term in its economic
activity, Orr said.
While a small country, the world often looked to places like New Zealand for leadership, he said.
"The great news is we are small, young of nation, lightly populated, green, kaitiaki (caretaking) of spirit, not
dependent on the export of fossil fuels, and have a strong rule of law and sound moral compass," he said. "Significant
and bold leadership is in our grasp."
(BusinessDesk)