ACT Leader David Seymour is taking up the mantle of conspiracy theorist Billy Te Kahika with his latest pronouncement that “Labour’s latest plan to expand the role of the government in the economy is communism by stealth”.

The two are clearly singing from the same song sheet and should be in the same party.

David Seymour has clearly missed the fact that his beloved market has left many innovative businesses without a means of developing great ideas because the money that could have developed jobs and exports has been flooding into housing and shares instead of backing productive enterprises.

The banks are going berserk on an orgy of money creation to lend on housing that’s fuelling the property bubble and putting the dream of owning a house beyond the reach of a generation of Kiwis.

The small business owners Mr Seymour claims to champion need a source of venture capital funding at the lowest possible interest rate – in some cases at zero interest – and the government has the capacity to provide that.

Those businesses will create new industries, new jobs and new skills and help pull us out of recession, and the funding to kick start that process can come from the Reserve Bank, at no cost to taxpayers.

The Bank of England has just increased its purchase of government bonds by another £150 billion pounds to £895 billion pounds and our Reserve Bank will likely have to increase its money creation as well.

Some of that new money should be channelled directly into production instead of the financial markets and a more active venture capital fund is a great way to do that.

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