Mike's Minute: This is why the govt shouldn't mess with markets

This is how we end up in trouble. Things are said that aren't challenged. 

Here's the headline: "NZ will be dumping ground for high emission cars". 

That was a claim from an EV lobby group. I wonder why they would say that? 

Chris Hipkins said, or was allowed to say, that we had one of the highest uptakes of EVs in the world and the Government stopped it. 

Now, let's deal with fact and context. The Government in their announcement over car import charges has a mess on its hands and it's a mess because the previous Government invented a set of rules that don't work, didn’t work and were never going to work. 

They gerrymandered a market and that is rarely smart economics, or politics. 

Hipkins' reference was to his subsidy scheme for EVs when the taxpayer gave thousands to middle class Tesla buyers. 

Now, was it one of the highest uptakes in the world? I don’t know, but it certainly helped sales because discounted stuff and stuff paid for by other people tends to help sales. 

If the Government offered to renovate your bathroom, I reckon bathroom renovations would explode. 

As for a dumping ground? How about less snobbery and more acceptance that New Zealanders are allowed to buy the sort of car they want? A lot of people don’t have $50,000-80,000 (or even $30,000 if you go Chinese) for an EV. 

Even if they do a lot of people simply don’t want an EV – some people want a hybrid and that’s fine. 

But you direct people through taxes towards outcomes at your peril. The climate obsession has upended markets and driven a level of complexity through charges that the Government literally doesn’t know how to get out of. 

They have importers bringing cars in they can't sell. What's the point of that? 

People will buy what people will buy. This isn't China where you are told what to do and when you are cajoled, allegedly through tax and fees, look what happens. 

The biggest irony is supply is an issue. The importers can't get the stock they need. Why not? 

Well one reason is because we drive on the opposite side of the road than a lot of countries. And the other is that manufacturers are pulling back on production of the cars that the Government scheme wants you to import. 

Why are they doing that you ask? Because they can't sell them! 

Obsession, interference, meddling and stupidity will trip you up every time. 

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