Social investment - new right agenda or new wine in old bottles? NZIER Insight 67

December 16, 2016

Social investment is the new Prime Minister’s signature policy The Prime Minister, in his first press conference, signalled his commitment to continuing to drive the government’s ‘social investment approach’ and followed this up with the appointment of Amy Adams as the first ever Minister with responsibility for Social Investment. The new Deputy Prime Minister is also strongly associated with this new and evolving approach to social spending.

Critics claim that the government has a hidden agenda to cut government spending on social policy. The Treasury’s recent long-term fiscal projections suggest the opposite – under some scenarios, increased spending now on well-designed programmes would reduce forward spending liabilities by up to 5% of GDP in 2060.

Download publication