Thesis topic: And the Cradle Will Rock: The Genesis of and Continued Adherence to the ‘Full Funding Rule’ in New Zealand post-1984
Supervisors: Associate Professor Brian Roper, Dr David Jenkins
Email: morgan.edwards@postgrad.otago.ac.nz
Topic description: We generally think that the government operates like a household, where taxes fund expenditure and expenditure more than income (i.e., deficits) is ‘funded by debt’. However, recent literature and empirical insight demonstrates that this isn’t the case. This presents profound implications for how we think about the pursuit of fiscal sustainability, austerity, government bond issuance, and the implications of government surpluses and deficits. My research aims to understand the mechanics of government expenditure in New Zealand after 1984/5, the implementation and pursuit of the ‘Full Funding Rule’, and its implications on New Zealand’s political economy.