Kōrero: Balance of payments

This cartoon satirises the situation faced by New Zealanders when they wished to buy a new car in the 1950s and 1960s. Most cars were assembled in New Zealand, but supply did not keep up with demand, and import controls restricted cars from overseas. People who wanted to buy a car had to go on a waiting list, and salespeople were unnecessary to sell cars. Import controls had been imposed as a way of preventing balance of payments crises.