Kōrero: Reserve Bank

Floating the New Zealand dollar

Floating the New Zealand dollar

In 1985 the New Zealand dollar was floated. This meant that the market would control the international value of the dollar instead of New Zealand. The idea was that balance-of-payments crises would not occur because the currency would self-correct. In practice, balance-of-payments problems continued to occur. This cartoon, featuring Minister of Finance Roger Douglas, takes a rather negative view of the float – the boat is a kitchen colander and thus full of holes.

Courtesy of Peter Bromhead

Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi

Alexander Turnbull Library
Reference: A-314-1-019
Cartoon by Peter Bromhead

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Te tuhi tohutoro mō tēnei whārangi:

John Singleton, 'Reserve Bank - Reserve Bank, 1936 to 1984', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/mi/cartoon/33456/floating-the-new-zealand-dollar (accessed 18 April 2024)

He kōrero nā John Singleton, i tāngia i te 20 Jun 2012