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by 1234fdsazxcv 2074 days ago
This policy has lost all grip with reality. Where do you see the vibrant tech scene in Auckland? I'd love to see a some economic data from StatsNZ that supports your case. Even Theil sold out as soon as he got his citizenship.

There's a little tech sector here but it is certainly not a major part of the economy. Everything is still based on the real estate ponzi scheme and resources... and a naive political class.

2 comments

ICT is a significant export earner in NZ and grew 47% from 2017-2019, to $2.1B in 2019 [1]. Compare to the three largest exports, dairy ($16B), tourism ($16B) and meat ($8B) [2]. ([2] is missing education though.)

> I'd love to see a some economic data from StatsNZ that supports your case.

The case/point was that the tech sector in NZ should be supported to grow further. You didn't make an argument that that policy is wrong.

[1] https://techblog.nz/2080-Digital-overtakes-wine-exports [2] https://statisticsnz.shinyapps.io/trade_dashboard/

The bigger issue that NZ has is its old boys network, which wouldn't allow radical ideas and startups to succeed.

The solution is to dilute it with tech entrepreneurs and investors from outside NZ and recreate the landscape.

I live in Wellington and the tech scene here, although small, is quite vibrant.

There is no reason why we can't accommodate those companies and workers who want to move out of SF. The govt will need to give heavy tax incentives and easy route to residency for those entrepreneurs who move their company here.

There's ~5 million people in the N-Zed. Greater NYC has ~20 million. The old boys are there, for sure, but a greater limitation is really just that there are only a handful of these investors and entrepreneurs, and the depth of their options and pocketbooks is limited.

It's like trying to run startups only in Ohio.