R&D isn't just a government thing, how do we encourage private companies to invest in research? Do we have a problem with something in our patent system or company laws or something else that stems this? Or will R&D naturally increase as we steer away from agriculture?

Build trust in the share market so people will invest in business instead of real estate.

I honestly think a capital gains tax is absolutely crucial to this. Currently, the sharemarket is taxed, mainly in taxes on dividends and income taxes on overseas shares (FIF). You can buy a house, have it triple in value, and sell it without paying any tax. Negatively gearing rentals in order to not pay tax and instead make an untaxed profit when you sell is a common theme. We can try to disincentivise housing as an investment, but the bare minimum should be to stop subsidising it.

In terms of turning the ship, I think there's one big question that anyone will want to know. We can invest in alternative industries, increase R&D spending, invest in education and healthcare, try to stop the brain drain by somehow boosting salaries and the standard of living, and invest in infrastructure. But I'm assuming to kick start any of this it's up to the government, and the OP is literally about how the country is going broke. How do we find the money to do all of these things, in a world where the established large players are going to fight tooth and nail to avoid change? We also have a country of landlords, and even worse, a government who like to favour landlords by talking about the "mum and dad" landlords to pull heart strings, despite the majority of rentals being owned by people/companies that own many properties. As long as the media and government use the right words, it will be very difficult to get voters to support additional taxes even if only on rentals.

[–] BalpeenHammer@lemmy.nz 2 points 2 days ago

Is there something specific the government can do to steer this ship?

Yes. They could simply start by not favoring the agricultural sector when it comes to all kinds of laws. Subject them to the same regulations every other business faces in regards to taxes, land use, pollution laws, labour laws etc.

R&D isn’t just a government thing, how do we encourage private companies to invest in research?

We don't have to. Presumably they will for profit motive. We can fund R&D at our universities and not give away the fruits of that labour to the private sector. The government can own all patents and copyrights generated by academic research and license them out to the private sector using market rates.

I honestly think a capital gains tax is absolutely crucial to this. Currently, the sharemarket is taxed, mainly in taxes on dividends and income taxes on overseas shares (FIF). You can buy a house, have it triple in value, and sell it without paying any tax.

That's one thing but we need to crack down on fraud in the private sector and not allow companies to simple declare bankruptcy and continue to trading under a different name. Also no bailouts when they fail.

How do we find the money to do all of these things, in a world where the established large players are going to fight tooth and nail to avoid change?

We can start by simply redistributing the money we get a better way. As I said stop favoring the ag sector and start favoring intellectual property. Stop giving away University generated innovation etc.

We also have a country of landlords, and even worse, a government who like to favour landlords by talking about the “mum and dad” landlords to pull heart strings, despite the majority of rentals being owned by people/companies that own many properties. As long as the media and government use the right words, it will be very difficult to get voters to support additional taxes even if only on rentals.

That problem may not be solvable. We are a nation of easily manipulated fools and it's getting worse as the brain drain accelarates.

[–] silt_haddock@lemmy.world 2 points 4 days ago (2 children)

I don’t know much, but the govt could encourage R&D through grants particularly for new players. I know of a few people who did research for masters/PHDs that ended up going to Aus to carry cos there was no money to fund them continuing locally

[–] SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca 1 points 3 days ago

Even Australia is shit for research funding. Canada is barely better. This takes years, vision, which is why no governments prioritize this despite the data showing poor productivity in their economy.

[–] Dave@lemmy.nz 2 points 4 days ago

Yeah, this is one of the problems with the free market mindset. The government thinks they should stay out if everything, cut taxes, and then companies can thrive since they aren't burdened by taxes. In reality we have just lost all our highly skilled people overseas because they can't get good salaries here, then companies can't invest in R&D because they can't find the staff. Someone needs to seed the recovery and that means the government needs to raise taxes to pay for it (or at least stop cutting them).