Burn bro town down - Economic Policy as Social Policy

Economist stands by underclass comments
Economist Greg Clydesdale has defended his contentious Pacific Island report that was criticised by fellow academics for using out-of-date data. A peer review commissioned by the Pacific Island Affairs Ministry said the main argument in Dr Clydesdale's paper, that the goal of immigration is to generate economic growth, is questionable. The author, Otago University economist Paul Hansen, said the report showed poor use of data and failed to back up claims that Pacific Islanders are creating an underclass. Its presentation was also substandard, he said. The discussion document Growing Pains: The valuation and cost of human capital - dubbed the Clydesdale report - has drawn scathing responses from the Pacific Island community since it was reported by The Dominion Post last week. Race Relations Commissioner Joris de Bres is reviewing the report. Teresia Teaiwa, programme director for Pacific Studies at Victoria University, said the report raised more questions than answers. She asked why a paper written in 2008 cited social status reports from 2002, when 2006 census figures were available.

There are some very good comebacks to Clydesdale’s report that do question his entire thrust of his discussion paper and one wonders if he was really as focused on the good of the country would he have come to conclusions as harsh as his as there are better ways to debate the issue without offending the very people he’s claiming to want toi help and his idea that immigration should be an economic equation over all other factors sounds like economic policy as social policy – Pacific Islanders have made incredible contributions to NZ in art and sport, yet Clydesdale refuses to take any of that on board. Also, anyone who is using ‘political madness gone mad’ as a defence are always highly suspect.