Let Solid Energy fail
Why should the government favour the state coal miner's employees over those laid off by Telecom or affected by Mainzeal's collapse?
When private enterprises fail their shareholders, bondholders and associates bear the consequences.
Why should Solid Energy be any different, argues Philip Barry, a principal of economics and corporate finance advisory firm Taylor Duignan Barry.
In today's In Depth section of the National Business Review print edition, Mr Barry outlines what a government bailout would mean for state-owned assets' incentives to perform like a private company and the signal it sends to international markets.
Meanwhile, economics editor Rob Hosking details what's bubbling behind the Solid Energy debacle: a seismic shift in how the government manages its businesses.
In this week's Asia Watch, columnist Nathan Smith says it is doubtful New Zealand fully grasps the implications of its "antiquated, ideological" anti-nuclear stance and the "reality of an offensive China".
Business editor Duncan Bridgeman has more on the Mainzeal collapse, revealing Mainzeal Property & Construction had been funding its parent company's China-based businesses for years.
Elsewhere, columnist Matthew Hooton says the government's economic team is guilty of a communications failure, highlighted by the growing gap between the government's economic record and its political prospects.
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NBR Online staff
Fri, 22 Mar 2013
Fri, 22 Mar 2013
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Let Solid Energy fail
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