Judgements of All Kinds: Economic Policy-Making in New Zealand, 1945–1984 by Jim McAloon (review)

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New Zealand Journal of History, 48, 2 (2014) 170 of compassion and egalitarianism in its policymaking. A generation after the State Sector Act was passed, he seeks reform of the public service. He wants civics taught in schools. And he wants a written constitution that is superior law, as in the United States, that includes both the Bill of Rights and the Treaty of Waitangi. This excellent book can be read on a number of levels. It is an engrossing biography, but as a memoir it tells much about the New Zealand of Palmer’s generation (and that of his forebears). In particular, it is an invaluable insider account of the fourth Labour government that reveals just how much Palmer contributed to the statute book. This is essential reading for New Zealand historians, as well as people interested in political and legal history. It also deserves a wider readership because it suggests reforms for New Zealanders to contemplate. PHILIPPA MEIN SMITH University of Tasmania NOTES 1 Merwyn Norrish, ‘The great debate at Oxford Union’, in Margaret Clark, ed., For the Record: Lange and the Fourth Labour Government, Wellington, 2005, p.153. 2 Raymond Richards, Palmer: The Parliamentary Years, Christchurch 2010, p.29. 3 David Lange, My Life, Auckland, 2005, pp.204–5. Judgements of All Kinds: Economic Policy-Making in New Zealand, 1945–1984. By Jim McAloon. Victoria University Press, Wellington, 2013. 284pp. NZ price: 50.00. ISBN: 9780864738974. Jim McAloon’s Judgements of All Kinds: Economic Policy-Making in New Zealand, 1945–1984 offers a welcome addition to late twentieth-century New Zealand economic history. The book reflects solid archival research and deep engagement with New Zealand’s recent past. Readers with a background in economics will presumably find points to engage with, and general historians should consider McAloon’s book an essential addition to their library. McAloon tells an important story: New Zealand’s transition over the latter half of the twentieth century from a settler economy, based on agricultural exports and a very limited range of markets, to a mixed economy tightly connected to the global world. He places particular focus on the disintegration of the ‘post-war settlement’, in the face of complex global pressures both regionally and in Europe. The end result is a usefully detailed account of contemporary New Zealand history which unravels many of the myths established by key figures in the events and later generalist historians who have necessarily focused on broad themes ahead of historical specificity. In doing so, Judgements of All Kinds reminds us of the need for specialist New Zealand histories capable of offering depth of narrative and REVIEWS (BOOKS) 171 historical accuracy. Although not always attractive to publishers or academic review committees, they represent the building blocks of a sophisticated historiographical tradition. That is not to suggest that Judgements of All Kinds is a dry read. McAloon’s commitment to economic history results in an engaging narrative, and the global backdrop to this phase of New Zealand history is highly charged. New Zealand’s struggle to manage the transition from a settler economy to a modern nation state, in the context of a world war, the British retreat from Empire and a series of significant global economic crises, is one of the seminal processes in our past and provides ample narrative set pieces. As he admits himself, much of his content is covered in other general stories, but McAloon adds a level of detail that adds essential colour to our understanding. The key insight of the book is that the popular narrative that positions 1984 as a watershed moment in New Zealand history, while understandable, lacks historical depth. The fourth Labour government’s turn from Keynesian to Neoclassical economic policy, along with Robert Muldoon’s intransigence in the face of nearly catastrophic economic reality, is the stuff of historical myth; but it is too dependent on the testimony of central actors and too closely connected to the political narratives woven to either sell or resist the changes to New Zealand society. Without appearing particularly exercised about what is a useful general thesis, McAloon implies that James Belich has contributed to the myth by positioning Muldoon’s administration as...