Value for money from public services under continually constrained budgets: a strategic approach

Abstract

The New Zealand economy in the early months of 2009 faces challenges of historicmagnitude. The size of the public sector in the New Zealand economy makes it arguably the most important single player to manage the current situation. We can expect Keynesian policies designed to stimulate spending by consumers and businesses to be important. The poor economic outlook and policies to stimulate the economy mean that the government is faced with severe constraints on budgets and strong pressures to achieve high value for the money  expended on public services.