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Healthy Money Healthy Planet - library.uniteddiversity.coop

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13<br />

Government and Corporate Debt<br />

(19832000)<br />

120<br />

100<br />

Corporate debt<br />

Government debt<br />

80<br />

60<br />

40<br />

NZ$ Billions<br />

20<br />

0<br />

1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000<br />

Total Debt<br />

Before we work out New Zealand’s total debt, I will talk about overseas debt. The<br />

country’s total overseas debt (public and corporate) rose from NZ$16 billion in 1984 to<br />

NZ$123 billion in 2001, most of which was corporate (private sector) debt. 29 Any attempt<br />

to add up the total debt owed by New Zealanders has to avoid double counting. So<br />

corporate debt, for example, which is made up of the debt of New Zealand residents and<br />

the debt of overseas residents, has to be split into its constituent parts. Such overseasowned<br />

corporations as Mobil, Shell, McDonald’s and Toyota have considerable overseas<br />

debts, and while these should not be included in the total debt calculations, we as New<br />

Zealanders still pay interest on their debts because it is built into the cost of our petrol,<br />

fast foods and vehicles. Therefore, while the corporate debt of non­residents is not<br />

included in our calculations of total debt, it affects New Zealanders detrimentally.

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