"And every trend in NZ has been toward greater centralisation."

"I take all of it as exemplar of why centralised systems fail relative to decentralised ones.
    "In New Zealand, MSD botched its handling of the system, leading a risk-averse Minister to kill it.
    "That kills it for the whole country.
    "In the US, all you have to do is find one county that isn't full of freaking idiots. When you find that one county, demonstrate that your idea works. Second-movers pick it up, showing that it can work in other places. And then others follow along.
    "And every trend in NZ has been toward greater centralisation."

~ Eric Crampton, from his post 'A Depressing NZAE Keynote'