dsbatten on Nostr: Can’t comment about US, but in NZ the govt made a couple of things better by ...
Can’t comment about US, but in NZ the govt made a couple of things better by getting involved.
1. The govt actually created a bank that worked called kiwibank.
What happened was that in the 80s a precious govt sold our last back to Australia and billions of dollars went offshore every year. Bank fees spiked too.
Kiwibank helped reduce fees simply by providing more competition and also stopped so much money going offshore.
2. The govt identified three growth areas for the economy in NZ: film, Biotech and IT. It got it wrong with biotech, but right with the other two.
Our startup benefitted by winning a grant of 100k before we had any Capital and that kickstarted our company, which otherwise would probably have stayed an idea among friends.
That motivated us, and also helped us bring on investment. The company (geneious.com) eventually changed how molecular biologists did research (happy scientists) and sold to an overseas buyer (happy investors)
1. The govt actually created a bank that worked called kiwibank.
What happened was that in the 80s a precious govt sold our last back to Australia and billions of dollars went offshore every year. Bank fees spiked too.
Kiwibank helped reduce fees simply by providing more competition and also stopped so much money going offshore.
2. The govt identified three growth areas for the economy in NZ: film, Biotech and IT. It got it wrong with biotech, but right with the other two.
Our startup benefitted by winning a grant of 100k before we had any Capital and that kickstarted our company, which otherwise would probably have stayed an idea among friends.
That motivated us, and also helped us bring on investment. The company (geneious.com) eventually changed how molecular biologists did research (happy scientists) and sold to an overseas buyer (happy investors)