Some 1930s advice for Adrian Orr on Puff Pieces, Damage Control, Propaganda and "Wobbling Money"

The Gov'nor is struggling and needs some help

Emailed¹ 2 April 2024

Dear Adrian

I saw your interview and read the puff-piece the NZ Herald ran on Good Friday, and I have to say that as a piece of damage control I give it an “F+”; it really was a failure. You only get the "+" because you did get one thing right; getting this puff-piece published on Good Friday, when most people were distracted and wouldn't see it. Otherwise, I felt I was watching an emperor with no clothes.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/reserve-bank-governor-adrian-orr-interview-why-your-purchasing-power-has-eroded/D27TRAIKJBH27EWESIMOGWA2TU/

Maybe it doesn't matter; I doubt that anyone serious watches Markets with what's-her-name. And anyone serious already knows you "print money” and “people believe it." Otherwise the damage control was a mess. How much are you paying for your PR advice? Whatever it is it's too much in my opinion.

Like me, you're not "people" obviously, because like you, I know the RBNZ  "print[s] money, and people believe it."  [ ] my addition to your quote before the Finance and Expenditure Committee on 12 February. Unlike me, you continue to hope people believe these lies ("touch wood" as you said to the 12 Feb. committee). 

As an ex-advisor to a senior Government Minister, I can see you're struggling for good advice and PR for how to deal with the collapse of your only product, the New Zealand dollar.  So I've got some pieces of advice for you. Here are two possible options worth considering. 

Option 1.

Talk to the Minister of Finance. Now Adrian, I know she's not your boss. 

But she did train as a journalist and is a spin-merchant. 

As you know, this is the only reason she's in this role at the moment - I mean, she only knows how to spend the junk you "print". But the Finance portfolio is going to need some serious spin in coming months so she's probably the right person for the job right now. I'm glad it's not me.

But be careful of her. Nicola's very ambitious, and even though she can't sack you, she will turn on you if things get too bad. So maybe you would be better following some of my advice. Personally I don't think you can dig yourself out of this hole you've created, but at this point anything is worth a try.

Option 2.

This would be my recommended option, because I'm beginning to wonder if "people believe it" anymore. It looks like "touch[ing] wood" is no longer working. Price inflation is rampant and as I say it looks like people are starting to not "believe it." By price inflation I don't mean the nonsense CPI you put out, I mean what people are actually paying for stuff.

So it may be better to go on the offensive. As the saying goes, the best form of defence is attack. Though Sun Tzu didn't say this, he could have.

Anyway, here's my advice.

As you know, in 1930 English banker Otto Niemeyer, a senior staff member of the British Empire's central bank, the Bank of England, visited New Zealand at the request of the colonial New Zealand Government to advise on the financial problems which we now call the Great Depression. And as you know the Depression was caused by exactly the same thing as is facing New Zealand and the world today. 

You (I mean central bankers) had printed so much money out of thin air that people stopped believing in it. Interestingly, exactly like today, it was the gold price which really showed this, which as you know is why bankers hate gold. Because it always shows the single product you central bankers "print" for what it is. Junk.

So as you know Adrian, Niemeyer was a wily banker and his visit combined with the clever machinations of the Treasury, especially A. Park and B. Ashwin, and HM Treasury (where Niemeyer had started his career) led to the creation of the RBNZ. But critical to this was a massive propaganda campaign in the press of lies and disinformation that accompanied Niemeyer's visit. 

I will be writing on this in the future (see my substack page), but the best example I have seen so far was a 3 part series printed over three days in the Dominion.

This series was appropriately entitled "Wobbling Money"  though you may want to change the title because you can't blame the war this time, like bankers did in the 1920s and 1930s.

Wobbling Money was a superb example of propaganda in my opinion.

The series used a mix of decontextualized claims, factual inaccuracies, false juxtaposition, cultural cringe, and outright lies. Ironically the expert the writer (who wisely remained anonymous) relied on, Yale University’s Professor of Political Economy Irving Fisher, had been reduced to penury a few months earlier with the 1929 stock market crash.

 I know Adrian, you couldn't make it up.

So when I examined this series, I immediately thought of you. You need some serious propaganda. Even though you have the legacy media in you pocket, as seen by the interview on Markets with What's-her-name, they're not up to scratch. The first part of this wonderful piece of propaganda, which apparently worked because...well...we have you, can be found here.

DOMINION, VOLUME 23, ISSUE 295, 9 SEPTEMBER 1930, PAGE 7 - WOBBLING MONEY
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19300909.2.27,

I am happy to provide further advice on this matter, but you will need to remunerate me. However, because you have printed so much currency, and it has zero value, you will need to pay me in money. Gold or silver. We can work something out, but I'm thinking a 1933 double eagle should suffice.

Kind regards and best wishes

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