正文翻譯

Why is it expensive to live in New Zealand？

為什么新西蘭的生活成本很高？

評論翻譯

Nicholas Smeaton,Lives in Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand
There are several factors as to why the cost of living in New Zealand is so high.
Economics of scale, with only five million people we don’t have the same level of buying power as countries like the UK or US so we end up paying more per unit of goods.
Geographic isolation, it costs money to move goods around the world and been a long way from everywhere else means we pay more for transportation than most. I work for an importer and the cost of getting a container from Europe to New Zealand has trebled over the last 12 months!
Profiteering, some industries such as fuel companies, banks and supermarkets are effectively operating as a cartel and screwing over the public big time. The government is trying to deal with this problem but to date it appears that any changes made by the industries involved are purely cosmetic.
Government subsidies, back in the 1970s stuff like electricity and milk were subisidised by the government, then in the 1980s the government went totally free market and removed all those subsidies, so we’re paying the market rate. Or we should be, when the price of milk goes down internationally, Fonterra likes to hike it domestically in order to keep it’s profit margins looking good.

新西蘭的生活成本如此之高，有幾個原因。
規(guī)模經(jīng)濟，我們只有500萬人口，沒有像英國或美國這樣的購買力，因此我們最終要為每件商品支付更多的費用。
地理位置孤立，在世界各地運輸貨物需要花費大量資金，而且距離其他地方很遠，這意味著我們比大多數(shù)人支付更多的運輸費用。我在一家進口商工作，在過去12個月里，從歐洲到新西蘭的集裝箱成本增加了三倍！
為了牟利，一些行業(yè)，如燃料公司、銀行和超市，實際上是作為一個卡特爾（壟斷聯(lián)盟）運作的，欺騙公眾。政府正試圖解決這個問題，但迄今為止，有關行業(yè)所作的任何改變似乎都只是表面功夫。
政府補貼，早在20世紀70年代，電力和牛奶之類的東西就由政府補貼，然后在20世紀80年代，政府完全進入自由市場，取消了所有補貼，所以我們按照市場價格支付?；蛘?，當牛奶價格在國際上下跌時，恒天然集團喜歡在國內(nèi)提高價格，以保持良好的利潤率。

John Dunford，F(xiàn)ormer Super Annuitant... Previously a CEO
Its no more expensive to live in NZ than it is in other first World economies… compared to third world economies it is extremely expensive so judging externally if you come from a third World country without the level of pay in NZ of course it appears prohibitive, Tax is not massive in NZ and some things such less expensive than he UK for example. Its difficult to make exact comparisons. Just recently due to world issues and the inflationary cycle costs have increased but again this is the same everywhere.

在新西蘭生活并不比在其他第一世界經(jīng)濟體更昂貴。與第三世界經(jīng)濟體相比，這是非常昂貴的，所以從外部判斷，如果你來自第三世界國家，而新西蘭的工資水平卻不高，這當然顯得令人望而卻步。很難進行準確的比較。就在最近，由于世界問題和通貨膨脹周期的影響，成本增加了，但這在所有地方都是一樣的。

David Wyatt
Is living in New Zealand expensive?
People say it is.
However, I have compared prices in other countries related to incomes and have found New Zealand to be no more expensive than other countries.
For example, the average grocery shop spend in the UK is around the same as in New Zealand.
So yes, living is expensive in New Zealand. However, living is expensive all over the world and there are plenty of countries where it is much more expensive to live than New Zealand.
Remember, you can’t just compare the price of things only between countries. You have to compare them relative to incomes. For example cost less in dollars in the USA but wages are also way lower in the USA than in New Zealand.
The thing is nowhere in this world is cheap to live. Relative to incomes everywhere is expensive to live.

在新西蘭生活成本貴嗎?
人們說是的。
然而，我比較了其他國家與收入相關的價格，發(fā)現(xiàn)新西蘭的價格并不比其他國家高。
例如，英國雜貨店的平均花費和新西蘭差不多。
是的，新西蘭的生活很貴。然而，世界各地的生活成本都很高，有很多國家的生活成本比新西蘭高得多。
記住，你不能只在國家之間比較商品的價格。你必須將它們與收入進行比較。例如，美國的美元成本更低，但美國的工資也比新西蘭低。
問題是，世界上沒有任何地方的生活成本是便宜的。相對于收入，世界各地的生活成本都很高。

Rosco Johns
The last trip I did back to New Zealand was 18 months ago, and I was quite shocked at the price of everthing. I told myself it could be Ive been living in South East Asia too long and maybe Ive had just forgotten
How did the cost of living become so high in New Zealand?
In the Late 1980s and into the 1990s a series of events occured in New Zealand that had a material impact on the cost of each and every goods and service you purchase today.
Among these events were: the introduction of the Resource Management Act. The Accident Compensation Commission funding analysis and The Leaky Buildings issue. Each of these events has lead to changes in the way New Zealand does anything, and those changes, in most parts has taken on a life of its own.
First off New Zealand managed to inflate the value of houses not only by allowing speculative investment from Asia. They also inflated the cost of construction by regulation. Over a few decades they managed to inflate the cost of construction and value of homes to one of the most expensive in the world.

我上次回新西蘭是18個月前，所有東西的價格都讓我很震驚。我告訴自己，可能是我在東南亞住得太久了，也許我只是忘了
新西蘭的生活成本是怎么變得這么高的?
20世紀80年代末到90年代初，新西蘭發(fā)生了一系列事件，對你現(xiàn)在購買的每一件商品和服務的成本產(chǎn)生了重大影響。
這些事件包括:《資源管理法》的出臺。事故賠償委員會資金分析和漏水建筑物問題。每一個事件都改變了新西蘭做事的方式，在大多數(shù)情況下，這些變化都有自己的特點。
首先，新西蘭不僅通過允許來自亞洲的投機投資，還成功地提高了房價。他們還通過監(jiān)管提高了建筑成本。在幾十年的時間里，他們成功地將建筑成本和住房價值推高到世界上最昂貴的城市之一。

How does the value of our single largest asset have an impact on the cost of living? Well of course it does, but also remember the cost of construction is not just private houses, it's commercial buildings as well.
The cost of compliance
New Zealand is a Nanny state and a cotton wool country, where I say “cotton wool” is because that is what the government try to wrap the population in. New Zealand is a country with both a public health system, and an Accident compensation system. On top of that its a welfare state with benefits available for things like sickness and unemployment . Therefore any member of the public suffering an injury accident may impose a cost on one, if not all three of those systems.
To mitigate these liabilities, in the late 80′s, early 90s the New Zealand embarked on a number of strategies. The first, through a series of legislative amendments an introductions began identifying third party liability, and wrapping the public in cotton wool. The Health and Safety at Work Act. The Gas Act, the Electricity Act, the Land Transport Act, the Building Act. The Swimming Pool Fences Act - and the list goes on and on.

我們最大的一項資產(chǎn)的價值如何影響生活成本? 當然有，但也要記住，建筑成本不僅僅是私人住宅，商業(yè)建筑也是如此。
合規(guī)成本
新西蘭是一個保姆國家，也是一個“棉絮國家”，我說“棉絮”是因為它試圖把人們包裹在棉絮里。新西蘭是一個既有公共衛(wèi)生系統(tǒng)，又有事故賠償系統(tǒng)的國家。最重要的是，它是一個福利國家，為疾病和失業(yè)等問題提供福利。因此，任何遭受傷害事故的公眾都可能對其中一個系統(tǒng) (如果不是所有三個系統(tǒng)) 施加成本。
為了減輕這些負債，新西蘭在20世紀80年代末90年代初采取了一些策略。第一，通過一系列的立法修正案，開始確定第三方責任，并將公眾包裹在棉絮里。《工作場所健康與安全法》、《燃氣法》、《電力法》、《陸路運輸法》、《建筑法》、《游泳池圍欄法案》——這樣的法案不勝枚舉。

The trickle down effect cost of legislaton amended or introduced in the 1990s in New Zealand is one major reason to its cost of living being so high in 2019
The main culprits have been the RMA and ACC, and it became apparent that the strategies introduced in the 1990′s weren't having the desired effect. In 2009 ACC posted a $4.8 billion loss, recorded as the biggest loss in New Zealands corporate history. With each and every loss the answer was to turn the screws on OHS requirements even further. Make the public safer. Don't allow them to take risk. Wrap them in cotton wool.
You cannot have a swimming pool without a regulation fence around it. You cannot ride a bicycle without wearing a helmet. You cannot undertake minor tasks around your workplace without a health and safety procedure. A home handyman can no longer undertake minor repairs and renovations on his home.
Think of the OHS and other compliance cost involved in the manufacture, distribution and sale of a single bag of frozen peas. The OHS compliance cost growing the vegetable, the hazardous substance handling of chemicals and fertilizers. The heavy machinery operation in picking the vegetables. The facility to process and pack the vegetables. The transportation to distribution, the OHS compliance in distribution, further transport, the OHS compliance in retail. Then add to that the cost of every building involved along the way.
If you're a fan of Warren Buffet you’ll be familiar with his excitement over “compound interest” in investments. Well the cost of compliance works the same way, it's “compound compliance costs” New Zealand is a country that has excessive regulation, and a country that just adds to the regulation every year. The cost of compliance is a major reason the cost of living is so high!

新西蘭在20世紀90年代修訂或引入的法律的涓滴效應成本是2019年該國生活成本如此之高的一個主要原因
主要罪魁禍首是新西蘭資源管理法(RMA)和意外事故傷害賠償局(ACC)，很明顯，20世紀90年代引入的戰(zhàn)略并沒有達到預期的效果。2009年，ACC公布了48億美元的虧損，這是新西蘭企業(yè)歷史上最大的虧損。面對每一次損失，答案是進一步加大對職業(yè)健康和安全的要求。讓公眾更安全。不要讓他們冒險。用棉絮把它們包起來。
如果游泳池周圍沒有監(jiān)管圍欄，就不能有游泳池。你不戴頭盔就不能騎自行車。在沒有健康和安全程序的情況下，你不能在工作場所周圍從事瑣碎的工作。家庭雜工不能再對他的家進行小修翻新了。
想想生產(chǎn)、分銷和銷售一袋冷凍豌豆所涉及的職業(yè)健康安全管理體系（OHS）和其他合規(guī)成本。OHS合規(guī)成本包括種植蔬菜、化學品和肥料的有害物質(zhì)處理。采摘蔬菜時的重型機械操作。加工和包裝蔬菜的設備。從運輸?shù)椒咒N，分銷過程中的職業(yè)安全合規(guī)，再到運輸，零售過程中的職業(yè)安全合規(guī)。再加上沿途每座建筑的成本。
如果你是沃倫·巴菲特的粉絲，你就會熟悉他對投資“復利”的興奮。合規(guī)成本也是一樣的，它是“復合合規(guī)成本”，新西蘭是一個監(jiān)管過度的國家，而且每年都會增加監(jiān)管。合規(guī)成本是生活成本如此之高的主要原因！