~ Frederic Sautet ~
Roger L. Kerr (CNZM), who passed away on October 28, was one of my intellectual mentors. If institutional entrepreneurs exist, Roger was definitely one of them. As a public intellectual, he influenced policy more than any other person I know, which is a feat for someone who never ran for an elected office. He was a key figure in the New Zealand public policy debate from the 1980s onward. As anyone who has worked in the field would tell you, there is nothing more frustrating than commenting and offering advice on public policy. Most of the time one gets shot by the media and ignored by policymakers. I believe the average public policy leader has virtually no influence over what goes on in cabinet. Not Roger Kerr. Indeed, he tirelessly (for more than 25 years) put all his life energy into bringing down “fortress New Zealand” (as the country was called back in the 1980s when it was more protectionist than the Eastern Block) and he fought all his ensuing battles with the same courage and enthusiasm.
Even though the New Zealand Business Roundtable (the organization he led since 1986) was more influential in the early days, he would not cringe at the idea of repeating his creed time after time to anyone who would listen. And it was not simple repetition; it was the consistent application of good economics to policy. After a new Labour government was elected in 1999, he was basically sidelined and the government considered the NZBR as irrelevant. I remember him being criticized by many as being too dogmatic and rigid. Did it stop him from fighting the good fight? No it didn’t. Instead, just as Ludwig von Mises advocated, he proceeded ever more boldly against bad policy. And like Milton Friedman, he did it with a smile — so much so that some New Zealand commentator called him the “happy warrior.” Even Green-Party co-leader Metiria Turei said recently of Roger Kerr that he “was a leading figure in the debate over the direction of the New Zealand economy. He played the issues not the person.” This is the respect he inspired.
Roger Kerr stood against the tide on many occasions, even if it meant disagreeing with people who shared at least some of his views. As my friend Doug Watt reminded me, when the “foreshore and seabed debate” was happening in 2003 (a debate over whether Maori iwis had customary property rights extending into the ocean) all the political parties (except the Act party if I am not mistaken) and most of the media were against having Maori test their property rights in court. Roger was a rather lone voice in this regard advocating that the courts (and not the Maori Land Court) should address Maori claims of customary property rights (see here). To me this epitomizes Roger Kerr’s commitment to principles regardless of popular opinion. In the end the government legislated away the right for Maori to test their rights in the courts, and while it has been restored, it is highly conditional to the point where it effectively doesn’t exist.
But beyond his enormous achievements as a public intellectual, I want to say how much Roger Kerr will remain an inspirational figure for myself and for many of us. I have spent among the most exciting moments of my life in his company. The first time I met Roger Kerr was, oddly enough, in 1996 in Vienna (Austria) when I was still a doctoral student. I knew nothing at the time about public policy in New Zealand (nor anywhere else for that matter) and all I did was asking him questions such as whether he thought good reforms could be carried out in Europe. I don’t remember the details of our conversation unfortunately, but I do remember his kindness and patience with me. As I started working at the New Zealand Treasury a few years later, I connected with him again. Then came the time of the “Economic Transformation” debate, which was a perfect example of constructivist ideas that then Labour Prime Minister Helen Clark wanted to implement. David Skilling was leading a team in Treasury whose goal was to provide content to that policy project. While I felt a bit alone in the debate against him, I received full support from Roger, which was very important to me. After I left New Zealand in 2004, I saw him regularly, as I spent a lot of time, on and off, in Wellington. While in town, Bryce Wilkinson would generally kindly offer me a space in his office, which was next to the NZBR. Roger would show up multiple times during the day and we would have great chats the three of us on all sorts of subjects. Roger invited Peter Boettke and his wife Rosemary to New Zealand for the Trotter Lecture in August 2006 (see picture with Roger Kerr on the right hand side and Sir Ronald Trotter on the other). We made the trip and we spent a bit of time visiting the country — especially Nelson (Roger’s hometown) and Hawke’s Bay. Roger Kerr and his then wife-to-be Catherine Isaac were great hosts and I know that Peter and Rosemary keep an amazing memory of their time in New Zealand.
Roger Kerr lived and breathed economics and public policy. He was so much in the flow of life that he stated he would not have done another job — even a few months before his death, all he wanted to do was to continue. He was like a musician constantly practicing scales. He may have been seen as a workaholic, but it was love that moved him; love for his work and his passion for truth. As he said it himself, he gave life his best shot. And his enthusiasm and energy were contagious. Sir Douglas Myers called him a “national treasure.” Indeed, it is because of people like Roger Kerr that New Zealand didn’t sink into the ocean in the 1980s. Roger, I will deeply miss seeing you on my next trip to Wellington. Adieu cher ami!
(You may find Bryce Wilkinson’s moving eulogy here, NYU law Professor Richard Epstein’s tribute here, and Janet Albrechtsen’s tribute in The Australian here, as well as that of many others on the NZBR's website. See also John Roughan’s excellent article in the NZ Herald.)