Causes of the New Zealand 1967 recession and revival

Abstract

This thesis is an attempt to examine the 1967 recession and to place into correct perspective the major economic causes of that recession and those factors responsible for the revival. Emphasis is placed on the understanding of one recession in detail rather than attempting to examine a number of recessions more generally. The author holds the view that has been best expressed by W.C. Mitchell that "while business cycles recur decade after decade each new cycle presents idiosyncrasies. Business history repeats itself, but always with a difference. A thoroughly adequate theory of business cycles, applicable to all cycles, is consequently unattainable. Even if some one cycle could be fully accounted for, the account would necessarily be inaccurate for cycles that were the outgrowth of earlier or later conditions". W.C. Mitchell, "Business Cycles and their Causes", 1950, p.IX-X. The method of approach this study will generally utilize is one that might be categorised as "statistical-historical". Such an approach places emphasis upon the collection of statistical data and historical facts which are interelated to describe the behaviour of economic events over the course of the business cycle.