Advertisement

These folks will trawl the web, searching for shining examples of folks who are good videographers, writers, designers or whatever.

Once they've identified such people, they'll swoop in and offer to tout their skills to the market for a small "management" fee -- just as they do with actors and authors in the "real world (tm)".

Now have your say Got something to say about today's column, or want to see what others think?  Visit The Forums While you're here, why not visit the Aardvark Hall of Shame and perhaps make your own nomination. 7

Given the massive size of the online world and the greater ease with which it can be searched, I suspect those talent scouts who are good at their job will do very nicely thank you.

I also suspect that their services will be greatly sought after by mainstream content producers who are always looking for good people and a new edge on their competition.

Could this be "the" job of the 2000-2010 decade I wonder?

Now, just coming down to earth for a moment, I see that our former Minister of Economic Development has changed his tune so that he can sing along with his new portfolios of agriculture, biosecurity, fisheries and forestry.

Yes, good old Jim, once a strong advocate for NZ's technology innovators, has gone all primary on us and is now telling us that it's not technology and the knowledge economy we must focus on, but something else. According to an NZ Herald report, "The primary sector must be the top priority if the country wants to increase incomes and living standards" says Jimbo.

Well maybe Jim has something there -- but he also seems totally unaware of the huge risks we face if we hitch too many of our very limited horses to this wagon.

What if we do have an outbreak of foot & mouth, mad cow disease or some other major bio-threat? Surely if we've got too many eggs in the agriculture basket we'll end up even further down the OECD list?

And let's not forget that our remote geographical location makes the export of dairy, meat, wool and other primary produce very susceptible to the effects of fuel price increases. How are we to compete in global markets once the oil price reaches $100 per barrel? (which it undoubtedly will, probably sooner rather than later)

Good on you Jim for getting behind your portfolios -- but don't be blinded to the fact that primary produce is a very vertical market which leaves us hugely vulnerable to a number of factors beyond our control. I for one would rather see us spread the risk a little and focus a little harder on those (knowledge-based) ventures that are more resilient in times of high energy costs and falling communications costs.

But it looks as if the chances of a hi-tech boom in NZ are getting smaller and smaller.

According to a report published by Computerworld (link below), changes to NZ's tax policies in respect to capital gains, could make this country an even less attractive place for off-shore venture capitalists.

Great -- just what we need, Australia making it easier for hi-tech companies and NZ making it harder.

We've already fallen down the list of world nations in terms of competitiveness over the past year -- any guesses how much further we'll have fallen by this time next year?

Is it just me or does no-one else seem much concerned by the direction we're heading right now?

I have no doubt that the government is doing its best -- but is that really good enough?

Here's today's question:

What moves would you like to see introduced by government in this week's budget to improve our competitiveness in the global economy and our ranking within the OECD list of nations?

Did you notice
As eagle-eyed readers will have noticed, sponsorship of this fine blog/column is up for grabs.

Those who have already made enquiries about sponsoring Aardvark should hear back from me this week - and anyone else who might like to do so should drop me a line ASAP.

Tell us all and see what others have to say in The Aardvark Forums

If you feel that this is a good thing and/or you hold a "geniune affection" for yours truly -- then you are welcome to gift me some money using the buttons provided. In gifting this money you accept that no goods, service or other consideration is offered, provided, accepted or anticipated in return. Just click on the button to gift whatever you can afford. NOTE: PayPal bills in US dollars so don't accidentally gift more than what you were intending :-)

Contacting Aardvark
I'm always happy to hear from readers, whether they're delivering brickbats, bouquets or news tip-offs. If you'd like to contact me directly, please this form. If you're happy for me to republish your comments then please be sure and select For Publication.

Other media organisations seeking more information or republication rights are also invited to contact me.

Just add a couple of lines of JavaScript to your pages and you can get a free summary of Aardvark's daily commentary -- automatically updated each and every week-day.

Aardvark also makes a summary of this daily column available via XML using the RSS format. More details can be found here.

Contact me if you decide to use either of these feeds and have any problems.

Linking Policy
Want to link to this site? Check out Aardvark's Linking Policy.

Did you tell someone else about Aardvark today? If not then do it now!