The theme of this paper is comparative liberalisation. My aim is to set within a comparative historical framework the remarkable economic reforms in New Zealand which began with the change of government in July 1984. The period covered extends from the mid-1970s to the present day. The comparisons made are with the other 23 countries which over the whole of this period were members of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, the OECD. Hence I try to identify similarities and differences - to distinguish those aspects of economic reform in this country which have parallels in many, or even all, the other OECD countries, and those which are peculiar to New Zealand.  I shall offer some personal answers to the question, how has New Zealand been different? In doing so, I shall draw on work undertaken by my former colleagues within the OECD Secretariat, including the Organisation's latest published survey of the New Zealand economy.

The remainder of the paper is in two parts. Chapter one outlines the historical background. It reviews the situation of the New Zealand economy in mid-1984, and the configuration of economic policies then in place, in an international comparative context. In Chapter two I offer a comparative sketch of liberalisation in New Zealand and elsewhere, looking successively at the character, the causation, and the content and scope of the process.