Eric Crampton and Craig Renney give their takes on 2023 Budget

<p>Economists Eric Crampton of the New Zealand Initiative and Craig Renney of the Council of Trade Unions share their views on what Budget 2023 got right and what it got wrong.</p><p>Crampton explains why <a href="https://www.interest.co.nz/public-policy/121287/budget-unveils-tax-breaks-and-training-assistance-top-help-gaming-industry" target="_blank"><strong>giving subsidies to the game development industry</strong></a> is a sort of mutually assured waste of taxpayer money, and how tobacco tax could mean the government books take an extra year to return to surplus. </p><p>Renney tells us how <a href="https://www.interest.co.nz/bonds/121292/credit-rating-agencys-budget-comments-highlight-ongoing-concerns-about-nzs-current" target="_blank"><strong>S&P Global Ratings said</strong></a> NZ government debt was not unlike a designer Hermès handbag and makes the case that Budget 2023 is not as inflationary as some have claimed. </p><p>But neither think that it matched up to its 'No-Frills' moniker.</p>