Not so unique aspect of kiwi culture

One thing you frequently here about in NZ, is the phrase "number 8 wire" which refers to the historical tendency of isolated New Zealand farmers and inventors to be resourceful and make do with whatever materials are at hand.

In this week's Press newspaper for example, a local product developer points out the commercial limitations of the "number 8 wire" approach, as illustrated by the business failure of the late John Britten, who was unable to develop a sustainable business from his highly innovative Britten motorbike design.

However, what's rarely mentioned in such discussions is that this 'number eight' phenomena is arguably just as common in Britain, where the majority of New Zealanders originally came from, as it is here.

You don't have to spend much time in the UK to here the likes of Prince Charles or the Dyson vacuum cleaner guy bemoaning the country's failure to convert its backyard ingenuity into reliable mass-produced products.

While German and Japanese engineers methodically go about building a better Corolla or Golf, their British counterparts seem more intent of winning the next series of Junk Yard Wars.
Unable to compete in the mass market, the British trickle out bit and pieces of niche products from composite hand made sport cars, to boutique stereo speakers and authentically "distressed" reproduction furniture.

Lack of investment is more likely to account for British manufaturing underachievement than isolation, but the end result is the same as in NZ.

Nor is the situation much different in Australia, where manufacturers eke out a living producing a few locally-tailored products that can tempt consumers away from the tsunami of Asian, American and European imports.

This kind of ignorance of the trials and tribulations of other western countries seems to be a legacy of the Lange/Keating era of the mid 1980s, when it became fashionable to attack traditional cultural links with the West and make exaggerated claims about local uniqueness.