I would be surprised if the flow of NZ timber to China rather...

I would be surprised if the flow of NZ timber to China rather than to our local markets, where we want to get the price of housing down so new buyers can afford a place to live, does not reflect the higher sales volumes and total profits we can get from China rather than from local markets. Everyone wants to make as much profit as they can, right? Especially the shareholders of companies. Nobody wants to pay a higher price than they can get away with. That is how capitalism works. It's hard to make the system work for everyone in a market where those are the rules of the game.

This calls into question the merits of the system itself as it actually works. Jacinda does not have a magic wand. She cannot wish Covid away, nor wish money to stay in NZ to do us good.