to how much the assets will be sold for or, indeed, even if they will have the effect of reducing debt. Equally dubious are the claims that the sale would allow small share holders and investors entry into the market. There is no evidence to support the claim that thousands upon thousands of "Mum and Dad" investors will flock to these newly semi-private companies and buy shares. That evidence which is available suggests that the vast majority of shares will be picked up by large and often foreign- owned transnational corporations. The claim is also undermined by the simple fact that "Mum and Dad" already have shares in the various assets by virtue of public ownership. It is further undermined by the fact that the law to establish the mixed ownership model for the State assets targeted to be partly privatised (introduced to Parliament after this article was written) contains no legal requirement for Kiwis to have first rights to the shares which will be floated. Ed . Economics and the resulting economic advice provided by economists is not a science. Rather, it is governed by ideological considerations. The asset sale programme is a case in point. The current proposed partial sale of assets is one which is governed by ideology rather than by practical economic concerns. If the sale of assets was governed by practical economic considerations then they would not be either partially or fully sold. But, the Government and its key advisors are not motivated by those