I guess you get the 17% from 2.6% being 17% of 14%. So where does the other 83% go. I suspect a big chunk of it will go to population growth (i.e. new immigrants and new babies). In particular a large section will go to people currently aged between 14 and 18 entering the Labour force over the next 4 years. Also a big chunk will go to the government via an increased tax take due to the growing economy. You also mentioned some unemployed people entering the labour force but some will also go to new people entering the labour force through other means (such as a student leaving university) It will be interesting comparing the 17% figure to what the figures were in Labours budgets (under Micheal Cullen) and also a pie chart of exactly where all this GDP increase goes

Can I ask by what metric you consider our educational rankings to be falling considering the increase in NCEA pass rates? Also for Health the issue is quality, not quantity of spending. Results can measured in things like the infant mortality rate, life expectancy e.t.c.