The reformers argued that the speed with which the reforms were made was due to the fact that New Zealand had not adjusted to Britain's abandonment of the empire, and had to move quickly to "catch up" with the rest of the world. Douglas claimed in his 1993 book "Unfinished Business" that speed was a key strategy for achieving radical economic change: "Define your objectives clearly, and move towards them in quantum leaps, otherwise the interest groups will have time to mobilise and drag you down". Political commentator Bruce Jesson argued that Douglas acted fast to achieve a complete economic revolution within one parliamentary term, in case he did not get a second chance. The reforms can be summarised as the dismantling of the Australasian orthodoxy of state development that had existed for the previous 90 years, and its replacement by the Anglo-American neo-classical model based on the monetarist policies of Milton Friedman and the Chicago School. The financial market was deregulated and controls on foreign exchange removed. Subsidies to many industries, notably agriculture, were removed or significantly reduced, as was tariff protection. The top marginal tax rate was halved over a number of years from 66% to 33%, and the standard rate was reduced from 42% in 1978 to 28% in 1988. To compensate, the variable sales taxes that had been in effect until then were replaced by a single Goods and Services Tax, initially set at 10%, later 12.5% (and eventually in 2011, 15%), and a surtax on superannuation, which had been made universal from age 60 by the previous government.