debt / deficit

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Our Great De-Leveraging

Written By: - Date published: 5:05 pm, June 4th, 2023 - 13 comments

Debt is the most destructive and addictive form of economic behaviour we have in New Zealand. And mortgages are New Zealand’s very high grade heroin and we are being forced to come down off a most spectacular high into a rage-inducing forced withdrawal.

An Easter Meditation

Written By: - Date published: 10:02 pm, April 7th, 2023 - 16 comments

In his …and forgive them their debts, my favourite economist and Jubilee advocate Michael Hudson states that Jesus driving the money-changers from the Temple was “the act that inspired the city leaders to plot his death.”

But How Do You Pay For It?

Written By: - Date published: 8:39 am, March 5th, 2023 - 27 comments

To pay for recent flood damage Grant Robertson has to decide on what proportion of this will be paid by new debt, what proportion by reallocation of expenditure, and what proportion by special tax levies.  Is an Australian style levy under consideration?

Windfall tax on bank super-profits needed to help fund repair

Written By: - Date published: 3:57 pm, February 20th, 2023 - 69 comments

The repair bill for the recent cyclones will be similar to the direct cost to government of the Canterbury earthquakes, in the $13 billion region. Banks are currently making obscene profits. The time is right to impose a one-off banking windfall tax. If a conservative Margaret Thatcher can do it, it is pretty hard to argue why a Labour government can’t.

In praise of Michael Hudson

Written By: - Date published: 3:32 pm, November 3rd, 2022 - 39 comments

82-year old polymath Michael Hudson is my favourite economist. He currently lectures in China to million-strong audiences. His latest book is The Destiny of Civilisation: Finance Capitalism, Industrial Capitalism or Socialism. His latest article is well worth a read.

Chinese Capital in the Pacific

Written By: - Date published: 8:23 am, July 19th, 2022 - 26 comments

It would be tidy for New Zealand and Australian leaders to blame China’s debt within Sri Lanka for its collapse, so that they could scare Pacific Island nations back into the fold. It would be wrong.

Global Britain fell with Singapore

Written By: - Date published: 10:00 pm, February 16th, 2022 - 4 comments

Today February 15th is the 80th anniversary of the fall of Singapore in 1942, described by many as Britain’s worst military disaster. It was a massive strategic fail, and its effect is still powerful today, most notably with Australia’s lockstep with the US. Current British strategists don’t seem to have learnt a thing.

 

See what happens when you put a woman in charge?

Written By: - Date published: 7:41 am, November 24th, 2021 - 120 comments

Remarkably low Covid death and infection rates, good and improving vaccination rates, low unemployment and debt to GDP …

Time to do something about poverty

Written By: - Date published: 7:40 am, February 23rd, 2021 - 77 comments

In recent news Standard and Poors has improved New Zealand’s credit rating because of its success in handling Covid, and a vast majority of kiwis support the Goverment increasing income support for those on low wages or not in paid work.  The Government has the budget space and the majority’s backing to do something about poverty.

Must New Zealand Pay Back All This Public Debt?

Written By: - Date published: 9:34 am, December 20th, 2020 - 22 comments

Without much fanfare, Minister Robertson has used 2020’s crisis to bury the historic scourge of monetarism and within it the excuses of the governments that used it as a pretext to sell off our key government income generators.

The Government’s finances are in very good shape

Written By: - Date published: 7:55 am, December 17th, 2020 - 66 comments

The Government’s finances are in remarkably good shape.  Who would have predicted that dealing properly with a global pandemic would have had better results for the economy than timidly dealing with it and trying to ensure that economic activity continued? But by international levels our Government debt is already low and maybe now is the time to spend on vital areas such as poverty, climate change and the housing crisis.

New leadership same old tactics

Written By: - Date published: 8:32 am, May 27th, 2020 - 24 comments

National has released a social media ad suggesting that New Zealand’s per head of population Government debt figure will be worse than Greece’s by 2014.  But the data used presumes the effects of Covid 19 in New Zealand’s figure but no effects of Covid 19 in Greece’s figure.

The “Others”.

Written By: - Date published: 12:07 pm, April 25th, 2020 - 20 comments

“Othering” has long been a staple of Governments that want to remain in power for the benefit of an Oligarchy, an “Elite”, a small ruling class, or the ones with, “the money”. Deflecting blame for economic and social issues on, an ethnicity, a class, the elderly, the poor, the young, the unemployed, young solo mothers, the disabled, immigrants, or any other convenient group that can be demonised. Very soon more of us may become the “others” we didn’t care about.

Steve Mnuchin, not Greta Thunberg, needs to go back to school

Written By: - Date published: 10:52 am, January 27th, 2020 - 11 comments

US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin has attacked Greta Thunberg for not understanding the economics of climate change.  But he has then been roundly criticised by a number of people, including his wife.

Austerity – who should pay for the financial crisis?

Written By: - Date published: 10:57 am, November 17th, 2019 - 30 comments

Nick Kelly on UK austerity and who should have paid for the financial crisis. 

The Coming Global Economic Slowdown and New Zealand

Written By: - Date published: 8:45 am, June 3rd, 2019 - 49 comments

With the United States – China trade war well underway, the sick chaos of Brexit is shrinking the U.K. economy and slowing much of Europe’s economy, and smaller economies such as that of Mexico in the crosshairs through further politically manufactured trade disputes, the second half of this year looks for New Zealand nowhere near as rosy as the first half.

Labour to relax fiscal responsibility rules

Written By: - Date published: 9:00 am, May 24th, 2019 - 72 comments

Grant Robertson has announced there will be a relaxing of the fiscal responsibility rules, although not until after the next election.

Scrap the spending cap

Written By: - Date published: 8:45 am, July 23rd, 2018 - 152 comments

Economist Ganesh Nana and Alan Johnson from the Salvation Army have urged the Government to relax the fiscal straight jacket imposed by its budget responsibility rules.

Economy 2018

Written By: - Date published: 8:00 am, December 9th, 2017 - 31 comments

It’s that time of year where we start making predictions for 2018. I see it looking not too hot, not too cold.

TPP, Corporate Coup or “Free trade”?

Written By: - Date published: 9:07 pm, November 8th, 2017 - 99 comments

However. TPP ( The trans Pacific partnership) is NOT a “Free trade” agreement. It is an attempt to cement in corporate power, to override inconvenient  local Democracy, and collect rents from local communities in perpetuity.
Since when was giving large companies extra rights in law, and rights to extract even more economic rents, “Free trade”?

Debt to Income Loan Limits

Written By: - Date published: 7:56 am, June 15th, 2017 - 116 comments

this is not the hope you were looking for

The possible introduction of debt to income lending ratios will potentially have an enormous effect on New Zealand’s housing market.

Anzac Day

Written By: - Date published: 3:36 pm, April 26th, 2017 - 15 comments

Am I the only one who is upset, over mealy mouthed politicians making flowery speeches saying “We will remember them”

when they manifestly don’t.

Household debt

Written By: - Date published: 11:47 am, March 8th, 2017 - 93 comments

The IMF warns that our household debt is far too high, as desperate tenants start raiding the Kiwisaver accounts to pay the rent.

Hickey on surpluses and Key’s bullshit

Written By: - Date published: 9:17 am, December 4th, 2016 - 36 comments

Bernard Hickey: “It is extraordinary for the Prime Minister to call the Treasury’s short and long term forecasts a “load of nonsense” and yet rely on the medium term ones to promise all manner of riches to voters on the eve of an election.”

Trump and the NZ housing bubble

Written By: - Date published: 7:26 am, November 16th, 2016 - 21 comments

The bright orange trigger for a sharp rise in mortgage interest rates may have just arrived. Our over-indebted home owners are highly vulnerable.

Tax cuts hard to sell

Written By: - Date published: 8:32 am, October 19th, 2016 - 8 comments

Herald: “…the Government ought to be banking surpluses, just as Sir Michael Cullen did during the boom of 2000-2007”.

Hickey on debt

Written By: - Date published: 10:33 am, October 16th, 2016 - 31 comments

Hickey in The Herald on Sunday: “Our household debt to income ratio of 165 per cent is now about 5 per cent above those previous highs of 2008 and rising quickly as debt rises around twice as fast as incomes.”

Interest free student loans – still safe for now?

Written By: - Date published: 10:05 am, August 18th, 2016 - 58 comments

A right wing “think-tank” wants to load students up with even more debt.

Labour on student debt – beware of clickbait headlines

Written By: - Date published: 12:48 pm, August 10th, 2016 - 125 comments

“Revealed: Labour’s plan to wipe student debt”. Nope. Saved you a click.

Financial capital is crazy OP. Time to strip it back to basics.

Written By: - Date published: 12:08 pm, August 8th, 2016 - 72 comments

Financial capital is way over powered in our current political economic system. Every aspect of our lives has been financialised and securitised, from our homes to our educations. From our drinking water to our power supply.

We’re going to burn it all, until we burn it down.

Written By: - Date published: 12:11 am, May 20th, 2016 - 173 comments

What does it really mean to reduce NZ’s total fossil fuel use by 50% by 2030: a warm up discussion for an upcoming thought experiment.

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