Daily Review 26/04/2016

18 comments on “Daily Review 26/04/2016 ”

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1. Muttonbird 1

   26 April 2016 at 7:18 pm

   News just in. Economists agree Key’s pathetic toe-dipping tinkering is a shit idea.

   http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/79308676/economists-lukewarm-on-land-tax-idea

   One economist in this article noted, “It would be unusual internationally for a land tax to only tax overseas residents”.

   Even noted anti-tax lobbyist and advocate of individual greed over collective good, David Farrar, thinks a universal land tax is the way to go.
   • weka 1.1

     26 April 2016 at 7:27 pm

     Don’t we already have a land tax? (rates).

     How would a universal land tax remedy the housing shortage? Won’t it increase costs to low income renters?
     • Muttonbird 1.1.1

       26 April 2016 at 7:48 pm

       Won’t it increase costs to low income renters?

       That’s the line spun by anti-tax advocates and the New Zealand Property Investors’ Federation. That’s the line spun whenever it is suggested that the landlord class do anything to improve conditions for their customers.

       I can’t see where that kind of thinking and the thinking of a socially conscious person meet.
       • weka 1.1.1.1

         26 April 2016 at 10:18 pm

         “I can’t see where that kind of thinking and the thinking of a socially conscious person meet.”

         anti-tax advocates and the NZPIF aren’t exactly socially conscious people.

         You could try answering the actual questions.
         • Muttonbird 1.1.1.1.1

           26 April 2016 at 10:48 pm

           anti-tax advocates and the NZPIF aren’t exactly socially conscious people.

           Quite. Yet you repeat their oft promoted line that whatever you ask the landlord class to do, it will result in more hardship for tenants.

           As for the questions:

           Rates are a local levy and not relevant to national concerns. The Auckland Council does not have the power to influence national policy.

           A universal land tax would discourage lay and casual international investment in NZ residential property, reducing demand.

           Rent is already far behind mortgage payments because wages are so low in New Zealand as a result of the open tap immigration policy. Yeah, right. Slow immigration and lift wages – who would have thunk it? Not Blinglish, that is for sure.

           Free market advocates rattle on about supply and demand. With regard to the Auckland situation it is always supply in the spotlight, never the demand.

           As I said, how can a local councils be responsible for the government policy which allows for 60,000 net migrants entering per year and thus approx 40,000 cars introduced to Auckland motorways per year? The Auckland fucking council does not set immigration policy, does it?

           We hear a lot of the blame being placed on the Auckland council for the problem but seriously, unless you are a right wing nut job and a John Key sycophant, the start and finish of the accomodation problem is the open tap immigration policy from the current government.
           • weka 1.1.1.1.1.1

             27 April 2016 at 8:15 am

             “Yet you repeat their oft promoted line that whatever you ask the landlord class to do, it will result in more hardship for tenants.”

             No, I asked some questions because I wanted to understand how a land tax was perceived as being a solution. It’s only in your head that that equates to me parroting RW lines.

             “A universal land tax would discourage lay and casual international investment in NZ residential property, reducing demand.”

             Ok, so serious overseas investment would continue? As would immigration by people buying land with financial advantage.

             And it would be harder for NZ to buy especially low income people. I still don’t see how a land tax would be a remedy. It looks like tinkering with the investment market, which will benefit some NZ investors.

             Why wouldn’t rent increase?
             • mikesh …

               27 April 2016 at 10:28 am

               “Why wouldn’t rent increase?”

               It probably would. There is no reason renters should be shielded from the burden of a land tax if one was introduced. However there are probably limits to how much rents can increase since they have to remain affordable.

               A land tax would reduce the amount of revenue or income available from which mortgage payments could be made and therefore would tend to reduce house prices. It would also promote more efficient use of land, perhaps leading to more densification in places like Auckland.
               • weka …

                 27 April 2016 at 10:36 am

                 “However there are probably limits to how much rents can increase since they have to remain affordable.”

                 yes and no. Already too many places where people can’t afford to live because of rent spikes. Auckland, Chch, Queenstown Lakes. What happens then is you get overcrowding (and all the public health issues and cost that go with that), and you get people having to move away from family and community (which then undermines society).

                 I’ve brought up the other issues in the new thread ‘Emmerson on the Land Tax’
           • M. Gray 1.1.1.1.1.2

             27 April 2016 at 8:43 am

             Agree 100% don’t forget the immigration tap also provides a big pool of cheap labour
     • AsleepWhileWalking 1.1.2

       27 April 2016 at 2:05 pm

       No, it will increase costs to the government and charities who are left to assist renters when costs are passed on.

       It’s time we were brutal with rentiers.
       • weka 1.1.2.1

         27 April 2016 at 2:22 pm

         Some renters, those that get Accommodation Supplement. Not the other though.

         “It’s time we were brutal with rentiers.”

         It’s one of the great mysteries to me why this isn’t much more of a political priority in NZ.
2. joe90 2

   26 April 2016 at 7:25 pm

   Clapper has a wee whinge.

   “As a result of the Snowden revelations, the onset of commercial encryption has accelerated by seven years,” James Clapper said during a breakfast for journalists hosted by the Christian Science Monitor.

   https://theintercept.com/2016/04/25/spy-chief-complains-that-edward-snowden-sped-up-spread-of-encryption-by-7-years/
3. Muttonbird 3

   26 April 2016 at 8:40 pm

   Martin Weekes calls the prime minister out…

   http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/302392/'where-is-the-justice‘,-dead-triplets’-father-asks

   At the time of this incident I was upset for children who lost their lives, and their families.

   I also remember being somewhat hard of heart toward Martin Weekes and his wife because of the risk they had taken in moving a very young family to the Middle East in the chase for dosh. I hated myself a bit for these thoughts and then realised that I was thinking like a right winger – individual responsibility and all. The Weekes took a gamble in a corrupt and unregulated country and tragedy struck.

   Mr Weekes said it seemed Mr Key was just waiting for the issue to go away.

   “There is nothing he can say which is sub judice, there is nothing he can do that would negatively impact this case. The only thing he can do is engage directly in a political level to say ‘hey you promised me this is going to be justice, where is the justice?’.”

   Mr Weeks has criticised the prime minister. He can now expect ridicule from the prime minister’s enablers and dirty politics to rain down upon his head.
4. Muttonbird 4

   26 April 2016 at 9:07 pm

   Fascinating. After multiple reviews to get the answer they wanted, the current government backtracks again and reluctantly prepares the ground for compensation for David Bain. Those focus groups!

   I’m sure our resident specialist in reading-between-the-lines, Matthew Hooten, will see this for what it is, a stare down by John Key of Judith Collins.

   http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/302389/bain-compensation-report-before-lawyers
5. Muttonbird 5

   26 April 2016 at 9:27 pm

   Australians more racist than first thought.

   http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/302407/australian-politicians-rebuked-over-human-rights

   Who knew?
   • M. Gray 5.1

     27 April 2016 at 8:47 am

     So are NZers racist but many of them hide behind names and online sites with their nasty diatribe
6. Muttonbird 6

   26 April 2016 at 11:01 pm

   Seriously, is this not the equivalent of lightbulb-gate which brought down the last Labour government?

   The headline is that the ministry of health wants to ban pies from hospital cafes.

   http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/79299540/moves-to-get-rid-of-confectionery-chocolate-and-icecream-from-hospital-cafes

   I expect David Farrar and his supporters to be apoplectic having heard about this issue. After all, it’s about personal choice whah, whah, whah…
7. Muttonbird 7

   26 April 2016 at 11:53 pm

   It won’t be long before our prime minister does a deal with the government of Bangladesh…

   http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11629104

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