The funding of the CNE is not transparent. It failed to answer a think tank survey by the Corporate Europe Observatory in 2005. However, the annual reports of Exxon Mobil reveal that CNE in 2003 and 2004 received $40,000 and $80,000 respectively for its “Global Climate Change Education Efforts”.

In other words, your citation is bollocks.

I don’t know what esoteric economic volume you could cite to provide even an etheric substantiation of your claim (was it something Greenspan said, perhaps?), but how about this: if the multinationals operating in the third world gave one flying fuck about non-shareholding human beings, would there be a need for international aid in the first place?

I prefer the latter.

“Labour leader Phil Goff was yesterday optimistic that the goal of an FTA remained on track.”

http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/2131050/Obama-puts-off-trade-talks

He’s right. You have to be a a bit thick to not think free trade is a good thing for what is often described as an export lead economy, so its no surprise that IrishBill is writing this.

Capitalism is a long way from being perfect but it is a hell of a lot better than every other alternative.

Please explain the benefits of protectionism?

There can be no free trade, even including workers, under capitalism. The solution to the problem is to get rid of the market and to socialise the means of production, not as bailouts for the rich, but as the social property owned collectively by the vast mass of those who work for a living.

Mind you National could bomb Fiji and I’d still likely vote for them.

[lprent: we don't have offensive air weapons. Perhaps you mean 'shelled' by the navy]