Rentiers on notice

36 comments on “Rentiers on notice ”

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1. geoff 1

   20 April 2013 at 9:53 am

   Nice reminder of what NZ’s biggest problem is.
   • Colonial Viper 1.1

     20 April 2013 at 10:16 am

     That and the politicians who support them. Labour’s attempt to bring property investor rentiers to heel was weak and washed out (and didn’t touch the banks who are a major factor behind sky high house prices).

     But Labour has pretty much hit a home run with NZ Power.

     The banks are an absolute must to address next. They are extracting an excess $500M-$1000M a year out of the NZ economy, from NZ businesses, workers, mortgage holders, than can be justified in the bankers wildest dreams.
     • tc 1.1.1

       20 April 2013 at 12:33 pm

       ‘The banks are an absolute must to address next.’ +1

       All those profits they extract that could be reinvested in NZ, they are also stifling growth with their aggresive policies on business/personal running a zero risk winner takes all game.

       I’ve know of someone about to made bankrupt by Wpac over his house payments , he’s had 3 willing buyers over 18 months, all on solid incomes and all turned down by the banks as not meeting criteria.
       • geoff 1.1.1.1

         20 April 2013 at 2:11 pm

         If a political party had the stones to show how all of this rent-seeking behaviour is connected and to present that in a coherent vision to the mainstream then they would romp to victory.

         The Green’s are closest to doing this but they haven’t pulled it together into a consistent over-arching narrative. Mana also has a lot of good points but unfortunately they have not reached critical mass and are still too easily pigeon-holed as extremists by the mainstream. Some of Hone’s stunts haven’t helped in that regard either.

         The frustrating thing is that creating the content for media that would achieve those goals would be so easy (and fun) to make. Labour’s talking head vid during the last election was in the right direction but didn’t go far enough and didn’t have any humour (that I can recall) which would be essential to make it ‘go viral’.
       • Hilary 1.1.1.2

         20 April 2013 at 8:00 pm

         Anyone noticed the TSB TV ad? Nice little bit of political history about how they resisted the merger with Westpac despite much political pressure and the rest of Trustbank joining up, and then the whole lot was sold to Australia. Leaving TSB still a community and NZ owned bank.
   • Draco T Bastard 1.2

     20 April 2013 at 2:32 pm

     Yep, the rich and their demand for ever higher profits.
2. johnm 2

   20 April 2013 at 10:11 am

   100% True 🙂

   Rentier Behavior (RH) is the major cause of inequality. Buying a house is almost impossible for our young people now but if you removed all the capital gains sharks out of the market, fuelled by Australian Bank money and by a self reinforcing bidding upwards mechanism, with a 80% Capital gains tax backdated 15 years the housing market would quickly return to a sane level of value and young kiwis could then have a stake in their own land whereas now they might as well just go to Australia.

   Neoliberal regimes have always lusted after Public Assets as these must continue for the public good but now the profit vultures and shareholders want the action. The rest of the investment NL edifice has collapsed under the weight of its own greed, so let’s get those Public assets hang the common good.

   Another evil of RB in stealing our assets is that the income stream is lost forever to the public purse. Next thing the complicit NL government screams: “We don’t have money for public services,we have to cut and cut them do austerity” other than to go into debt and become debt slaves to foreign bankers.

   Those who buy say Power Companies will have borrowed the money on the international market. So: the hapless kiwi consumer is paying:
   1. Foreign debt loaded with interest
   2. Shareholders piece of the pie
   3. CEO excessive salary packages
   4. Profit
   Look at the U$K since privatising their Power prices have become unaffordable for ordinary Brits.
   Poverty stalks that unhappy land ravaged by RH NeoLiberal profit taking and privatisation.

   When I and my wife first bought a house in NZ in 1981 it gave us both a feeling of belonging, a stake, something to work for a vital connection to NZ society. But today it’s be almost impossible without 30 years of debt, if you have to rent all your life well, you might as well go to Australia, renting is a serf’s existence.
   • Colonial Viper 2.1

     20 April 2013 at 10:20 am

     You got it. NZ’s massive house value increase has been fed by hot banking money. The bigger the easy mortgages which are available, the more house prices increase. Which further justifies even bigger mortgage debt being approved for hapless drowning workers.
     • Descendant Of Sssmith 2.1.1

       20 April 2013 at 10:50 am

       It’s also fed by low wages and high profits.

       Company lowers wages to make more profit they then have to do something with that money.

       I know lets buy property so I can get the wages back that I’ve already cut.

       Still not enough – my workers can’t afford to buy stuff now cause their wages are low and I’ve upped their rent.

       I’ll just have to lend them money to pay for the things they can no longer afford.

       The low wage high profit model only ever leads to people working for nothing. Trickle up theory except it’s not a trickle.

       The same people that own the companies, own the rental properties and own the banks. Individual share ownership has largely been replaced with unit trust and fund manager type ownership arrangements where your money is used but the voting rights belong to the trust managers.

       The theft of people’s labour through low wages just gets compounded in a viscous circle.

       Even a return to 50% of GDP being paid out in wages through both more jobs and higher pay would provide an enormous boost to the economy. If the distribution has to be through the tax system and jobs via the public sector so be it.

       That in itself if done with a social conscience in mind could significantly increase opportunities for those with disabilities and youth.

       Let’s not pretend that the private sector will ever create enough jobs for those two groups in particular. They never have in New Zealand and when left to their own accord things only get worse for those groups.
       • Colonial Viper 2.1.1.1

         20 April 2013 at 10:59 am

         It’s genius though isn’t it? Corporate and investor profits skyrocket by suppressing workers wages.

         Then you let workers maintain a decent standard of living by lending to them the same monies that you witheld from their wages. And extracting profitable interest back.

         OR buying up a rental portfolio, and extracting back the meagre wages you did pay out via weekly rent payable by the workers you employ.

         Like I said, pure genius.
         • Alanz 2.1.1.1.1

           20 April 2013 at 11:13 am

           Tony Benn sums it up well and he had direct insight from being on the inside, having been pressured by bankers and industrialists:

           http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qX-P4mx1FLU
         • Descendant Of Sssmith 2.1.1.1.2

           20 April 2013 at 11:29 am

           Trouble is it’s well known behaviour historically.

           The 1% is the company store.

           And for those who think that there is more competition and choice now that in the 70’s just like the competition in the power sector much of that competition is contrived and fake – just like the fake power industry competition.

           Different branding by the same company and by the same owners is not competition.

           It’s just a pretence of competition.
           • Draco T Bastard 2.1.1.1.2.1

             20 April 2013 at 3:44 pm

             Different branding by the same company and by the same owners is not competition.

             It’s just a pretence of competition.

             Bingo!

             The four companies that own the world

             There’s no competition out there. Competition lowers profits.
             • joe90 …

               20 April 2013 at 8:34 pm

               Fixed the link – The four companies that own the world
               • ghostrider888 …

                 20 April 2013 at 8:44 pm

                 -INDEX that link my friend, pass it over to me…
                 …you’ve been hanging on to it
               • Draco T Bastard …

                 21 April 2013 at 10:01 am

                 Oh, right, thanx. WordPress failing to be helpful again by adding BS to the address because the one I put in place didn’t have HTTP:// on it.

                 The four companies that own the world
         • Draco T Bastard 2.1.1.1.3

           20 April 2013 at 3:32 pm

           http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIfu2A0ezq0
           • Descendant Of Sssmith 2.1.1.1.3.1

             20 April 2013 at 4:17 pm

             And some of the story behnd the song

             http://www.wvgenweb.org/wvcoal/essays/med3.htm

             And let’s not think this doesn’t happen here either. Just ask some of the workers in clothing shops where they have to buy their clothes from, workers in food shops if they are allowed to buy lunch from the competitor down the road – yep the owner still wants to control you even when they have paid you.
             • Colonial Viper …

               20 April 2013 at 4:21 pm

               And the JOhnny Cash remake

               http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfp2O9ADwGk
             • joe90 …

               20 April 2013 at 9:11 pm

               Lewis Hine images.
               • ghostrider888 …

                 20 April 2013 at 9:15 pm

                 link fault joe
               • joe90 …

                 20 April 2013 at 9:20 pm

                 Working for me but try these.

                 http://www.googleimageripper.com/#!/?search=true&key=Lewis+Hine+%252B+child+miner&page_start=1&safemode=on&tbs=any&silu=yes&autoremove_not_found=yes

                 google

                 http://lewishinephotographs.com/
                 • ghostrider888 …

                   20 April 2013 at 9:34 pm

                   all good; the two to the + + search must be a firewall issue of mine; apologies. Was reflecting again today just how un-reflective the perspective of most folk is on where their goods come from and how they derive there own income; as the days roll over I feel more confident and certain in the critical stance I have adopted against the social and economic phenomena we comment openly on here; it is freakin criminal how some view there fellow travellers, freakin criminal;

                   still, we got te interwebz now; “Time meant nothing never would do again” and when one ties all we have learned together recently, aint that the Gods honest truth for all thats plain to see.
           • joe90 2.1.1.1.3.2

             20 April 2013 at 8:30 pm

             The Merle Travis original from 1947.

             http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3I15_KUsOzs

             edit:
             Another from Merle Travis – Dark as a Dungeon
             • ghostrider888 …

               20 April 2013 at 8:35 pm

               and “Thats Country” !
     • tc 2.1.2

       20 April 2013 at 12:42 pm

       It’s also fuelled by no CGT as any rise in value is tax free for speculators.

       Asked an english couple the other day where they see the biggest investment opportunity and they replied any dwelling within 10k of akl CBD, who cares what you pay with no public transport/CGT/standards enforced on rentals, so we coiuld rent it without touching it, it’s a no brainer.
       • Colonial Viper 2.1.2.1

         20 April 2013 at 1:00 pm

         A serious CGT would apply to all houses even the family home, with monies going directly into social housing.

         There is a simple objective to make people understand: a home is a retirement investment, but don’t expect to make speculative tax free gains out of it.
         • weka 2.1.2.1.1

           20 April 2013 at 3:59 pm

           For some people a home is just home. Defining a home as primarily/solely a financial investment is anti-community.
         • RedLogix 2.1.2.1.2

           20 April 2013 at 4:06 pm

           There is a simple objective to make people understand: a home is a retirement investment, but don’t expect to make speculative tax free gains out of it.

           Absolutely agree. While I’ve made no secret of the fact that I have substantially invested in rental property (actually building rather than just buying) … I have zero intention of selling in the foreseeable future. Therefore capital gain is of zero interest to us.

           We’ve done our long-term projections based on exactly what property always has done over the long-term … a very boring inflation plus 2%.
3. weka 3

   20 April 2013 at 10:48 am

   “the market that National created sets the price that you get for that power at the cost of the most expensive plant that runs to match demand.”

   How and why did that come about?
   • Colonial Viper 3.1

     20 April 2013 at 11:02 am

     I presume its the usual story of “free marketeers” setting the market rules in order to extract the most rent possible from hapless NZers.
   • Draco T Bastard 3.2

     20 April 2013 at 3:52 pm

     It’s the theory of free-market economics.

     The price of something on the market is, supposedly, the cheapest that the most expensive can sell it for. Everyone else, who can produce it cheaper, thus makes higher profits which is supposed to push investment towards the cheaper means of production which will, eventually, take the most expensive out of the market with the result that prices become ever cheaper.

     It’s a nice, simple hypothesis. Doesn’t work though as the ever increasing price of power shows.
4. kiwicommie 4

   20 April 2013 at 1:24 pm

   “Joyce cries for the declining value of their shares but that fall tells us that the market thinks Labour and the Greens will govern.” I thought that too, can’t wait till they get the boot (even if it is ages away in 2014).
5. millsy 5

   20 April 2013 at 8:22 pm

   Brian “Listing everything on the NZX will solve all of all our problems” Gaynor and Francesca “I for one welcome our Middle Kingdom overlords” O’Sullivan, are going on about how the NZ Power plan will wipe out the wealth of shareholders.

   I say, tough titty.

   People who use their savings to play on the stock exchange are well aware that these things can happen. You can be a millionaire one day, and a pauper the next. Thats how it happens. You want somewhere to put your money, put it in a bank. Don’t use it to screw what money they can get out of the single mothers in Otara and the pensioners in Westport. That is just un-kiwi.
   • Colonial Viper 5.1

     20 April 2013 at 9:39 pm

     Labour has given Fran O’Sullivan plenty of fair warning.

     Fran, if you were a prudent investor, rotate your monies out of electricity stocks. It’s quite easy if you think its a sinking ship, there’s no need to follow the ship down.

     HOWEVER NZ Power as a single buyer is likely to be able to offer power firms far more market stability, ability to forward plan and consistency in profits.

     So what do you want eh? Some capitalist type trade-offs your clan are supposedly expert at, to be had there methinks.
   • felix 5.2

     20 April 2013 at 9:54 pm

     Tough titty indeed.

     If your “wealth” can be wiped out by an effort to allow old people to be able to afford to heat their homes, then it was never really yours.

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