Written By: - Date published: 4:26 pm, August 6th, 2011 - 31 comments
Cuts are good for you.
Written By: - Date published: 8:10 am, March 29th, 2011 - 21 comments
The next Fabian Seminar at Connolly Hall Thursday 31 March at 5:30pm will feature economist Geoff Bertram examine how the high level of New Zealand’s overseas debt that figures prominently in much policy discourse is largely an increase in foreign-currency liabilities voluntarily taken on by mainly Australian-owned banks in pursuit of private profit. It will be interesting – all are welcome to attend.
Written By: - Date published: 10:30 am, December 2nd, 2010 - 63 comments
The other week, Lynn and I made fun of John Key’s dream that New Zealand would become the Ireland of the South Seas. Does he still believe we should emulate the Irish? The answer is yes. Key wants to abandon proper process and speed up work on an international financial centre for New Zealand, just like the one that helped get Ireland where it is today.
Written By: - Date published: 1:33 pm, November 18th, 2010 - 59 comments
Last year, over 13,000 New Zealanders got some measure of satisfaction from ANZ’s part-owned ING in New Zealand. For over a year, half a billion dollars in investors’ funds had been locked up, during a nasty dispute between ING/ANZ and their investors. How has ANZ made things right for everyone who was hurt? They’ve renamed ING as ‘One Path’
Written By: - Date published: 12:00 pm, November 12th, 2010 - 12 comments
House prices are a good indication of how the economy is going. They rose rapidly in the 2000s, stalled in 2007, plummeted in 2008, and made a slight recovery in 2009. Now they’re heading down again. The median house price is over 16% below the peak in late 2007 and I reckon they’ve got a long down way to go yet.
Written By: - Date published: 3:15 pm, July 6th, 2010 - 13 comments
Economists, bankers, Treasury officials, financial wizards of various kinds, they like to pretend that they know what they’re talking about. All too often they don’t. Predicting the behaviour of complex systems is hard. Consider for example, the big banks’ predictions on the winner of the Football World Cup…
Written By: - Date published: 11:56 pm, April 21st, 2010 - 33 comments
Finsec’s Andrew Campbell introduces the union’s Better Banking, a trans-Tasman campaign they’re running with their Aussie counterparts to get a better deal for bank workers and bank customers. Campbell notes the banks’ $1 billion profit in the last 3 months alone and asks “Have your fees gone down? Has your mortgage payment become more manageable?”
Written By: - Date published: 10:30 am, February 16th, 2010 - 52 comments
You know how the world has been through the worst financial crisis in decades? You know how countries like Ireland and Iceland who had made themselves into financial hubs via tax breaks for banks are now deep in the crap with burgeoning debt and unemployment? Why don’t we do what they did?
Written By: - Date published: 10:30 am, December 24th, 2009 - 20 comments
The banks, who tried to rip us off to the tune of $2.6 billion, have agreed to pay us $2.2 billion. I don’t get it. We’ve spent tens of millions so far on court cases to get our money. We’ve won every case. The judgments have been damning of the banks. So, why did the IRD agree …
Written By: - Date published: 2:20 pm, June 8th, 2009 - 59 comments
As if denying Aucklanders the chance to have their say on the super city wasn’t enough National now seems determined to tell them who their mayor’s going to be too. It’s absolutely unacceptable for the PM to be endorsing John Banks as the mayor of the super city.
Written By: - Date published: 5:00 am, April 28th, 2009 - 3 comments
Does it strike anyone else as odd that at a time when taxpayers are guaranteeing the banking system with public funds, banks have made no such guarantee to their staff about job security? While the banks made combined profits in excess of $2.5 billion and CEOs recieve salary packages of more than $2 million each, …
Written By: - Date published: 11:30 am, April 15th, 2009 - 8 comments
Last week, John Key was bouncing on a new cloud. The Australian Government had teamed up with banks to help stop homeowners defaulting on their mortgages. Key publicly mused that ‘his’ government could do the same here. We said it was only a matter of time until English quietly killed the idea. Sure enough: “The …
Written By: - Date published: 2:34 pm, May 2nd, 2008 - 29 comments
Today, ANZ and National Bank announced they are lifting their variable mortgage rates another quarter of a percent to 10.95%. That comes a week after the two banks, which are jointly owned, announced a net profit of $520 million in six months, up 7% on the previous period. Yesterday, Westpac announced a $244 million profit, …
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