capitalism

Categories under capitalism

The neoliberal revolution

Written By: - Date published: 1:31 pm, April 1st, 2017 - 31 comments

Thirty years old today – the longest April Fool’s joke in history?

Trumping Idiocy

Written By: - Date published: 4:59 pm, March 29th, 2017 - 28 comments

If you are absolutely determined to be one of the idiot legion who’re forever squirreling their heads deeper into sand, then don’t read this post.

Down the Gurgler.

Written By: - Date published: 4:18 pm, March 27th, 2017 - 69 comments

Getting sick, tired and angry of this malarkey.

Free market efficiency in health – not

Written By: - Date published: 7:05 am, March 15th, 2017 - 37 comments

The idea of free market efficiency is not nearly as powerful or universal as its (often fanatical) proponents would have us believe. The sorry state of the USA’s health system is yet another compelling example of its limitations.

There are no surpluses

Written By: - Date published: 9:48 am, March 14th, 2017 - 38 comments

There are no surpluses in NZ right now, not in any real sense. There is only debt, negative externalities and deferred costs.

Social investment meets the surveillance state

Written By: - Date published: 11:14 pm, March 4th, 2017 - 47 comments

First they came for the budgeting services. Now we know that every social service agency  has to provide clients’ private personal data to the Ministry of Social Development or get no funding. Apparently it’s  essential to Bill English’s much-touted and little understood “social investment” strategy, which is sounding more like something out of Orwell’s 1984. […]

The social damage wrought by homes as commoditites

Written By: - Date published: 7:04 am, March 4th, 2017 - 82 comments

A recent UN report highlights the waste of treating homes as commodities. It should sound awfully familiar in the NZ context.

Where to now for the left?

Written By: - Date published: 10:43 am, February 26th, 2017 - 115 comments

With the right in ascendancy throughout the Western World what does the left do to change this?

Can we even afford to be tenants in our own country?

Written By: - Date published: 9:29 am, February 25th, 2017 - 93 comments

Being tenants in our own country is starting to look like the good old days.

It’s past time to be bold about water

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, February 25th, 2017 - 147 comments

Water is both the front line and the rallying cry.

The new world order

Written By: - Date published: 12:00 pm, February 18th, 2017 - 60 comments

With former adversaries USA and Russia now the best of friends and with China now emerging again as the preeminent economy in the world the question is will the transition of power be handled smoothly?

Treat her right

Written By: - Date published: 11:15 am, February 16th, 2017 - 34 comments

The Equal Pay Act was passed in 1972. It’s now 2017 and it’s never been enforced. It’s time to ‘Treat Her Right’.

We Are All ‘Identarian’ Now

Written By: - Date published: 12:31 am, February 14th, 2017 - 106 comments

There has been an unfortunate trend developing in recent weeks, of negatively labelling people who dare to have a different opinion on equality to the labeller, as identarian. This description is something to be appreciated in these times when dark forces appear to be on the rise again.

Panama Papers – Mossack Fonseca founders arrested

Written By: - Date published: 8:09 am, February 13th, 2017 - 30 comments

In the story that keeps rolling on, Mossack Fonseca founders arrested for money laundering.

The SOE sell down three years on

Written By: - Date published: 8:30 am, February 7th, 2017 - 78 comments

Some time in the next 12 months it is likely that the forgone dividend payments and loss in share value from the Power Company shares and Air NZ share sale will be greater than the amount received, only three years after the sale.

Smartest guy in the room

Written By: - Date published: 1:43 pm, February 4th, 2017 - 93 comments

The Government signed a deal with Peter Thiel that socialised the losses and allowed him to privatise the gains of the joint venture fund that the parties entered into.

Americans Killed By Terrorists since 9/11.

Written By: - Date published: 8:39 pm, January 30th, 2017 - 27 comments

Killed in the USA?

Punching Nazis, and practicing resistance

Written By: - Date published: 12:40 pm, January 27th, 2017 - 186 comments

Being human, Linda Tirado, and lessons for New Zealand.

Privatised Education Strikes Again.

Written By: - Date published: 11:59 am, January 25th, 2017 - 20 comments

The problems we have identified many times, with privatisation of essential services, continue.

RIP TPP

Written By: - Date published: 8:39 am, January 24th, 2017 - 70 comments

US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order withdrawing the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement and leaving the agreement effectively dead in its tracks.

Oxfam on world wealth inequality

Written By: - Date published: 8:38 am, January 17th, 2017 - 94 comments

Guardian: “The world’s eight richest billionaires control the same wealth between them as the poorest half of the globe’s population, according to a charity warning of an ever-increasing and dangerous concentration of wealth.”

More Multi-millionaires than ever!

Written By: - Date published: 11:59 am, January 16th, 2017 - 98 comments

In this glorious  ‘go ahead’, ‘get ahead’ land of opportunity…

Oxfam on wealth inequality in NZ

Written By: - Date published: 11:32 am, January 16th, 2017 - 36 comments

Oxfam’s report on wealth inequality in NZ has some staggering headline numbers.

Pathological consumption

Written By: - Date published: 2:23 pm, January 5th, 2017 - 84 comments

On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, a free trip to the landfill and a subscription to the end of the world as we know it.

If home is where the heart is, then…

Written By: - Date published: 11:32 am, January 4th, 2017 - 188 comments

What have we become?

Weak Cities

Written By: - Date published: 8:30 am, December 16th, 2016 - 44 comments

Current governance structures for our cities that rely on corporate management are proving to be ineffective and are not delivering the sort of result our democracy needs.

Taxing multinationals

Written By: - Date published: 9:58 am, December 15th, 2016 - 53 comments

In March the Nats were still rejecting the idea of a crackdown on multinational companies’ tax avoidance. But there has been – in large part due to the work of Matt Nippert in The Herald – a partial back-down. Another Labour policy adopted!

This pattern of Kiwi’s exploiting migrants is shameful

Written By: - Date published: 8:17 am, December 14th, 2016 - 88 comments

A depressing feature in The Herald this morning explores the exploitation of migrant workers. The same pattern as the private sector’s treatment of foreign students. This paints a shameful picture of New Zealand. Greed has made us forget who we were.

Dire warnings of the bleeding obvious

Written By: - Date published: 7:57 am, December 1st, 2016 - 14 comments

Warnings from the government and the Reserve Bank that first home buyers are taking on too much debt. Prices are too high, wages are too low, interest rates are rising. These warnings are effectively telling the average first home buyer to give up.

Tax the Rich An animated fairy tale

Written By: - Date published: 8:52 am, November 30th, 2016 - 10 comments

A short video produced by US unions “to support a fairer tax system”.

The sharemarket moved because…

Written By: - Date published: 10:07 am, November 23rd, 2016 - 17 comments

This is just something that gets my goat, and there was a particularly egregious example on the RNZ Business News this morning. Apparently Wall St was going ‘gangbusters’, and the reason they came up with for that was ‘Wall St’ liking Donald Trump’s policies (lowering tax and building infrastructure apparently).  Not long ago Wall St […]