capitalism

Categories under capitalism

Foreign banks buggering NZ

Written By: - Date published: 4:34 pm, January 10th, 2010 - 86 comments

I’m no big city banker. But I was under the impression that profit is the income that is left over once you’ve paid your costs. Once you pay your tax on that, your net profit is what is left to pay to the owners as dividends or reinvest. So how the hell did the Aussie-owned banks […]

Re-run: Benefits, wages and anger

Written By: - Date published: 8:28 am, December 29th, 2009 - 46 comments

The recent furore about benefit levels has brought a lot of comments along the lines of “I don’t get it why should they?” out of the woodwork along with a lot of hardluck stories from low wage earners such as this one from Phoenix on Colin Espiner’s blog: I am 6 months pregnant with my […]

Neolibs’ great experiment in meltdown

Written By: - Date published: 12:45 pm, December 15th, 2009 - 41 comments

With huge infusions of EU cash and deregulation that brought in foreign companies looking to make a quick buck, Ireland’s economy grew pretty quickly over the past 25 years. On the back of their new-found wealth, Irish governments implemented a neoliberal revolution – cutting taxes for the rich, privatising public assets, the usual formula for […]

Why deny: the useful idiots

Written By: - Date published: 7:29 am, December 15th, 2009 - 91 comments

According to myth (it seems), Lenin called socialists in the West ‘useful idiots’ – people whose ideological fervour saw them accidentally aid the realpolitik aims of the USSR. Similarly, an army of useful idiots are the greenhouse polluters’ best weapon as they attempt to save their right to pollute for profit. These are people who […]

Why deny: the lobby groups/polluters

Written By: - Date published: 8:00 am, December 14th, 2009 - 93 comments

This is the first in a three part series on the climate change denial industry. I’m trying to understand why there is such a powerful, well-funded, and ideologically solid body of opposition to a body of scientific evidence that even the scientists employed by one of the chief denier lobby groups called “undeniable” (in a […]

Guaranteed minimum income + capital tax, the way forward?

Written By: - Date published: 9:19 am, December 2nd, 2009 - 49 comments

Occasionally something in politics really surprises you. Like when I turned over to Campbell Live last night (I’d seen the Family Guy episode too often) and there was Gareth Morgan proposing a guaranteed minimum income funded by a comprehensive capital tax. Guaranteed minimum income/negative income tax is hardly a new idea (I’ve been meaning to […]

Plutonomy

Written By: - Date published: 2:29 pm, November 18th, 2009 - 45 comments

In Michael Moore’s Capitalism: A Love Story (which is excellent, btw) he refers to two 2005 Citigroup memos about ‘plutonomy’ economies and political structures designed with the primary purpose of further enriching the rich. They’re stunning, not only for their frank admission that capitalism favours a tiny portion of the population at the expense of […]

More jobs and pay bad – JPMorgan

Written By: - Date published: 11:19 am, November 13th, 2009 - 7 comments

I was sent a press release from financiers JPMorgan in Australia. There’s a line in it that reveals much about how the capitalist class views the rest of us. “labour shortages and wage pressures probably will rear their heads again. This will, of course, be a concern for the RBA [Reserve Bank of Australia]” Let […]

McCarten on capitalism

Written By: - Date published: 11:25 am, November 8th, 2009 - 32 comments

Matt McCarten’s Herald column this week is a call for every working New Zealander to go and see Michael Moore’s Capitalism: A Love Story. I haven’t managed to catch it yet, but judging by McCarten’s review Moore’s latest will be a must-see: Some of the points he raises – such as workers having representation on […]

The myth of upward mobility

Written By: - Date published: 9:00 am, November 6th, 2009 - 62 comments

Yesterday, we looked at what a vastly unfair and unequal system capitalism is. The control of the fruits of production by the few means that wealth accumulates to them and the rest of us get a pittance. The wealthiest 10% of people own over half of the wealth of this country – net worths of […]

Is this as good as it gets?

Written By: - Date published: 10:59 am, November 5th, 2009 - 66 comments

Most of the wealth in New Zealand is owned by a tiny fraction of the people because our political/economic system makes it that way. 10% of people have more income than 50% combined.   That’s just income. The inequality of wealth distribution is far greater. The net wealth of 10% of people is 20 times […]

NZ’s capitalists dream of absolute power

Written By: - Date published: 6:49 am, November 5th, 2009 - 20 comments

From Stuff: “Richlister Alan Gibbs will host former National Party leader Don Brash and ACT founder Sir Roger Douglas to discuss what they would do as “New Zealand’s dictator for a year” That New Zealand’s rich and powerful have invited their political hirelings from ACT and National to fantasise about eliminating any last shreds of democracy that […]

Remember who they’re fighting for

Written By: - Date published: 8:30 am, October 28th, 2009 - Comments Off on Remember who they’re fighting for

This memo was sent by the Insurance Council to its members in 2005 but it may as well have been sent this week. Because as sure as National was keeping its agenda secret and having clandestine talks with the insurers about privatising ACC in 2005 they will be having the same talks under wraps while […]

Big business demands to pillage state

Written By: - Date published: 5:49 pm, October 24th, 2009 - 18 comments

Fran O’Sullivan runs up some more big business proposals today unsubtly reminding Key that big business, which put up the cash to get him into power, expects pay back by being allowed to pillage the State: Behind the scenes the two task-forces investigating capital markets and tax reforms are taking a look at whether a […]

Management: clueless

Written By: - Date published: 10:30 am, October 23rd, 2009 - 5 comments

Saw this article on Stuff yesterday: Employers and employees have dramatically different opinions of why workers remain in their jobs, says research released on Tuesday showing US companies may struggle to retain employees in an improved job market. Employees cite benefits, financial compensation, and their career growth and earnings potential as the top three reasons […]

Govt tax advisor told Westpac how to cheat on taxes

Written By: - Date published: 10:17 am, October 22nd, 2009 - 3 comments

John Shewan is a member of the Government’s Tax Working Group. A decade ago he was advising Westpac what minimal amount of tax it should pay to avoid arousing IRD’s suspicion as it perpetrated the single biggest tax rip off in New Zealand history. Here’s the key bit from the High Court judgment: [563] In […]

Key’s divide and rule to cut wages

Written By: - Date published: 8:28 am, October 22nd, 2009 - 20 comments

John Key says that if school support staff want pay-rises then teachers should sacrifice the ones they bargained for. Tell him to get stuffed. I don’t see him and his rich mates handing back the hundreds of dollars a week each in tax-cuts that National gave. I don’t see Key or his buddies Mark Weldon and Rob Fyfe […]

Poor managers hurting NZ

Written By: - Date published: 1:23 pm, October 14th, 2009 - 22 comments

What a sad state the management workforce of this country is in. Just think about these recent stories: Open Country, locking out their workers, employing scab labour, creating an environmental mess and blaming it on the workers they locked out – all because the workers joined the union and wanted some guaranteed hours. The appalling way that […]

Why no punishment for Westpac?

Written By: - Date published: 8:26 am, October 13th, 2009 - 80 comments

You would have seen that Westpac was found to have undertaken the largest theft of tax money in New Zealand history. From 1998 to 2002, they hid $586 million in tax due to our government. Add about 6% interest a year and the total they owe us is $961 million. My problem is that the […]

Dead peasant insurance

Written By: - Date published: 3:33 pm, October 10th, 2009 - 18 comments

In case you needed reminding how completely deviod of morals and ethics unbridled capitalism is, meet dead peasant insurance. Here’s Mark Ames of Exiled Online‘s beautiful rant against employers making money off their workers’ deaths, and the whole screwed up, unethical, inhuman system:

Capitalism: A Love Story

Written By: - Date published: 4:45 pm, October 5th, 2009 - 19 comments

Just found the trailer on youtube. No word yet when it’s coming to New Zealand.

Crocodile tears from Crafars

Written By: - Date published: 3:20 pm, September 29th, 2009 - 36 comments

I saw one of the Crafar brothers on the TV last night. Crying fake tears over calves that a whistle-blower had revealed were being left to starve on one of their farms. The Crafars are prime examples of what’s wrong with the capitalist class and, because capitalism is essentially a system that rewards sociopathy and […]

Reverse Midas Touch

Written By: - Date published: 1:41 pm, September 26th, 2009 - 14 comments

And so ends a great day’s trading under the erstwhile eye of Mr Key. Looks like they won’t be inviting John back to give the opening bell at the NYSE.

Socialist America

Written By: - Date published: 9:21 am, September 26th, 2009 - 8 comments

The health care debate going on in America is a very serious debate, and who wins it has important implications for what kind of direction America takes from here (more in a later post perhaps). The Republican / Conservative / talk back radio framing of the debate is as dishonest as it is predictable. This […]

No pay freeze at the top

Written By: - Date published: 9:28 am, September 23rd, 2009 - 11 comments

It seems the trend of rewarding company bosses with extravagant pay rises regardless of performance isn’t limited to Telecom’s $7 million man, Paul Reynolds. The Dom Post reports the bosses of Contact and Skellerup have been given huge pay rises, despite both companies’ profits taking a dive in the last year. Contact’s managing director David […]

No, I’ll pay, I insist

Written By: - Date published: 1:08 pm, September 21st, 2009 - 18 comments

So trucking companies are unwilling to pay for the extra damage that 53 tonne trucks will do. Companies trying to privatise the gains and socialise the losses? Gotta love those capitalists. And there’s Joyce telling us to harden up and cop it. Thank goodness we’ve got the Tories helping private business pocket gains at the taxpayers’ cost. […]

Corporate bully-boys step it up a level

Written By: - Date published: 6:14 am, September 18th, 2009 - 16 comments

The Open Country Cheese dispute is underway. Workers are striking against the bosses’ attempts to casualise their hours and reduce their conditions. They are not striking for huge pay increases, despite the lies of Open Country. Open Country Cheese, part-owned by the notorious Talleys and tied to various National MPs via the Dairy Investment Fund […]

What next, Soylent Green?

Written By: - Date published: 5:31 am, September 16th, 2009 - 29 comments

The Wall Street financiers crapped out on their sub-prime gambles, inflicting economic devastation on the taxpayers who generously bailed-them out in return. Now, they need a new gamble, a new game in which they bet using other people’s money while skimming off the cream for themselves until it all collapses. The new game? Betting on […]

Battlelines

Written By: - Date published: 2:00 pm, September 11th, 2009 - 7 comments

We’re seeing a new pattern in work relations emerging. The big employers, emboldened by having their party in power and using the recession as an excuse, are attacking workers’ pay and conditions. But this isn’t 1991 redux. The unionised workers of today have joined voluntarily and believe in collective action; the unions are no longer […]

Capitalism, it’s not a love-in

Written By: - Date published: 5:10 am, September 2nd, 2009 - 38 comments

I find the Right’s assumption that the bosses are acting in some greater interest fascinating. There’s this unwillingness to believe that the bosses would be acting in their own interests and that what’s in their interests are often not in the interests of the rest of us. Look at the comments yesterday on the Telecom […]

Benefits, wages and anger

Written By: - Date published: 11:51 am, July 31st, 2009 - 69 comments

The recent furore about benefit levels has brought a lot of comments along the lines of ” I don’t get it why should they?” out of the woodwork along with a lot of hardluck stories from low wage earners such as this one from Phoenix on Colin Espiner’s blog: I am 6 months pregnant with […]