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Doing what we’re best at

Written By: - Date published: 2:37 pm, September 24th, 2013 - 53 comments

National is a very traditional party. They think that NZ is good at clearing land and raising animals, with a bit of mining on the side. The population is there to service farmers and miners on low wages. That may have been the case in the 1950’s. But as usual they’re hopelessly dated. Sometimes in recent years it has appeared to me that Labour thinks that way as well. But it looks like David Cunliffe is intent on refocusing us back on the burgeoning hi-wage and hi-growth hi-tech sector.

The neoliberalisation of Universities

Written By: - Date published: 8:08 am, May 12th, 2013 - 43 comments

An article in today’s Sunday Star Times, provides evidence of an organised business in providing students with assignments for their tertiary education courses.  The focus is on Chinese ethnicity.  Ultimately, the blame for such rorts lies with the neoliberalisation of universities: the undermining of the critical endeavour of education.

Sums it up, really

Written By: - Date published: 7:56 am, April 12th, 2013 - 134 comments

National’s 3 quarters of the way through its time at the crease now. And what has it achieved? A record debt pile. 300,000 jobless. 100,000 underemployed. Rising poverty. 1,000 a week fleeing to Australia. A new housing bubble. A record high dollar that’s killing our businesses. And falling household incomes. A list of articles on Stuff sums it up.

One day older and deeper in debt

Written By: - Date published: 7:15 am, March 21st, 2013 - 105 comments

There’s this almost puritan kind of myth that we’ve got so much international debt as punishment for our spendthrift ways. We ‘live beyond our means’, apparently. But it’s not true. If ‘our means’ is the money we make in exports, then most of the time, they exceed what we spend on imports. Yet, we run a $10 billion deficit as a country. Why? Because of the profit outflow.

Akl Unitary Plan: the good, the bad & the debatable

Written By: - Date published: 10:44 am, March 17th, 2013 - 39 comments

The Draft Auckland Unitary Plan has much to commend it.  It focuses on resource management, responds to the reality of climate change & aims for a more dense but ‘liveable’ city.  It has weaknesses, embraces destructive “growth” and raises questions: e.g. about affordable housing & environmental management.

John Key: High dollar works for me

Written By: - Date published: 10:43 am, February 28th, 2013 - 24 comments

As a Canadian currency dealer dubs the NZ$ the “new gold”, John Key sings the praises of a high dollar

Missive to a parasite

Written By: - Date published: 9:58 am, February 11th, 2013 - 25 comments

Convicted fraudster and Herald columnist Damien Grant says ‘good riddance’ to manufacturing in his latest piece. A lower dollar would make his next smartphone more expensive, he says. When not in jail, Grant’s a receiver. Things are good for him at the moment. But, I’ll tell him this: even carrion birds ultimately need a healthy herd to scavenge off.

Reserve Bank admits problem, sits on hands

Written By: - Date published: 1:27 pm, January 31st, 2013 - 14 comments

Inflation is still below the Reserve Bank’s  target band of 1-3%. It says: “ This mainly reflects the impact of the overvalued New Zealand dollar.” The high and overvalued dollar keeps import prices down , but kills exporters who must provide for our economy’s future. The Reserve Bank’s obsession with the very different problems of the 1980’s means that as a country we are eating our seed corn.

Jobs & Manufacturing

Written By: - Date published: 7:01 am, January 31st, 2013 - 75 comments

National is failing to resolve the lack of jobs as they provide a 14-year high in unemployment – even after exporting 180,000 Kiwis to Australia. If we add them in the unemployment rate doubles to 13.8%. More than 40,000 of those job losses have been in manufacturing.  Research says that manufacturing jobs have a multiplier of 2.9, that means about 80,000 other indirect job losses.  Combined that’s 2/3rds of our unemployment rate, just by getting back to where we were when National took office.

Think big & embrace the rot

Written By: - Date published: 9:05 am, January 20th, 2013 - 43 comments

The World Bank has recently issued a report saying NZ needs to focus more on being friendly to multinational corporations. Matt McCarten argues that some multinationals are bad for our health.  And sugary food and drinks are rotting Kiwi children’s teeth.

The beggared neighbour

Written By: - Date published: 9:37 am, December 20th, 2012 - 12 comments

Japan just elected a Liberal Democrat government promising more jobs through a huge quantitative easing programme. The US has stated it’ll continue QE until unemployment drops below 6.5%. The effect has been to send our dollar to new highs, killing exporters and import-exposed local businesses. Contrary to media belief, Japan and the US aren’t in worse positions than us.

The spinmeister of Planet Key: Retrospective

Written By: - Date published: 10:07 am, December 18th, 2012 - 37 comments

On TV3 this morning, John Key was soothing and slick.  All is well on Planet Key, and critics are delusional.  He reeled of numbers and facts, but material realities of daily lives, and the suffering of people on low incomes aren’t mentioned. And asset sales?

Manufacturing crisis deepens

Written By: - Date published: 7:34 am, November 7th, 2012 - 81 comments

Yesterday, 60 highly paid jobs at Rakon where lost and we learned 5,700 manufacturing jobs had been lost in the past year. The reason, the high dollar made manufacturing here untenable. Steve Joyce shrugged his shoulders like it was nothing to do with him. But it’s his government’s failures that are forcing Kiwi manufacturers overseas.

Out of touch on jobs

Written By: - Date published: 8:05 am, October 26th, 2012 - 9 comments

Yet National’s position is that there isn’t a problem, let alone that they can do anything about it.

‘What crisis?’ Rudderless ship, stormy seas

Written By: - Date published: 8:03 am, October 14th, 2012 - 133 comments

There is ample evidence of a deep and lasting crisis, but in the delusional world of Planet Key it doesn’t exist. The EPMU Job Crisis Summit  opened a much needed conversation.  Russel Norman likened the New Zealand economy to a rudderless sailing ship In Stormy Seas.  Will the summit be the start of a sea change for NZ?

Selling New Zealand: 100% Muddle-Urf

Written By: - Date published: 9:45 am, October 11th, 2012 - 18 comments

Why is John Key backing the flagging tourist industry as a major export earner for NZ’s future? His trip to Hollywood was partly about using the Hobbit to promote NZ as a tourist destination. Why is the government so fixated on attracting more US tourists?

Greens call for new tools, QE to save jobs

Written By: - Date published: 9:51 am, October 7th, 2012 - 328 comments

40,000 manufacturing jobs gone in four years. Manufactured exports in free-fall. Tourism revenue collapsing. If that’s not a crisis, what is? Why is the government going to do? Nothing. Nothing. On Q+A, Russel Norman put forward a solid proposal: lower the OCR, new tools to stop housing booms, and quantitative easing to pay for Christchurch […]

Granny says – you can’t do that

Written By: - Date published: 9:30 am, September 21st, 2012 - 16 comments

The ever forward looking and even-handed Herald devotes its editorial to attacking Labour for supporting Winston Peters’ Bill to make some small changes to the Reserve Banks’ objectives to bring them more in line with Australia’s. Leaving aside the fact that the Herald hasn’t attacked NZF or the 3 other parties who support this, only Labour, isn’t it time Granny got with the programme?

Joyce floundering on manufacturing

Written By: - Date published: 11:27 am, September 11th, 2012 - 15 comments

Talk fast, shoot the messenger, and spin like a top. That’s Joyce’s style, trying to defend the indefensible; National’s neglect of New Zealand’s manufacturing industry.

Joyce’s voodoo politics and zombie economics

Written By: - Date published: 9:34 pm, August 23rd, 2012 - 11 comments

On The Nation last weekend  Joyce insisted he was busy talking to business about export growth; he obviously wasn’t listening, as  exporters’ number one problem is our over-valued and highly speculated exchange rate. He called Labour’s fresh approach to this problem  “voodoo economics.” Switzerland, Singapore and Denmark? This week David Cunliffe will be on the Nation showing that the Labour  economic team are alive to new ideas needed.

Hands on Labour

Written By: - Date published: 9:51 pm, August 16th, 2012 - 32 comments

Fresh ideas to grow a stronger manufacturing sector, on top of the major changes Labour has already signalled featured in a speech given today by David Parker to a union audience in Wellington. David Cunliffe was there too,  and I particularly liked the  discussion afterwards. The key players are receptive to good ideas and it looks like Labour will have a real alternative to offer at the next election.

Making it here

Written By: - Date published: 10:42 pm, July 1st, 2012 - 14 comments

SST Business Editor Rob O’Neill said today: “There is a great deal of lip-service paid to “innovation” in business. What is not often acknowledged is how embedded innovation can be in manufacturing. Making stuff, or being able to talk freely with the people who do, can be a source of inspiration and great ideas for companies.” I got a lot of inspiration from Swedish Academic Goran Roos on this topic in Auckland on Friday. South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill has asked him to head up their manufacturing strategy next year. We could do with someone like him too.

Know when to fold ’em

Written By: - Date published: 7:29 am, June 19th, 2012 - 8 comments

Key’s ditched  the surplus target that was so important a month ago –  yet another casualty on the way to the brighter future. The Queen may have asked him why he didn’t see European contagion coming. Shearer is right – Europe is an excuse for a government that has run out of ideas. Labour does have a fresh approach – we need to hear more.

At least Parker’s onto it

Written By: - Date published: 5:33 pm, June 5th, 2012 - 80 comments

The news out of Europe, China and Australia is looking worse by the day. What’s coming at us doesn’t look pretty. I was about to do a post saying I hoped someone in Labour was doing some scenario planning and was very pleased to see today that Parker’s  eyes are open.

Greens Budget Alternative

Written By: - Date published: 1:11 pm, May 21st, 2012 - 68 comments

The Greens launched their Budget alternative this morning. Titled “Smart Green Economics” it lived up to the billing.  Extra heft was provided by BERL economist Dr Ganesh Nana  paper arguing that the Government’s asset sales programme leaves the government accounts permanently worse off. It was also good to hear about opportunities and their alternatives. We’ve had enough of TINA.

The reverse Midas touch: exchange rates

Written By: - Date published: 9:10 am, April 23rd, 2012 - 57 comments

John Key likes to trade on his experience as a, well, trader. You know, he’s the deal maker. The one to steer us through tough economic times, to get our exports growing. He understands the markets and that knowledge will benefit New Zealand. But, how well has he really done? Let’s start this series close to home for Key: the exchange rate.

Cunliffe on DIRA

Written By: - Date published: 11:09 am, April 4th, 2012 - 31 comments

Against the will of the Fonterra farmer Shareholder’s Association, National is trying to destroy Fonterra’s cooperative model on vague grounds about access to capital. The end result will be the one world-leading, world-scale company we have, which brings in 20% of our export earnings, will start sending it profits offshore. David Cunliffe makes the case passionately and eloquently.

Workers take PoAL management back to court

Written By: - Date published: 10:14 am, March 27th, 2012 - 6 comments

Mediation broke down in the Port dispute again yesterday with the PoAL management still refusing to make any concessions. So it’s back to court for a ruling on PoAL’s lockout without notice. Hopefully, the Court will side with reason, force the Port to allow the workers back and impose  compensation for lost wages along with hefty fines.

Ministry of National Significance?

Written By: - Date published: 9:51 pm, March 13th, 2012 - 16 comments

The trailers for John Key’s Thursday speech are calling it for a ” new super-Ministry” under the command of Steven Joyce. Merger isn’t the issue – the policy direction is. If Joyce just stays focussed on roads of national significance, mines and oil wells of national significance, and casinos of national significance it will be another waste of time reshuffle. If it becomes genuinely high quality export focussed, then it may prove worthwhile. Fingers crossed.

Hickey on playing by the rules

Written By: - Date published: 8:49 am, February 5th, 2012 - 130 comments

While the rest of the world is moving away from the ‘hands off’ monetary policy that became fashionable in the 80s, our government insists on playing by the outmoded neoliberal ‘rules’ of a clean float. Well, what happens when everyone else ‘cheats’ by printing free money to drive their currencies lower and we sit on our hands? We lose our assets and our exporters.

Report shows ports not to blame for freight costs

Written By: - Date published: 10:19 am, January 13th, 2012 - 5 comments

The Productivity Commission reports that freight costs are 25% higher here than in Australia and freight costs as a % of cargo value has risen in recent years. Their solution? Make the public and port workers poorer by privatisation and casualisation. Of course, those are ideological goals, not solutions to the freight cost issue, which has nothing to do with ports.

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