Economy

Posts on the economy, work, business, income, and labour

Categories under Economy

Fact checking National

Written By: - Date published: 8:51 am, February 13th, 2020 - 14 comments

Simon Bridges has claimed that a GDP growth Jacinda Ardern used was wrong even though it was the figure released by Statistics NZ.  

The end of petrol driven cars

Written By: - Date published: 1:57 pm, February 9th, 2020 - 36 comments

Boris Johnson’s UK Government has announced that by 2035 there will be no more petrol or diesel cars entering the UK fleet.  Is it time for the New Zealand government to announce the same thing?

Oh Look! (What. a. surprise.)

Written By: - Date published: 10:41 am, February 8th, 2020 - 20 comments

Mainstream media yet again aiding and abetting the character assassination of whistle blowers.

Mike Moore

Written By: - Date published: 7:30 am, February 3rd, 2020 - 104 comments

It’s not often you find New Zealanders who give every single breath they have to the left and do it with resounding and even global success. Such a person was Mike Moore.

Steve Mnuchin, not Greta Thunberg, needs to go back to school

Written By: - Date published: 10:52 am, January 27th, 2020 - 11 comments

US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin has attacked Greta Thunberg for not understanding the economics of climate change.  But he has then been roundly criticised by a number of people, including his wife.

Chinese New Year

Written By: - Date published: 9:26 am, January 27th, 2020 - 15 comments

With China’s New Year arriving, and a terrible flu virus struggling to be contained within it at the same time, it’s time to reflect again on China’s future and impact for New Zealand.

Federated Farmers launches petition against its business model

Written By: - Date published: 9:20 am, January 19th, 2020 - 157 comments

Federated Farmers has started a petition against an educational resource that teaches about climate change and activism because it does not present their industry in a sufficiently positive way.

National created more working groups than Labour

Written By: - Date published: 8:00 am, January 18th, 2020 - 31 comments

The Herald has reported that National in its first two years of Government created *more* working groups than Labour.

Guest Post – What is wrong with the left?

Written By: - Date published: 8:24 am, January 10th, 2020 - 168 comments

Guest post from old maaaaate cans about recent Stuff guest columns attacking the left for not civilised enough and wondering if it is because of right wing insecurity.

 

A message for conservatives about climate change and nuclear power

Written By: - Date published: 3:21 pm, January 9th, 2020 - 142 comments

David Farrar has criticised young people not for their passion about addressing climate change, but for not supporting nuclear power as a potential solution.  Even though it is too risky, too expensive, and too late.

What if Trump wins again?

Written By: - Date published: 8:30 am, December 29th, 2019 - 124 comments

We may as well prepare ourselves for Trump overperforming his popularity again and winning. We’ve had to deal with left’s retreat in most of the world in 2019. So let’s prepare and plot some likely accelerated changes in Trump’s second term.

The future of Capitalism

Written By: - Date published: 9:00 am, December 23rd, 2019 - 128 comments

2019 has been a remarkable year for those wanting social, economic, and environmental renewal. The level of protest remains high, the idealism as strong as ever, but the ferment is not generating progressive wins, is weakening democratic reflexiveness to challenge, and is weakening pan-national institutions. It’s not that easy to get on the shelves here, […]

Labour raise the minimum wage

Written By: - Date published: 7:05 am, December 19th, 2019 - 32 comments

“Around a quarter of million workers will be better off next year”

Having us squabble over the welfare pie

Written By: - Date published: 10:40 am, December 18th, 2019 - 34 comments

When we hear a supposedly progressive economist talking about elderly people as decrepit, or rendering the elderly poor invisible, it’s time to revisit our moral compass.

What next after the White Island silence?

Written By: - Date published: 9:22 am, December 15th, 2019 - 60 comments

At 2.11pm on Monday December 16, New Zealanders are being invited to hold a minute’s silence to respect those who have died in the White Island/Whakaari explosion. Once that’s over, it’s time to start turning to what might occur to prevent this kind of disaster happening again.

Helen Kelly, together

Written By: - Date published: 8:30 am, December 14th, 2019 - 5 comments

We need your help to tell Helen’s story to New Zealanders in places and to communities who will otherwise not be reached. Please host a screening during the first two weeks of February, get your people there, and ask them to spread the word wider.

Brexit – sorry its not getting done anytime soon.

Written By: - Date published: 11:23 am, December 12th, 2019 - 5 comments

Can the Conservatives get brexit done by January 31st as they are promising in the election? The short answer is no. The slogan is catchy, and taps into public sentiment. But it is also pure unadulterated bullshit. If the Conservatives do form the next government these words will haunt them, especially Boris Johnson.

The Missing Millions

Written By: - Date published: 11:18 am, December 12th, 2019 - 18 comments

Millions of people and an entire region of the UK left out of polling calculations….

Thawing after the BRR

Written By: - Date published: 7:10 am, December 12th, 2019 - 27 comments

“The purpose of fiscal policy should be to ensure ongoing wellbeing for all and the health of our environment.”

Green Budget win backs public sector leadership on climate change

Written By: - Date published: 2:34 pm, December 11th, 2019 - 9 comments

“We want to make sure hospitals, schools and other public institutions can use energy in a more climate-friendly way, cut emissions, and lower their energy bills.”

The NHS and privatisation

Written By: - Date published: 12:14 pm, December 10th, 2019 - 18 comments

The NHS is well loved by the British public. It is seen as something which makes British society decent and civilised. That the NHS is now stretched and badly underfunded is seen as a national outrage. Fears of even further privatisation of the NHS due to a US trade deal has unsurprisingly made the NHS the number one election issue.

ACC are bankrolling the climate crisis

Written By: - Date published: 10:35 am, December 9th, 2019 - 18 comments

Why is ACC dragging the chain on fossil fuel divestment, and why is Labour letting them?

End Oil: “this is how we win”

Written By: - Date published: 12:40 pm, December 5th, 2019 - 4 comments

The Museum of Oil History and SS4C dancing the Macarena ended an awesome week of protest action against oil drilling in NZ.

Immigration: we can’t keep succumbing to fear tactics

Written By: - Date published: 11:54 am, December 2nd, 2019 - 18 comments

 

 

 

 

 

Whither Warren?

Written By: - Date published: 7:40 am, December 2nd, 2019 - 20 comments

Is it too early to call negative odds on Elizabeth Warren’s candidacy?

Labour’s infrastructure spend announcement

Written By: - Date published: 12:06 pm, December 1st, 2019 - 35 comments

Is the Government commitment to the budget responsibility rules weakening? Because at the Labour Party Conference Grant Robertson has indicated that the Government will shortly announce a big capital spend on infrastructure.

Labour Conference

Written By: - Date published: 7:10 am, November 30th, 2019 - 97 comments

It’s a weird moment for the Labour Party at Conference this weekend.

The cost of capitalism

Written By: - Date published: 7:15 am, November 27th, 2019 - 155 comments

I feel like I am describing some future-set dystopian novel, and the scary thing is that the AI, transhumanism, technofascist society is just around the corner.

Economists support Labour forming the next UK government

Written By: - Date published: 7:10 am, November 27th, 2019 - 24 comments

One hundred and sixty three British economists have signed a letter to the Financial Times to say they believe that Labour should form the next government. The UK economy needs reform. For too long it has prioritised consumption over investment, short-term financial returns over long-term innovation, rising asset values over rising wages, and deficit reduction […]

Common-wealth Government

Written By: - Date published: 8:14 am, November 18th, 2019 - 16 comments

Advantage is testing an idea out. What will a common accountability framework for the government look like?

Austerity – who should pay for the financial crisis?

Written By: - Date published: 10:57 am, November 17th, 2019 - 30 comments

Nick Kelly on UK austerity and who should have paid for the financial crisis.