Economy

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

Categories under Economy

The implications of UK Labour’s success for NZ Labour

Written By: - Date published: 10:48 am, July 7th, 2024 - 79 comments

What should New Zealand Labour learn from UK Labour’s success in the recent election?

The political centre has moved, someone should tell the strategists.

Written By: - Date published: 9:39 am, July 2nd, 2024 - 13 comments

30 years ago, we had Dot Matrix printers, Windows 95 and brick cell phones. Today we live in a world of AI, Tik Tok and 5G. While technology changes have been embraced, including in political campaigns, strategies and methods to connect with voters seem stuck in the MS-DOSS era.

Government is cutting funding for food banks

Written By: - Date published: 12:29 pm, June 29th, 2024 - 14 comments

Are things back on track? How about for those who can least afford to feed themselves? It appears not with reports that funding for food banks is being slashed. And the consequence could be dire.

Ferry sweary

Written By: - Date published: 9:08 am, June 27th, 2024 - 45 comments

The Government is in a rather precarious position relating to the contract to replace the ageing Cook Straight ferries, which clearly need replacing.

How Northland Became New Zealand’s Deepest Shame

Written By: - Date published: 10:44 am, June 25th, 2024 - 27 comments

Last week Northland had a power pylon simply fall down on a still day. 100,000 properties lost power. Quickly restored, it underscored how vulnerable the Far North is. 

Gotta pay for those tax cuts for landlords somehow

Written By: - Date published: 8:36 am, June 20th, 2024 - 16 comments

What is the lowest most disgraceful thing this Government has done? How about cutting funding for top ups of the wages of disabled workers aimed to get them to the living wage?

Safer streets or unsafer streets?

Written By: - Date published: 9:56 am, June 16th, 2024 - 18 comments

The Government is planning to reverse Labour’s previous policy relating to permanent safe speeds around schools. The change will decrease safety and walking and cycling and increase car use. And the upside is?

Health & safety of workers is apparently about Cones

Written By: - Date published: 11:19 am, June 15th, 2024 - 37 comments

The Government’s latest announcement about worker safety is about business, not people.

National announced more subsidies in farming for capital gains

Written By: - Date published: 2:29 pm, June 13th, 2024 - 19 comments

National and their minion parties just announced another massive $400 million R&D subsidy for agricultural greenhouse gases by taxpayers for the low profit industry of pastoral farming. This joins the other large and hidden subsidies levied on tax and rate payers to support rural and state roads capable of sustained heavy agricultural and forestry trucks.

Haere ra He Wake Eke Noa

Written By: - Date published: 1:42 pm, June 13th, 2024 - 21 comments

It was always going to happen but it still rankles that an attempt to get farming to at least confront the damage it causes to the climate is being put on hold.

National’s irksome incompetence is inexcusable

Written By: - Date published: 6:05 am, June 5th, 2024 - 11 comments

When the fabric of lies unravels the gaslighting increases.

National/Act – good at breaking public services

Written By: - Date published: 12:14 pm, June 4th, 2024 - 41 comments

Today is my 65th birthday. So I’m trying to check out a PDF letter on MyMSD which probably has some details about superannuation. But I get ERR_CONNECTION_RESET consistently. Looks like the idiots in this government have managed to screw up the efficient systems already. The MyMSD site is currently partially dead.

The National Party has a pattern of broken election promises

Written By: - Date published: 6:02 pm, June 3rd, 2024 - 9 comments

The National Party has created a new slogan: give New Zealanders a break … in promises!

Anti-Muslim, anti-black, pro-Zionist: UK Labour goes for purge

Written By: - Date published: 4:44 am, June 2nd, 2024 - 10 comments

I attended Faiza Shaheen’s impressive candidate launch in Chingford four years ago. She aimed to take on IDS and she dented his majority. Reselected two years ago by the local Labour Party, four days ago she was deselected by a 3-person kangaroo court from the party’s National Executive Committee.
Update: Faiza Shaheen to stand as an independent in Chingford.

Putting Politics over People

Written By: - Date published: 2:00 pm, June 1st, 2024 - 24 comments

National’s breaking of its election promise to fund 13 cancer treatments is cruel beyond words.

Budget Smudgeit

Written By: - Date published: 2:43 pm, May 30th, 2024 - 80 comments

Early comments on the budget. Basically tax cuts are being paid by more borrowing. There is no way this can be described as being fiscally neutral.

The Budget Day Protests

Written By: - Date published: 8:33 am, May 30th, 2024 - 18 comments

Protests by Māori and Tangata Tiriti against government policy are underway on the day of the National government’s first budget. Carkoi and Hikoi are taking place in many locations across the country.

Making up for lost time

Written By: - Date published: 8:34 am, May 22nd, 2024 - 39 comments

Guest post by Nigel Haworth where he discusses Labour membership’s desire for taxation reform and why it is important that Labour decides on its position as soon as possible.

Speech time

Written By: - Date published: 9:02 am, May 21st, 2024 - 6 comments

In the past week Christopher Luxon and Chris Hipkins have both delivered future vision themed speeches. With some dramatic contrasts.

A Deliberate Recession

Written By: - Date published: 1:00 pm, May 20th, 2024 - 51 comments

It is sickening to see how economic power is being used against ordinary New Zealanders right now.

Fonterra’s Brand Sale Continues to Drag New Zealand Down

Written By: - Date published: 10:16 am, May 19th, 2024 - 26 comments

Fonterra is a complete construct of the New Zealand state, but it is pulling our entire country down.

Are we drifting away or falling apart?

Written By: - Date published: 1:53 pm, May 18th, 2024 - 16 comments

What is the antidote for our socio-economic problems and how do we deal with this coalition government?

MPs pay increases

Written By: - Date published: 8:57 am, May 1st, 2024 - 94 comments

The Remuneration Authority has announced that MPs will be getting a 10% increase in their salaries during the course of this Parliament.

NZ White Rural Rage

Written By: - Date published: 7:58 am, April 27th, 2024 - 14 comments

What is really going on in the minds of

What does this Government have against the environment

Written By: - Date published: 11:05 am, April 24th, 2024 - 5 comments

It is almost as if the environment was really cruel to senior members of the Government when they were kids. But whatever the reason this Government appears to be intent on wrecking the local environment with a degree of vengeance and stupidity not seen before.

The Liz Truss of the South Seas

Written By: - Date published: 9:43 am, April 21st, 2024 - 35 comments

Liz Truss’s short reign as UK Prime Minister foundered after her budget requiring borrowing to fund tax cuts was released. The budget tanked the UK economy and caused Truss’s resignation. This week amongst announcements of massive cuts it has emerged that the Government is also planning borrowing for tax cuts.

Towards Banana Republic Status

Written By: - Date published: 10:25 am, April 17th, 2024 - 27 comments

There is a bill before Parliament right now that has the potential of blowing a rather big hole in our reputation as an open and transparent democracy.

On Newshub and economic voice

Written By: - Date published: 1:21 pm, April 14th, 2024 - 16 comments

Nigel Haworth writes on some of the historic implications and strategy of the worker plans for companies in the context of the worker initiated initiatives for allowing Newshub to survive.

National only wants to help tenants *

Written By: - Date published: 10:22 am, April 12th, 2024 - 48 comments

* get evicted more easily.

Back on Track?

Written By: - Date published: 11:05 am, April 7th, 2024 - 71 comments

National campaigned on the promise of getting the country back on track. How is it going?

NZ Initiative – tax cuts are silly at present. I have to agree.

Written By: - Date published: 11:49 am, March 27th, 2024 - 41 comments

I don’t agree with people from New Zealand Initiative often. Mostly I just growl. But Oliver Hartwich who is the Initiative’s Executive Director wrote a article in The Australian “Christopher Luxon’s challenge for NZ economy: fiscal discipline or tax cuts”. Hard to find anyone aware of the current recession who could disagree outside of a small political minority in the National caucus.