Posts on the economy, work, business, income, and labour
Written By: - Date published: 6:31 pm, June 11th, 2023 - 65 comments
The Green Party has today announced an income guarantee and a wealth tax.
Written By: - Date published: 5:05 pm, June 4th, 2023 - 13 comments
Debt is the most destructive and addictive form of economic behaviour we have in New Zealand. And mortgages are New Zealand’s very high grade heroin and we are being forced to come down off a most spectacular high into a rage-inducing forced withdrawal.
Written By: - Date published: 8:24 am, June 1st, 2023 - 64 comments
The pros & cons of tax cuts vs. universalism suggest that universalism might be universally better for New Zealand.
Written By: - Date published: 9:18 am, May 29th, 2023 - 68 comments
National’s promise to increase the age of retirement and likely cuts to Cullen fund contributions and state Kiwisaver payments have been seized on by Labour as evidence that National does not care about ordinary people.
Written By: - Date published: 8:24 am, May 24th, 2023 - 30 comments
Christopher Luxon had no idea that National has recently used artificially generated images in what appears to be a crude attempt to avoid historical issues National has had with respecting the intellectual property rights of artists.
Written By: - Date published: 8:52 am, May 23rd, 2023 - 22 comments
National has hatched on its attack line which we will hear about a lot over the next few months. But it may have a problem. Because the phrase “coalition of chaos” clearly applies to its leadership team.
Written By: - Date published: 8:24 am, May 21st, 2023 - 41 comments
When we continue to spend our money on stupid stuff, we get a dumb country.
Written By: - Date published: 10:04 am, May 19th, 2023 - 28 comments
Almost all of the extra heat that humans have captured by adding greenhouse gases to the atmosphere over the last few centuries has wound up warming the deep oceans. We’re now starting to feel the effects of that excess heat.
Written By: - Date published: 8:13 am, May 19th, 2023 - 77 comments
National has promised to reverse the removal of prescription charges even though it has a strong policy support and is an example of the state taking less of individuals’ private wealth.
Written By: - Date published: 11:27 am, May 18th, 2023 - 15 comments
“All of these things were impossible, until they weren’t” – Chloe Swarbrick
Written By: - Date published: 9:55 am, May 18th, 2023 - 49 comments
Today is Budget Day with the proceedings kicking off at 2 pm.
Written By: - Date published: 12:06 pm, May 16th, 2023 - 99 comments
National’s latest policy brainstorm is to print out and mail to every taxpayer information they could obtain by using Google and MyIRD.
Written By: - Date published: 8:05 am, May 12th, 2023 - 174 comments
Since they’re touted as 2023’s electoral ‘Kingmakers’, it’s time to understand what the Maori Party really want.
Written By: - Date published: 8:01 am, May 9th, 2023 - 16 comments
In case we just missed it, New Zealand really has picked a side. Prime Minister Hipkins will head to the NATO summit in Lithuania together with Australia, Japan and South Korean leaders. Also Vladimir Zelinskyy is intending to go as well.
Written By: - Date published: 11:21 am, May 4th, 2023 - 21 comments
Prime Minister Hipkins has put Labour on course to win a third term. Here’s how.
Written By: - Date published: 12:00 pm, April 28th, 2023 - 78 comments
I’ve worked my way through two books recently, both on extremist sects, one about New Zealand groups and one about those in the United States of America. It’s startling.
Written By: - Date published: 10:41 am, April 28th, 2023 - 37 comments
This government has within its power the ability to alter the crippling cost of living increases we now face. If they don’t do the political job they can do with prices, they will lose power at the election.
Written By: - Date published: 8:09 am, April 27th, 2023 - 186 comments
With the release by David Parker of a report showing that the wealthiest New Zealanders pay tax at much less than half the rate of other Kiwis is it time to again debate the virtue of a comprehensive Capital Gains Tax.
Written By: - Date published: 10:16 pm, April 24th, 2023 - 63 comments
Andrew Little says our government is willing to “explore” participating in AUKUS Pillar 2, but “foreign or local voices would not be a factor.” Our leaders will decide he says. I say “taihoa.”
Written By: - Date published: 10:57 am, April 24th, 2023 - 44 comments
In election year, National’s farming regulations bonfire flies in the face of climate action and ecological restoration.
Written By: - Date published: 8:24 am, April 21st, 2023 - 36 comments
Yesterday Statistics New Zealand dealt a rather large blow to National’s election chances when it announced that the latest rate of inflation was 6.7%, a significant drop below the previous rate.
Written By: - Date published: 7:50 pm, April 20th, 2023 - 10 comments
We didn’t need the Russian invasion of Ukraine to tell us that great power competition is back, since China and the United States and Russia had been going at it well before even COVID temporarily messed up the multilateral trade system upon which we had built our little country. But it’s made it worse, and so we’re picking a side, and that side is NATO.
Written By: - Date published: 11:07 am, April 17th, 2023 - 18 comments
Musing after the recent IMF/World Bank meetings, Former White house economist and US Treasury secretary Larry Summers said “it’s looking a bit lonely on the right side of history..as others are increasingly banding together in a whole range of structures.”
Written By: - Date published: 7:58 am, April 13th, 2023 - 47 comments
It is hard to reconcile Christopher Luxon’s deep christian beliefs with his desire to trash Easter Sunday as a holiday or to refuse to support increases in the minimum wage.
Written By: - Date published: 10:02 pm, April 7th, 2023 - 16 comments
In his …and forgive them their debts, my favourite economist and Jubilee advocate Michael Hudson states that Jesus driving the money-changers from the Temple was “the act that inspired the city leaders to plot his death.”
Written By: - Date published: 12:06 pm, April 5th, 2023 - 91 comments
Today is Jacinda’s official last day on the job as a member of Parliament.
Written By: - Date published: 10:26 am, April 4th, 2023 - 25 comments
National has proposed RMA reform as the basis for accelerating the roll out of renewable energy generation. It appears that it has never met a problem for which the solution is either a tax cut or RMA reform.
Written By: - Date published: 10:48 am, April 2nd, 2023 - 36 comments
As we adjust to the advent of civilisation threatening climate change there is a new threat that is emerging, the unregulated development of artificial intelligence.
Written By: - Date published: 4:12 pm, March 20th, 2023 - 38 comments
On 20 March 2003 the US invaded Iraq, on the basis that it had and could use weapons of mass destruction. That was a lie. Australia joined President Bush ‘coalition of the willing’, New Zealand did not. The drums of war beat strong then, they are doing so again now. This time China is the target.
Written By: - Date published: 12:46 pm, March 16th, 2023 - 66 comments
It is pretty clear to me that leaders acting tough and beating up on members of their team leads to political advantage. I realised this back in 2010 when my mate Chris Carter succumbed to intense personal pressure and did a couple of silly things. Then leader Phil Goff went to town on Carter who […]
Written By: - Date published: 9:53 am, March 16th, 2023 - 10 comments
The Government needs to come to the table and ensure teacher pay keeps pace with the rising cost of putting food on the table, paying the rent, and keeping the house warm.
But, it’s important to remember that this is not just about pay. There are serious issues around funding and understaffing, ratios and sick leave.
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