economy

More with less – or else (UK style)

Written By: Tammy Gordon - Date published: 3:00 pm, July 6th, 2011 - 59 comments

A conservative council in the UK sacked it’s entire workforce and offered them their jobs again the next day if they accepted a 5.4% pay cut. This is direct fallout from the Global Financial Crisis of course – that monumental greed-made disaster caused by bankers and financial institutions and the bail out of which costs […]

No future in NZ?

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 7:14 am, June 28th, 2011 - 205 comments

John Key was elected promising to stop the exodus to Australia. He has failed.  More and more Kiwis, especially the young, are leaving.  And is it any wonder?

Squeezing the life out of the economy

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 7:13 am, June 20th, 2011 - 41 comments

Are we “roaring out of recession”?  No.  Is there an “aggressive recovery”?  No.  What’s going wrong?  The problem is that the Nats are squeezing the life out of the economy.

Drifting

Written By: r0b - Date published: 7:49 am, June 10th, 2011 - 27 comments

The Nats haven’t got a clue how to run a successful country, and most of the things they do try just make matters worse.  We’re drifting…

Rearranging the deck chairs

Written By: r0b - Date published: 6:10 am, June 1st, 2011 - 41 comments

Renaming, merging and splitting agencies is what a government does when it wants to look busy but has no ideas.

Hard to believe it has only taken two and a half years for National to get to this point.

The great debt myth

Written By: Tammy Gordon - Date published: 12:02 pm, May 31st, 2011 - 55 comments

This government’s got a real talent for manufacturing crisis to suit them.  The debt disaster is a classic – in order to get out of debt we have to cut public spending to the tune of almost $1billion and sell assets.

Genuine progress

Written By: r0b - Date published: 7:13 am, May 27th, 2011 - 14 comments

This story didn’t get any big headlines. This story slipped by almost completely under the radar.  But it’s a very important story. Much more important for New Zealand’s development than the smoke and mirrors of the do-nothing budget.

Choosing to be poor

Written By: r0b - Date published: 7:32 am, May 24th, 2011 - 24 comments

Prominent  scientist Sir Paul Callaghan thinks Kiwis are choosing to be poor.  I reckon he’s right too, but we probably disagree about the reasons.

Armstrong on the budget

Written By: r0b - Date published: 8:32 am, May 22nd, 2011 - 13 comments

John Armstrong is highly critical of the sub-zero budget: “The Budget has displayed a degree of cynicism one would expect from a Government in its third term, not its first”…

Pre-budget roundup

Written By: r0b - Date published: 7:03 am, May 19th, 2011 - 25 comments

So, today is Budget day.  The big stuff has all been pretty well signposted, tinkering with KiwiSaver, Working for Families, and student loan eligibility.  The devil will be in the details of all the cuts that get made to try and limit the damage in health and education.

Budget castles in the air

Written By: r0b - Date published: 8:57 am, May 17th, 2011 - 24 comments

Apparently the budget will forecast strong growth in GDP and wages, and a return to surplus within a few years.  Sounds good?  Well yes, but it is all based on purely hypothetical “projected growth”.  Wishful thinking from Treasury analysts with a three year record of being wrong wrong wrong.

The “big issues”

Written By: IrishBill - Date published: 6:30 am, May 12th, 2011 - 77 comments

John Key is whinging about how labour isn’t focusing on the “big issues”

But he and his government have been avoiding the big issues for years.

That’s not surprising given how badly they do on these big issues. But it’s still pitiful to see them whinging about it.

Expansionary austerity – fail

Written By: r0b - Date published: 9:00 am, April 21st, 2011 - 32 comments

Expansionary austerity is the idea that cutbacks in government spending can stimulate economic growth.  Empirical evidence shows that it doesn’t work.  Current experience shows that  it’s not working in Britain, and it isn’t working here.  Like “trickle down economics” this favourite of the political Right is not so much a theory as a deluded fantasy.

Reaching out to expat Kiwis

Written By: r0b - Date published: 7:05 am, April 19th, 2011 - 61 comments

The Kea “Census” of expat Kiwis is under way.  Unfortunately it coincides with government plans for a Crackdown on student loan repayments. Instead of chasing our expats for an entirely hypothetical return, we should be reaching out to them, embracing them, making them welcome back home.

Economists line up on “Robin Hood” tax

Written By: Mike Smith - Date published: 9:16 pm, April 15th, 2011 - 31 comments

1000 economists have written to the G20, about to meet in Washington, and to Bill Gates, asking for a tax on financial transactions known as a Tobin tax after its originator, or a Robin Hood tax as it is known in the US. 4 New Zealanders are among the 1000; Prue Hyman, Stefan Kesting, Peter Conway, and Petrus Simons. Good on them.