economy

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So! You want a “plan”?

Written By: - Date published: 4:36 pm, March 11th, 2021 - 50 comments

Expecting a bit much aren’t you? We haven’t had that since Muldoon. At least he had them. The kind of people now asking for a plan were those who complained about governments that “interfered with the sacred ‘free market’” and screamed about “central planning”, “picking winners”, “protectionism” etc. They prefer just getting cheap labour to give the illusion of economic growth. And build a cycleway!

Reasons to abandon NZ’s Five-Eyed Folly

Written By: - Date published: 2:35 pm, February 4th, 2021 - 29 comments


Wayne Brown’s recent suggestion “Is it time to sell our seat on FiveEyes?” is from someone well placed by experience to form an educated opinion. “Trade sanctions of the type Australia is facing are a weapon used by both USA and China. So let’s have a debate on whether we need Five Eyes, or whether it’s time for us to trade on independently.”

Is New Zealand’s The Best Little Economy In The World?

Written By: - Date published: 7:23 am, January 26th, 2021 - 53 comments

New Zealand is the best-managed country in the world. And currently has one of the best economies.

Comrade David signals radical rewrite of Act’s living wage policy

Written By: - Date published: 7:36 am, November 25th, 2020 - 75 comments

Comrade David Seymour has signalled that Act may argue for a minimum wage of $50 per hour.

Regenerative economies: $100,000 growing permaculture kale

Written By: - Date published: 6:05 am, October 11th, 2020 - 56 comments

A Thames couple are showing how to make a living from small scale market gardening, and leading the way in regenerative horticulture.

The PREFU is much better than National wanted

Written By: - Date published: 4:33 pm, September 16th, 2020 - 51 comments

The Prefu is out! And it is not as scary as National would have wanted.

“Reds under the Bed”.

Written By: - Date published: 8:40 am, September 4th, 2020 - 78 comments

Everyone has recently had an education on  “Socialism” working in practice.

And a graphic illustration of the shortcomings, of under regulated “Free market” Capitalism, Globalism, tax cuts for the rich, and the mania for monetising everything in sight, and “running it like a business”.

The top seven things Covid has changed

Written By: - Date published: 7:45 am, August 14th, 2020 - 47 comments

Covid has fundamentally changed society for the better in surprising ways.

Why you should vote Labour this election

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, August 11th, 2020 - 146 comments

Four very good reasons why you should vote Labour in this election.

The return of John Key

Written By: - Date published: 11:10 am, August 7th, 2020 - 110 comments

In a sign of desperation National has trotted out John Key to campaign that the country’s success in containing Covid should be put to risk because of a misguided perception that it would be good for the economy.

National’s policy platform

Written By: - Date published: 8:35 am, August 5th, 2020 - 45 comments

For a party that promised to be a policy factory National’s policy offerings are severely deficient.

Falling into a coma

Written By: - Date published: 7:20 am, August 4th, 2020 - 92 comments

Why have we fallen into the most boring and predictable election we’ve had since Bolger’s second term?

Unthinkable Things

Written By: - Date published: 8:41 am, July 22nd, 2020 - 29 comments

With the government clearly watching the unravelling of Australia’s Covid-19 response and putting in place $14 billion in preparation for a second infection wave, we are clearly now in a history-in-making territory of the highest instability outside a world war.

Tourism: Death and Revival

Written By: - Date published: 11:30 am, July 19th, 2020 - 26 comments

New Zealand’s tourism economy has essentially collapsed, and it is part of a global tourism industry collapse that is so big that it may be permanently smaller. But does it have to be?

Things that will die

Written By: - Date published: 8:55 am, June 15th, 2020 - 90 comments

For three decades tourism has been the great tidal surge that has made many otherwise spiralling towns stablise, and in some cases expand.  Post Covid we are going to see some of these towns die.

What the Greens did

Written By: - Date published: 12:06 pm, May 15th, 2020 - 39 comments

A round up of the Green Party’s achievements in the 2020 Budget: funding for nature, the commitment to ending violence, and public housing and insulation. And a look at the pragmatics of what the Greens can currently accomplish.

Budget 2020: biggest and best from PM Ardern

Written By: - Date published: 8:48 am, May 14th, 2020 - 88 comments

Text of a pre budget speech given yesterday by Jacinda Ardern.

Rebuild better post COVID

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, May 2nd, 2020 - 46 comments

A Guest blog from E tū Assistant National Secretary, Annie Newman. “Democracy creates a space for the market, civil society and the government but it doesn’t guarantee a balance between these spheres. That is government’s role. Right now, there is an opportunity for our government to do more than protect the future of business; it can address the imbalance in our democracy where the market dominates the agenda.”

The class politics of the Covid-19 pandemic response

Written By: - Date published: 7:35 am, April 28th, 2020 - 59 comments

National economics spokesperson Paul Goldsmith has advanced a plan to address the Covid 19 pandemic which includes union bashing and privatisation.

Green Party: COVID-19 recovery and investment in people and nature

Written By: - Date published: 7:10 am, April 27th, 2020 - 16 comments

Most of the funding will go directly to employing people – the tools needed for wetland restoration such as spades and seedlings are far cheaper than big excavators and asphalt.

The “Others”.

Written By: - Date published: 12:07 pm, April 25th, 2020 - 20 comments

“Othering” has long been a staple of Governments that want to remain in power for the benefit of an Oligarchy, an “Elite”, a small ruling class, or the ones with, “the money”. Deflecting blame for economic and social issues on, an ethnicity, a class, the elderly, the poor, the young, the unemployed, young solo mothers, the disabled, immigrants, or any other convenient group that can be demonised. Very soon more of us may become the “others” we didn’t care about.

“The government will never do that”

Written By: - Date published: 11:28 am, April 23rd, 2020 - 56 comments

Say it out loud: Degrowth.

Greens push for large intercity rail infrastructure to ensure sustainable post-COVID-19 rebuild

Written By: - Date published: 10:26 am, April 19th, 2020 - 122 comments

“The Greens are highlighting fast intercity rail improvements as the type of climate-friendly, job-creating project that should be prioritised for post-COVID-19 economic stimulus investment.”

No Right Turn: Climate Change – the need for a green recovery

Written By: - Date published: 7:05 am, April 15th, 2020 - 7 comments

The Climate Change Commission – the expert panel tasked with getting New Zealand carbon neutral – has written to the government asking it to apply a “climate change lens” to the post-Covid-19 spend-up.

Beyond mere rescue

Written By: - Date published: 8:49 am, April 6th, 2020 - 78 comments

It’s time to plan the re-launch the very idea of New Zealand.

Quick Snippets

Written By: - Date published: 6:04 am, April 3rd, 2020 - 7 comments

The joys of bread rising far to fast through a warm autumn night is…this post.

New Zealand Tourism after 2020

Written By: - Date published: 7:30 am, March 30th, 2020 - 48 comments

Post Covid-2019 what is going to happen to New Zealand’s tourism market?

This changes everything

Written By: - Date published: 6:34 am, March 24th, 2020 - 182 comments

What will our future now look like?

Is this the next GFC?

Written By: - Date published: 4:27 pm, March 17th, 2020 - 24 comments

The Minister of Finance says that we are facing the worst of any of the scenarios that they had been preparing for. In response the government’s rescue package is bigger than anything New Zealand has ever seen.

How does the government handle a pandemic induced world recession?

Written By: - Date published: 8:54 am, March 13th, 2020 - 152 comments

With the world’s economy in turmoil and infection rates continuing to surge the responses of different countries to the crisis shows markedly different results. And the issue could be the determining issue of this year’s election.

It’s time for Auckland to work

Written By: - Date published: 8:44 am, March 12th, 2020 - 12 comments

2020 will now be the year that New Zealand will now rely on Auckland to get its shit together.