There's a happy medium between extreme specialisation and no specialisation, between sole focus on surplusses and unlimited deficits.
A lot of what Muldoon did, Think Big-wise, was excellent for the long term (although subsequent governments sold the assets before many of those benefits were realised).
But the stagflation was still a problem, and the price controls were pushing crap uphill even in the short term.
Of course, the shit-icing on the shitcake was Douglas announcing they'd float a heavily overpriced dollar. That provided the proximate excuse to murder the social democratic system (its good to be interr'd with its bones, its evil to become part of ACT catechism).
There's a happy medium between extreme specialisation and no specialisation,
Nope.
A country needs to be able to support itself from its own resources and without trade. Which means actually developing the economy to provide the nation with everything that it needs.
A young, undeveloped, country should probably do the specialisation thing for a time to get the economy started but it shouldn't plan on being a specialist producer for always. It should be planning its development away from external dependence.
New Zealand is, and has been for awhile, where we should be moving away from external dependence. Instead we have our governments ensuring that we remain trade dependent.
Trade doesn't actually make the country richer (as proven by our increasing poverty over the last 30+ years) but it does allow a few people to have more money.
But the stagflation was still a problem, and the price controls were pushing crap uphill even in the short term.
I haven't shown it there but just a little bit earlier in the book she shows how having a currency pegged to another causes that. At the time of Muldoon our dollar was pegged to the US$ under the Bretton Woods agreement which the US unilaterally ended (but nobody took note of) in 1971. That was why Muldoon was having to borrow in US$.
In 1971, every currency around the world should have become a fiat currency, floated against each other and the US$ no longer recognised as the Reserve Currency.
So we need to develop world-leading education to develop world-leading blue skies research centres to develop world-leading vaccines, batteries, generators, computer chips, transport tech, fossil substitutes, production-line technology, production facilities, clothes, building materials, communications equipment, aircraft engines, hydroponic and greenhouse facilities (for shit we can't grow in NZ), etc etc etc.
And we still need to kiss goodbye to things like brazil nuts.
Or, we can have diverse production, with some competitive advantages, be self-sufficient in strategically important areas, and trade for shit that other nations do well and it would be stupid-expensive to try to copy.
That's the pisser, innit? We were quite well placed for a while there.
Then we went from maybe erring on the side of protectionism to going fully in the other direction, free trade as much as possible, screwing worker protection and selling long-developed assets at bargain prices.
There has been minimal strategic direction for the economy for thirty years or more. Sure, we don't need the government assigning the precise production levels for nails every month, but it would be nice to have a higher profile for timeframe for things like transition to renewable energy and maybe a cabinet-level plan for what we want the economy to look like in 50 years and funding the research to get there.
A country needs to be able to support itself from its own resources and without trade.
and "we shouldn't trade with other countries" is significantly less than the difference between either of those statements and anything based in reality.
Being able to support ourselves does not preclude trade – it just removes our dependence upon it.
Of course it does. The main reason to import something that we are self-sufficient in is if the imported goods or services are cheaper for the desired level of quality. Therefore being self-sufficient in something that producers in other nations can produce and deliver more cheaply requires either the production of goods that will be wasted before the producers go under (because nobody will buy them) or by massive subsidies for the things that others can produce much more cheaply.
I mean, we could transition to a command economy with centrally-directed tarriffs and subsidies. That's never gone wrong in the past. /sarc
Conclusion: trade yes, free trade no
Given that the theory of comparative advantage has all of the above-de-scribed flaws, how much validity does it really have? Answer: some. Asking what industries a nation has comparative advantage in helps illuminate what kind of economy it has. And insofar as the theory’s assumptions do hold to some extent, some of the time, it can give us some valid policy recommendations. Fairly open trade, most of the time, is a good thing. But the theory was never intended to be by its own inventor, and its innate logic will not support its being, a blank check that justifies 100 percent free trade with 100 percent of the world 100 percent of the time. It only justifies free trade insofar as its assumptions hold true,28 and they largely do not.
We already have world leading education and research facilities. What we haven't done is build the factories and processes to take advantages of them. Instead, we focussed on the cheap farming.
Consider Tiwai Point.
People keep complaining about how bad its going to be to close it down, all the lost jobs and the loss of money.
Such a plant would hire the same number of people and support the same number in the wider community. On top of that, CPUs and other ICs tend to sell for a hell of a lot more than processed aluminium.
If we then developed our silica deposits we would then have more jobs while also eliminating the GHG emissions of importing the processed silica.
If we then used income from that fab plant to pay for R&D to improve that fab plant then we have even more jobs and a sustainable, high tech, industry. It would push our universities to new heights as well while also opening up a career path for our people who want to work in that industry who presently have to leave to do so.
And once we produced those ICs here then we wouldn't be dependent upon importing computers or many other electronic devices.
And you don't get to say that China does it better. Producing ICs is almost fully automated. The factory is just as efficient here as in China.
And, of course, once we’ve got the IC industry going we start developing another one.
Firstly, a factory supplying the world has economies of scale not met by a factory supplying 5 million people.
Secondly, if the IC plant is "almost fully automated", what would the thousand workers at the smelter do (assuming they can transfer seamlessly over to IC fabrication from foundry work)?
no, muldoons biggest mistake was to kill off norm kirks superannuation scheme. look at how much is in michael cullens kiwisaver. would have been three or four times as much if piggy hadnt phucked things up. biggest eonomic ballsup ever by any kiwi poli, and should be bought up anytime the nats go on about superior economic managers. maturing super schemes all around the planet are now some of the biggest investors ,anywhere. thanks piggy…
no, muldoons biggest mistake was to kill off norm kirks superannuation scheme.
Can't get blood out of a stone.
It's not money that makes the economy work but actual, physical resources and their use.
When those super schemes mature what are they going to be spent on?
Muldoon was at least thinking about that when he implemented Think Big. No government since seems to have done so.
And, really, if growth worked then the government wouldn't be panicking about the Baby Boomers retiring. The problem is that, when the Boomers retire, there's going to be lots of people spending money and not a lot of people actually producing stuff.
That's why they keep putting the retirement age up. No amount of interest bearing bonds is going to bypass physical reality.
CB were in the field last weekend til yesterday evening. So presumably they were picking up that crucial little swing from Labour to Greens as voters headed into polls. It’s going to be fine.
Are you serious? What's funny is trying to disguise as casual interest something that has all the hallmarks of tribal bias. Have you seen nothing of the pantomime performed by Collins prior to her Charmer Chameleon act for most of that debate. Putting an entire campaign in the last week on a feeble attempt to paint two parties as one is hardly leadership material
Judith is trying hard to avoid those little nasties that she is famous for, but as for all those bluddy ads! Destroys the credibility of the debate. Jacinda is Prime Ministerial and well lit.
Was a forgone conclusion any way, most people would have voted already and Collins knew pretty much she was screwed when she took the job on I imagine.
Just one of those someone has to be the no hope scape goat, be it Goff, Cunliffe, Collins etc
Cunliffe was behaving consistently. Goff behaved consistently. Bridges behaved consistently.
Shearer did not, and Collins has not.
Peters is in the same situation, but instead of stabbing blindly with style changes, he's stabbing wildly with policy button-pushing but never finding that X issue that short circuits voters.
After years of twerking, Seymour has connected with people who forgot that ACT are a bunch of psychos, so he's leaning in to that by toning down some of the more morally bankrupt ACT policies – we'll see how long that rests happily with the gun nut brigade, but at least he has hit a sweet spot with some voters.
Shearer, as you point out, went to prop comedy that he wasn't suited for, because he and his staff were desperate..
"Crusher" Collins tried being nice, went multi-ethnic, was suddenly a devout Christian and wouldn't shut up about it, then decided fatties were just weak and Tasmania sucked (because she's being nice lol).
Bridges wasn't going to be PM, but he was at least putting in a solid effort for the party. Collins is turning in every direction possible as the party swirls down the drain.
If she really "pretty much knew she was screwed" she then proceeded to present every type of weakness of character to wider NZ that actually made things even worse for National. I can't see how you can consider that was very bright.
Oh my mistake must be a different Chris & not the same chris I thought it was – sorry But not about the bias that's been in the opposite direction to what you claim. Just today NZ Herald changed the photo on a story they commissioned from The Financial Times to one of Ardern wearing hijab – the Times one was a more general photo – when they put it up on their pages. So I simply don't accept your assertion that Collins has been hard done by by media.
Shhh. We should let them drop hundreds of thousands of dollars on a review to find that out, rather than just telling them for free that it's because they suck 🙂
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Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector. "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
Changes to the Resource Management Act will align consenting for coal mining to other forms of mining to reduce barriers that are holding back economic development, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The inconsistent treatment of coal mining compared with other extractive activities is burdensome red tape that fails to acknowledge ...
Trade, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay has concluded productive discussions with ministerial counterparts in Beijing today, in support of the New Zealand-China trade and economic relationship. “My meeting with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao reaffirmed the complementary nature of the bilateral trade relationship, with our Free Trade Agreement at its ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today paid tribute to Singapore’s outgoing Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Meeting in Singapore today immediately before Prime Minister Lee announced he was stepping down, Prime Minister Luxon warmly acknowledged his counterpart’s almost twenty years as leader, and the enduring legacy he has left for Singapore and South East ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. While in Singapore as part of his visit to South East Asia this week, Prime Minister Luxon also met with Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and will meet with Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sam Whiting, Lecturer – Creative Industries, University of South Australia Shutterstock Everyone has a favourite band, or a favourite composer, or a favourite song. There is some music which speaks to you, deeply; and other music which might be the current ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Olli Hellmann, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Waikato Getty Images When New Zealanders commemorate Anzac Day on April 25, it’s not only to honour the soldiers who lost their lives in World War I and subsequent conflicts, but also ...
A leaked document shows the Canterbury/Waitaha arm of health agency Te Whatu Ora is scurrying to save $13.3 million by July. The “financial sustainability target”, which was “allocated” to Waitaha, is consistent with what’s happening in other districts, says Sarah Dalton, executive director of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists. ...
A look at the state of the previous government’s affordable housing scheme, and what could come next.Remind me: What’s KiwiBuild again?First announced in 2012, KiwiBuild was a flagship policy of the Labour Party heading into both its 2014 and 2017 election campaigns. With Jacinda Ardern as prime minister, ...
Labour in opposition will be shocked to learn which party had six years in power but squandered any chance to make real change. Grant Robertson’s valedictory speech was a predictably entertaining trip down memory lane. The acid-tongued incoming Otago University chancellor administered a sick burn to the coalition government. He ...
Taiwan’s semiconductor industry is seen some as its ‘silicon shield’ against invasion – but how will overseas expansion affect that protection? The post The state of Taiwan’s silicon shield appeared first on Newsroom. ...
There’s relief for building owners bending under the weight of earthquake strengthening rules – and costs – that came into force seven years ago. Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk has announced a scheduled 2027 review of the earthquake-prone building regulations will now start this year. Owners will also get ...
Opinion: It has been announced that nine percent of roles at Oranga Tamariki will be disestablished, presumably to help fund the tax cuts promised by the coalition Government. I am reminded of the graphics used to illustrate pandemic events, where five thousand people are standing in a field and then ...
After more than two sleepless days, running through savage terrain, Greig Hamilton didn’t know if he was going to finish one of the most gruelling psychological assaults in sport. He was metres away from the finish line, a yellow gate made famous in a Netflix documentary; a race he’d dreamed ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[quiz],DIV[quiz],A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Wednesday 24 April appeared first on Newsroom. ...
The following interview with former Green Party MP Sue Kedgley came about because she features in the new memoir Hine Toa by activist Ngāhuia te Awekōtuku; the two knew each other at the University of Auckland in the early 70s, when they were both took on leadership roles in the ...
COMMENTARY:By Murray Horton New Zealand needs to get tough with Israel. It’s not as if we haven’t done so before. When NZ authorities busted a Mossad operation in Auckland 20 years ago, the government didn’t say: “Oh well, Israel has the right to defend itself.” No, it arrested, prosecuted, ...
NEWSMAKERS:By Vijay Narayan, news director of FijiVillage Blessed to be part of the University of Fiji (UniFiji) faculty to continue to teach and mentor those who want to join our noble profession, and to stand for truth and justice for the people of the country. I was privileged to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Three weeks from now, some of us will be presented with a mountain of budget papers, and just about all of us will get to hear about them on radio, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dan Lowry, Ice Sheet & Climate Modeller, GNS Science Hugh Chittock/Antarctica New Zealand, CC BY-SA As the climate warms and Antarctica’s glaciers and ice sheets melt, the resulting rise in sea level has the potential to displace hundreds of millions of ...
The government's plan to reintroduce a three strikes regime is being strongly opposed by lawyers, who argue there is no evidence it reduces crime or helps people rehabilitate. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dan Jerker B. Svantesson, Professor specialising in Internet law, Bond University Do Australian courts have the right to decide what foreign citizens, located overseas, view online on a foreign-owned platform? Anyone inclined to answer “yes” to this question should perhaps also ask ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Giovanni E Ferreira, NHMRC Emerging Leader Research Fellow, Institute of Musculoskeletal Health, University of Sydney Last week in a post on X, owner of the platform Elon Musk recommended people look into disc replacement if they’re experiencing severe neck or back pain. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Hayward, Emeritus Professor of Public Policy, RMIT University anek.soowannaphoom/Shutterstock NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey caught the headlines yesterday, courtesy of a blistering speech condemning the latest GST carve-up. New South Wales, he claimed, would be A$11.9 billion worse off over the ...
While police are "broadly in favour", the government's proposed anti-gang laws are facing pushback from lawyers, rights groups and former gang members. ...
While police are "broadly in favour", the government's proposed anti-gang laws are facing pushback from lawyers, rights groups and former gang members. ...
By Miriam Zarriga in Port Moresby Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has arrived at Kokoda Station, Northern province, at the start of his state visit to Papua New Guinea. Both Albanese and Prime Minister James Marape will meet with the locals and the Northern Provincial government before they begin their ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Chris Wallace, Professor, School of Politics Economics & Society, Faculty of Business Government & Law, University of Canberra Shutterstock An important principle was invoked by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese last week in defence of the government’s Future Made in Australia industry ...
By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk Security forces reinforcements were sent from France ahead of two rival marches in the capital Nouméa today, at the same time and only two streets away one from the other. One march, called by Union Calédonienne party (a component of the ...
A poll last August found that just 16% of New Zealanders oppose bringing back the ‘Three Strikes’ law. The nationwide poll of 1,000 New Zealanders was commissioned by Family First NZ and carried out by Curia Market Research. ...
The solo show from Ana Scotney is both sprawling and intimate, and a must-see, writes Mad Chapman. In the opening moments of Scattergun: After the Death of Rūaumoko, writer and performer Ana Scotney lays out the groundwork, literally. Silently moving around the square stage, Scotney is not so much dancing ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Burridge, Professor of Linguistics, Monash University Who makes the words? Why are trees called trees and why are shoes called shoes and who makes the names? – Elliot, age 5, Eltham, Victoria Good question Elliot! Let’s start with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Duckett, Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne at amRawpixel.com/Shutterstock Roles of health professionals are still unfortunately often stuck in the past. That is, before the ...
COMMENTARY:By Malcolm Evans Last week’s leaked New York Times staff directive, as to what words can and cannot be used to describe the carnage Israel is raining on Palestinians, is proof positive, since those reports are published verbatim here in New Zealand, that our understanding of the conflict is ...
In the case of New Zealand, the results confirm that there is no popular support for the vicious austerity program being imposed by the National Party-led government, which is backed in all fundamental respects by the opposition Labour Party. ...
The ‘Vampire’ singer has never visited our part of the world, but that might all be about to change. We assess the evidence.Olivia Rodrigo’s Guts World Tour is pulling in massive crowds as it whips around the US and Europe, even helping to catapult regular supporting act Chappell Roan ...
Testing of drinking water in rural Canterbury over the weekend by Greenpeace revealed that several public town supplies were reaching levels of nitrate above 5 mg/L - the threshold which a growing body of scientific evidence has linked to increased ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rohan Fisher, Information Technology for Development Researcher, Charles Darwin University It may come as a surprise to hear 2023 was Australia’s biggest bushfire season in more than a decade. Fires burned across an area eight times as big as the 2019–20 Black ...
Responding to the Government’s announcement of changes to resource management laws, Taxpayers’ Union Executive Director, Jordan Williams, said: “These changes are a step in the right direction in terms of removing ideological and unworkable ...
More than two years after the Human Rights Council called for the establishment of a national human rights commission, such a body has yet to be formed. ...
Comment:An emergency management system with wide variations in performance, significant capability gaps, funding shortfalls and above all a setup that is not meeting the needs of New Zealanders at times of crisis. The Government’s inquiry into the response to Cyclone Gabrielle and other severe weather events in the North ...
Welcome to the whirring wonders of one brain trying to align its actions with its beliefs within a system it thinks is evil. My brain has been spiralling in a woke conundrum ever since I found out a bookshop I’ve never been to was shutting down. Good Books, a bookshop ...
We repeat our call for criminal justice policy to be based on evidence, something the three strikes regime neglects to recognise – with no evidence that it either reduces crime or assists with rehabilitation. ...
By Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor in Honiara With only four more seats in the 50-member Parliament yet to be officially declared, there is no outright winner in the Solomon Islands elections. As of Monday, the two largest blocs in the winner’s circle, independents and the incumbent Prime Minister Manasseh ...
Two/fiftyseven is a multi-purpose space hidden in the heart of Wellington that is paving a way for sustainable building and responsible landlording in Aotearoa and beyond.By 2060 the world is predicted to double its entire building stock, which equates to building an entire New York City every 34 days, ...
Popstars wasn’t just a reality television revolution, it was also a huge moment for Y2K fashion.It’s 25 years since girl group TrueBliss was formed on New Zealand national television, breaking new ground for both the reality television industry and the shiny clothing industry. With the first episode on NZ ...
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It’s been called a failed experiment and a judicial straightjacket but the government says the revised three strikes law will be a more workable regime, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. Three ...
New Zealand’s Palestinian community and Palestinian Youth Aotearoa are voicing alarm and disappointment with the lack of factual rigour present during the Israeli Ambassador’s appearance as a guest on TVNZ’s Q+A With Jack Tame Sunday (21/04). ...
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In the 16 years since it was bought by the government for $690 million, KiwiRail has had several overhauls and turnaround plans worth billions of dollars. Its ambitions as a successful, profitable operator of tourism, freight and ferries have often been derailed by disasters from earthquakes to cyclones, mine explosions ...
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I've often said that Muldoon's mistake wasn't in trying to develop the economy but by borrowing US$ to do it.
I've also said that we need to stop focussing on farming so much as doing so undermines our ability to develop.
Well, It seems that I'm not the only one thinking that way. Here's Jane Kelton in her Deficit Myth:
There's a happy medium between extreme specialisation and no specialisation, between sole focus on surplusses and unlimited deficits.
A lot of what Muldoon did, Think Big-wise, was excellent for the long term (although subsequent governments sold the assets before many of those benefits were realised).
But the stagflation was still a problem, and the price controls were pushing crap uphill even in the short term.
Of course, the shit-icing on the shitcake was Douglas announcing they'd float a heavily overpriced dollar. That provided the proximate excuse to murder the social democratic system (its good to be interr'd with its bones, its evil to become part of ACT catechism).
Nope.
A country needs to be able to support itself from its own resources and without trade. Which means actually developing the economy to provide the nation with everything that it needs.
A young, undeveloped, country should probably do the specialisation thing for a time to get the economy started but it shouldn't plan on being a specialist producer for always. It should be planning its development away from external dependence.
New Zealand is, and has been for awhile, where we should be moving away from external dependence. Instead we have our governments ensuring that we remain trade dependent.
Trade doesn't actually make the country richer (as proven by our increasing poverty over the last 30+ years) but it does allow a few people to have more money.
I haven't shown it there but just a little bit earlier in the book she shows how having a currency pegged to another causes that. At the time of Muldoon our dollar was pegged to the US$ under the Bretton Woods agreement which the US unilaterally ended (but nobody took note of) in 1971. That was why Muldoon was having to borrow in US$.
In 1971, every currency around the world should have become a fiat currency, floated against each other and the US$ no longer recognised as the Reserve Currency.
So we need to develop world-leading education to develop world-leading blue skies research centres to develop world-leading vaccines, batteries, generators, computer chips, transport tech, fossil substitutes, production-line technology, production facilities, clothes, building materials, communications equipment, aircraft engines, hydroponic and greenhouse facilities (for shit we can't grow in NZ), etc etc etc.
And we still need to kiss goodbye to things like brazil nuts.
Or, we can have diverse production, with some competitive advantages, be self-sufficient in strategically important areas, and trade for shit that other nations do well and it would be stupid-expensive to try to copy.
The Or… bit. Why aren't we doing that now? Seems the bright thing.
That's the pisser, innit? We were quite well placed for a while there.
Then we went from maybe erring on the side of protectionism to going fully in the other direction, free trade as much as possible, screwing worker protection and selling long-developed assets at bargain prices.
There has been minimal strategic direction for the economy for thirty years or more. Sure, we don't need the government assigning the precise production levels for nails every month, but it would be nice to have a higher profile for timeframe for things like transition to renewable energy and maybe a cabinet-level plan for what we want the economy to look like in 50 years and funding the research to get there.
Which is what I've been saying for years. Leaving it all to the 'free-market' doesn't work. Never has done and never will do.
Yeah, but you also keep saying we shouldn't trade with other countries.
I've never said that.
I mean, the semantic difference between
and "we shouldn't trade with other countries" is significantly less than the difference between either of those statements and anything based in reality.
Being able to support ourselves does not preclude trade – it just removes our dependence upon it.
Of course, under actual free-trade their wouldn't be any anyway as trade costs too much to be viable.
Of course it does. The main reason to import something that we are self-sufficient in is if the imported goods or services are cheaper for the desired level of quality. Therefore being self-sufficient in something that producers in other nations can produce and deliver more cheaply requires either the production of goods that will be wasted before the producers go under (because nobody will buy them) or by massive subsidies for the things that others can produce much more cheaply.
I mean, we could transition to a command economy with centrally-directed tarriffs and subsidies. That's never gone wrong in the past. /sarc
There are no competitive advantages.
We already have world leading education and research facilities. What we haven't done is build the factories and processes to take advantages of them. Instead, we focussed on the cheap farming.
Consider Tiwai Point.
People keep complaining about how bad its going to be to close it down, all the lost jobs and the loss of money.
But the smelter was purchased from offshore.
We could do the same for an IC Fab plant.
Such a plant would hire the same number of people and support the same number in the wider community. On top of that, CPUs and other ICs tend to sell for a hell of a lot more than processed aluminium.
If we then developed our silica deposits we would then have more jobs while also eliminating the GHG emissions of importing the processed silica.
If we then used income from that fab plant to pay for R&D to improve that fab plant then we have even more jobs and a sustainable, high tech, industry. It would push our universities to new heights as well while also opening up a career path for our people who want to work in that industry who presently have to leave to do so.
And once we produced those ICs here then we wouldn't be dependent upon importing computers or many other electronic devices.
And you don't get to say that China does it better. Producing ICs is almost fully automated. The factory is just as efficient here as in China.
And, of course, once we’ve got the IC industry going we start developing another one.
Well, no, it wouldn't be just as efficient.
Firstly, a factory supplying the world has economies of scale not met by a factory supplying 5 million people.
Secondly, if the IC plant is "almost fully automated", what would the thousand workers at the smelter do (assuming they can transfer seamlessly over to IC fabrication from foundry work)?
Stephanie Kelton
Yep, you're right. I always misremember that for some reason.
no, muldoons biggest mistake was to kill off norm kirks superannuation scheme. look at how much is in michael cullens kiwisaver. would have been three or four times as much if piggy hadnt phucked things up. biggest eonomic ballsup ever by any kiwi poli, and should be bought up anytime the nats go on about superior economic managers. maturing super schemes all around the planet are now some of the biggest investors ,anywhere. thanks piggy…
Can't get blood out of a stone.
It's not money that makes the economy work but actual, physical resources and their use.
When those super schemes mature what are they going to be spent on?
Muldoon was at least thinking about that when he implemented Think Big. No government since seems to have done so.
And, really, if growth worked then the government wouldn't be panicking about the Baby Boomers retiring. The problem is that, when the Boomers retire, there's going to be lots of people spending money and not a lot of people actually producing stuff.
That's why they keep putting the retirement age up. No amount of interest bearing bonds is going to bypass physical reality.
The synthetic fuel plant would have done us a lot of good, foreign exchange wise, but getting US tech partners to deliver is always a problem.
Greens on 8% in the last CB. So it’s back to Plan A for me – two ticks Labour on Saturday.
Except half the votes have already been cast when they were polling lower. Fingers crossed.
@McFlock 2.1
CB were in the field last weekend til yesterday evening. So presumably they were picking up that crucial little swing from Labour to Greens as voters headed into polls. It’s going to be fine.
In the debate…Jacinda is looking very confident and very relaxed.
Of course she should be. Look at the latest poll. Election likely to be all over by 8:30pm Saturday night.
This is good news, Jester. It's enjoyable to see the Prime Minister exuding confidence at this point in time.
TBF she didn't even have to answer that question except with platitudes.
Quite funny watching who gets put under the pump while the other doesn't
yeah, just like hoskings show on a monday morn eh? unbiased journo eh?
Are you serious? What's funny is trying to disguise as casual interest something that has all the hallmarks of tribal bias. Have you seen nothing of the pantomime performed by Collins prior to her Charmer Chameleon act for most of that debate. Putting an entire campaign in the last week on a feeble attempt to paint two parties as one is hardly leadership material
A cunning ploy to send Codger into paroxysms of rage.
Coalition questions next – bottom lines – Judith's chance to torpedo her own kayak!
Judith is trying hard to avoid those little nasties that she is famous for, but as for all those bluddy ads! Destroys the credibility of the debate. Jacinda is Prime Ministerial and well lit.
"According to the Ministry for Social Development, in the three months to September the number of people receiving a main benefit was up 23 percent – for those on the job seeker benefit the rise was even steeper, up nearly 43 percent.
That translates to an increase of 13,660 people on the jobseeker benefit over the past three months and 61,185 over the past year."
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/2018768533/jobseeker-benefit-figures-up-more-than-40-percent-on-past-year
no 'V' shaped recovery
Good bye, Judith. Fare well.
Slam dunk (with a smile).
Was a forgone conclusion any way, most people would have voted already and Collins knew pretty much she was screwed when she took the job on I imagine.
Just one of those someone has to be the no hope scape goat, be it Goff, Cunliffe, Collins etc
Speaks to Collins' and Muller's character that they were keen to take one for the strong team.
I dunno.
A caretaker leader running a solid but unambitious campaign wouldn't suddenly resort to prayer and blaming the overweight. That smacks of frustration.
Working closely with Gerry for extended periods might drive the best of us to invidious generalizations about high BMI individuals.
Or wave around a fish or apologise for being a dude.
Cunliffe was behaving consistently. Goff behaved consistently. Bridges behaved consistently.
Shearer did not, and Collins has not.
Peters is in the same situation, but instead of stabbing blindly with style changes, he's stabbing wildly with policy button-pushing but never finding that X issue that short circuits voters.
After years of twerking, Seymour has connected with people who forgot that ACT are a bunch of psychos, so he's leaning in to that by toning down some of the more morally bankrupt ACT policies – we'll see how long that rests happily with the gun nut brigade, but at least he has hit a sweet spot with some voters.
Shearer, as you point out, went to prop comedy that he wasn't suited for, because he and his staff were desperate..
"Crusher" Collins tried being nice, went multi-ethnic, was suddenly a devout Christian and wouldn't shut up about it, then decided fatties were just weak and Tasmania sucked (because she's being nice lol).
Bridges wasn't going to be PM, but he was at least putting in a solid effort for the party. Collins is turning in every direction possible as the party swirls down the drain.
Peters lost his major pivot: immigration.
He was obviously desperate for a connection point when he started imitating Don Brash lol
If she really "pretty much knew she was screwed" she then proceeded to present every type of weakness of character to wider NZ that actually made things even worse for National. I can't see how you can consider that was very bright.
I never said I did.
But she is probably working against the most pro one side media in NZ media history.
Even Key didn't get as much brushing over their failings as much as Ardern is.
Oh my mistake must be a different Chris & not the same chris I thought it was – sorry But not about the bias that's been in the opposite direction to what you claim. Just today NZ Herald changed the photo on a story they commissioned from The Financial Times to one of Ardern wearing hijab – the Times one was a more general photo – when they put it up on their pages. So I simply don't accept your assertion that Collins has been hard done by by media.
I was pointing out the brushing over of Ardern's failures.
I is getting a bit silly.
Ain't that the truth.
I am perfectly willing to be swayed by your outlines of what she has actually achieved which don't involve national emergencys like the last lot did.
Key never aimed that high.
Shhh. We should let them drop hundreds of thousands of dollars on a review to find that out, rather than just telling them for free that it's because they suck 🙂
Seen on Scoop. What's Max Rashbrooke up to? Sounds interesting – looking at questions.
https://thedig.nz/transitional-democracy/we-need-to-reset-democracy-tedx-talk/