Holmes truths on useless Nats

Written By: - Date published: 11:54 am, August 11th, 2010 - 38 comments
Categories: economy, national - Tags: ,

In his own surreal and ultra-privileged way (read the article!) Paul Holmes has discovered the recession. And it seems to have shaken him up a bit:

Our worst fears are being realised
By Paul Holmes

The economy is tanking.

Let us push away all the pink fluff and the political talk and the fine words and face it. The economy is heading south very deeply and very sharply. It is happening now. What we all dreaded is happening. We all have the numbers that show it and, if you are the kind of person who keeps any eye out, you will know it instinctively.

Paul then goes on to make the classic error of projecting his own inadequacy, and in this case the inadequacy of the Nats, on to the rest of the world. Like that old Fred Allen classic: ‘A Committee is a group of people who individually can do nothing, but as a group decide that nothing can be done”. Here’s the Paul Holmes version:

It is a worldwide thing and there is no answer except the economic cycle itself. But Bill English has not one idea what to do apart from maintaining his innate common sense and thrift and Labour and David Cunliffe have no idea either.

Mr Cunliffe may rage about the economy and the unemployment numbers in the House and that is fine because it is his job to do so. But neither David nor Bill, nor any of them, has any answer to the hopelessness of our economy whatsoever.

This is because, while governments can re-arrange spending and figures and the chairs on Titanic, they cannot invent money. Government in this situation is the Wizard of Oz and may as well not exist. In fact, it doesn’t.

Bill and David are not to be blamed. When the shit hits the fan, they can do nothing.

We allow them to play the political game and we participate in it because this is a democracy and, with it, we get relative freedom of action and speech, but we know there ain’t no answers when things are falling out the bottom of a money bucket that is already deep down an empty well.

Paul’s despairing rant is right in one respect. The Nats have no idea what to do. Their economic record is dismal, and they wasted the opportunity to plan for, respond to, and thus rebound from the recession. They had a plan to win the election, but they didn’t have a plan about what to do next.

But Paul is dead wrong to mistake the inadequacy of the Nats for the impossibility of effective government. It’s true that the Nats have no ideas, but other people do! Labour spent 9 years saving to protect us from the impact of this rainy day, and before the election they set out a comprehensive plan to get us through the recession. The Australian Labor government managed the recession much better, with a genuine stimulus package and a strong recovery. Right now here in NZ The Greens have set out an alternative economic vision that has to be the way forward in a resource limited future, and Labour are working on policy to try and pick up the pieces at the next election.

Thanks to National, however, at this crucial time in economic history, we have been condemned to three years of the kind of lack of vision and bumbling paralysis that has driven Paul Holmes to despair. The National government sit like a giant smelly blockage in the plumbing of the economy. We need to purge that blockage to get things flowing again.

38 comments on “Holmes truths on useless Nats ”

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  1. deemac 1
    11 August 2010 at 12:02 pm

    The Labor government in Oz handled the economic situation so well that there was no technical recession there! They have special factors of course but so does every economy. The different outcomes in countries depending on whether their government spent or retrenched is proof that it is indeed possible for political action to affect the economy.

    • albatross 1.1
      11 August 2010 at 12:42 pm

      Labor in oz inherited a hugely growing economy. Oz was much stronger to begin with. NZ productive economy under clark and cullen had no growth for years before the global recession.

        • Draco T Bastard 1.1.1.1
          11 August 2010 at 3:36 pm

          Of course it was BS r0b, RWNJs don’t like facts as they get in the way of their delusion.

      • marsman 1.1.2
        11 August 2010 at 1:50 pm

        Economic growth under Labour : 3.2% per year. Economic growth under National : MINUS 2.2% per year. Because Bill English is INEPT and he is MISMANAGING the Economy.

        • joe bloggs 1.1.2.1
          11 August 2010 at 2:59 pm

          The comparison is spurious – you kinda overlooked a little global recession that impacted the last two years of National leadership (along with most other economies in the world).

          The reality is that NZ started moving into recession before most other countries, yet managed to perform better than most other OECD coutries throughout the recession.

          As for comparisons with Australia – there’s nothing magical about the Labour Govt’s handling of that economy. What kept that country technically out of recession was the wholesale mining of mineral resources. If you look at industry sectors in isolation from the impact of mining there have been several that have gone into recession in Aus.

          • Ari 1.1.2.1.1
            14 August 2010 at 1:24 am

            Nobody here has said they hold National responsible for the fact of the recession, just for not lifting a finger to mitigate it.

      • bbfloyd 1.1.3
        11 August 2010 at 2:44 pm

        albatross is a good name for you it seems. that post has to be the silliest you’ve come out with yet!
        i find it more than scary to think that this is the sort of mindless bullshit tory supporters can spout with a straight face!
        the figures don’t lie. but that doesn’t seem to be any brake on your desire to.

    • vto 1.2
      11 August 2010 at 12:47 pm

      deemac, the outcomes as a result of govt’s taking on even more absurd levels of debt to stave off a crisis caused by a mountain of debt have not yet happenned. Your proposition is worthless until all the outcomes have actually occurred. Come back in another two years (or twenty, when the public debt incurred may have finally stopped having an effect).

      And re Paul Holmes – why do broadcasters think their opinions are worth listening to? Is it because they love the sound of their own voices? Paul Holmes’ opinions are not worth a pinch of anything – as evidenced by the load of very average bollocks of his in this post.

      • felix 1.2.1
        11 August 2010 at 1:01 pm

        re your last para – notice how Garner and Plunket seem to have decided that The Nation should be a disgusting chubby little mutual mastie session where their opinions are at least as important as those of the guests? Just horrible.

        Not that it was teh awesome to begin with or anything.

  2. Craig Glen Eden 2
    11 August 2010 at 12:11 pm

    Yes Holmes has finally realised that National have no plan for the economy and he voted for them. So what next? In order to make himself feel good about his poor decision he rationalises ” well labour would not have an answer to this either”. Its like saying I was wrong to do what I did but I had no other option.
    Trouble is he did have another option and he chose the wrong one. Have a look a cross the ditch Paul they got it right National got it wrong= NZ economy stuffed

    By the way Paul you might want to ask your mate the nice Mr Key how the war on P is going.

  3. Marty G 3
    11 August 2010 at 12:17 pm

    see what you mean about Holmes’ perspective, r0b. What an arsehole comment about poor people and the education system. Then he has the gall to attack the rich as if he’s a working man, before talking about how his hobby of selling overpriced fancy oil to rich people has started to be hurt by the recession.

    As one of the comments off his piece says ‘you’re just waking up to the recession now, Paul’?

    of course, he tries and fails to deflect blame from the Nats – he has been employed by them for media training, after all.

  4. Cnr Joe (withasparemoment) 4
    11 August 2010 at 12:17 pm

    Yeah, I read that the other day and then recommended others ( who wouldn’t bother reading him ) to take a look. He wrote it quite well from his personal perspective.
    Coming up – Mr P’s war on Key?

  5. felix 5
    11 August 2010 at 12:23 pm

    Hat-tip pollywog? 🙂

    • r0b 5.1
      11 August 2010 at 12:26 pm

      Can’t recall how I stumbled on it, but it could well have been, so Hat Tip pollywog!

      It’s great the stuff that comes up in Open mike, keep up the good work all.

      • Macro 5.1.1
        11 August 2010 at 4:55 pm

        As I’ve said many times I don’t normally buy the Sunday Herald or any Herald for that matter – but on Sunday we needed something to start the fire – and we are packing after selling the property – and it makes good packing material – so I backed down on my principles and bought one. Well having bought one, I thought I may as well see what was in it, and along with all the trash and gossip, I too came upon this piece. It’s interesting to see that the recession – according to Holmes actually only started 6 weeks ago when he was trying to sell olive oil! Astounding observation. And this is the man who fronts Q & A! Not that I waste my time with that propaganda thing either.

      • Frank Macskasy 5.1.2
        13 August 2010 at 4:33 pm

        Rob, I concur with your analysis.

        This current government is behaving more like a “caretaker government” than a proactive administration with a decisive plan.

        Not good.

  6. Tigger 6
    11 August 2010 at 12:48 pm

    Oh noes, the sky is falling and we’re all helpess (so no use in changing the government…). What utter crap. There are bunches of things the government can do. Here’s one, stop adding to unemployment figures by cutting public service numbers – Rachel Maddow had a nice piece about how that’s hurting in the US and no doubt it’s hurting us here. Here’s another, focus especially on those people most hurt by the recession and jobless numbers – young people, Maori and PI.

    This is right wing spin in drag – bad drag at that.

    • pollywog 6.1
      11 August 2010 at 1:35 pm

      focus especially on those people most hurt by the recession and jobless numbers young people, Maori and PI.

      they’ve done that in piloting a handout of 4.8 mill to the good ol’ Auckland brownboys at PEDA ltd.

      Only now it seems PEDA hasn’t really got a clue what they’re providing, the gov’ts getting cold feet, doesnt know what it’s buying and it’s looking harder and harder for georgie girl and the dipton dipshit to wash their hands of the whole affair.

      http://pacificeyewitness.com/2010/08/03/has-pacific-affairs-ministry-dropped-two-of-pedas-proposal-ideas-still-no-word-on-contract/

      On a side note, is it me, or does preferring the far easier option of continually blaming the previous Labour gov’t for his own failings and ineptitude make Blinglish seem totally useless and well past his use by date ?

      oh and out of principle with Holmes being a fatcat, i wouldn’t buy shit of a rich little smack faced twat cos i dont trust that someone who looks like an evil gnome wouldn’t have pissed in it for a laugh.

  7. burt 7
    11 August 2010 at 1:25 pm

    Thanks to National, however, at this crucial time in economic history

    A myopic lover of stagnant economies and falling productivity causing recession would blame the team that inherited the mess rather than the team that created it. You need to study physics a bit more and when you understand the basic concepts of cause and effect then start talking about the economy and what caused the recession you are desperately trying to blame National for.

    • r0b 7.1
      11 August 2010 at 1:29 pm

      Burt you giant twit I’m not blaming the nats for the recession (nor Labour). I’m blaming the nats for having no plan for recovering from it.

    • Craig Glen Eden 7.2
      11 August 2010 at 2:03 pm

      Right Burt so the fact that National inherited the economy that was already coming out of recession would be who’s doing? At this rate Burt could find himself on the front bench for National if he can keep this level of spinning up.Next thing he will be telling us that National are closing the wage gap with Australia!

      Don’t worry about Physics Burt this posting is about the economy Stupid.

  8. Adrian 8
    11 August 2010 at 1:28 pm

    Holmes is wrong. There are huge opportunities in the bike rental business in all sorts of places, with tens of metres of tracks to ride on.

  9. randal 9
    11 August 2010 at 1:32 pm

    holmes has never gone without in his life.
    the only work he has ever done has been yapping his mouth muscles and greasing up old ladies.
    what a guy.

  10. vto 10
    11 August 2010 at 2:04 pm

    You know it is an interesting phenomenon in life that until something has been experienced then it is very difficult to understand it sufficiently to be able to pass useful comment on it.

    And this is perhaps why Holmes’ assessment is devoid of anything useful. His wealth protects him and his family from the worst exploding bombs that such a depression can toss around the place.

    Our life here has entered a (significantly negative) phase we never thought possible, which has given clarity of vision to the type of situation that we find ourselves in. A clarity that was not possible before.

    Other situations where experience beats untested opinion hands down include;

    childbirth.
    business.
    being a King or Queen.
    war.
    prison.
    losing a child.
    winning lotto.
    biffo as a means of dispute resolution.
    fishing.
    driving a lamborghini.
    going to the moon.
    going crazy.
    i think thats about it ..

    • loota 10.1
      11 August 2010 at 3:05 pm

      Surviving a serious car smash
      Being forced into a mortgagee sale and still owing money afterwards
      Sitting in a fighter cockpit as it breaks Mach 1
      Being high as a kite on (insert substance here)
      Meditation
      Receiving a diagnosis of inoperable cancer.
      Making money in your sleep.
      Hearing the crack of a bullet missing your head by only a metre.

      • Pete 10.1.1
        11 August 2010 at 4:06 pm

        1. Losing your job due to recession (must be Labour’s fault)
        2. Getting a new job with 90 day clause (that’s OK, I’ll stand by my record of hard work and skills)
        3. Losing your job within 90 days with no reason given
        4. Looking for work and not finding anything suitable (i.e enough to support wife and family)
        5. Looking to upskill (ye olde bootstraps) but finding tertiary classes closed (except to foreign students)
        6. Turning to benefit but being forced off for not finding work (c/o WWG recommendations)
        7. Losing your wife and family (see 1-6)
        8. Losing your home (can’t afford it now – what with rising GST etc)
        9. Losing your health (but not getting support – see health cuts).
        10. ?
        11. profit!

  11. bbfloyd 11
    11 August 2010 at 2:54 pm

    and st paul thunders from the pulpit ” yes it’s bad, BUT LABOUR DID IT TOO!”, and all the cow cockies chorus YEA NAA YEA NAA YEA NAA!

  12. tc 12
    11 August 2010 at 5:02 pm

    Rubber meets road.

    Holmes/Garner/Plunket all over inflated egos who love the sound of their voice and firmly believe that ‘I have soapbox therefore my opinion has merit’……Plunkett on Media 7 the other week was simply appalling and credit to Pam Corkery for not saying the obvious….he’s a great example of someone who’s losing credibility as they edge closer to a non publicly funded set of soapboxes.

    Holmes shows what an out of touch plonker he is….again.

  13. Fabregas4 13
    11 August 2010 at 6:54 pm

    My post to that article:

    And when the rich can’t sell their olive oil (indeed very good extra virgin olive oil) even they might get buyers remorse thinking of what this government sold to us but has failed to deliver.

    It is time to acknowledge just what a good job Helen Clark and Michael Cullen did in their time and just how quickly the Key led government have let it slip as they focus on the minutiae of government (Honours Anyone?) rather than what really counts.

    The truth is that if the joe average of this country earns less than $45k because wages are being driven down (a stated aim of Key) then they will not have money to spend on olive oil no matter how bloody virginal it is. Bad, blaming, divisive, uncaring policy is like everything else – the poor suffer first, then it creeps up to the middle class and then to those who supported the policies in the first place.

    As for the unemployable of Hastings, didn’t you think for just one minute that this is how these kids presented themselves at school? Just as employers would struggle to motivate them, teachers would too – this is another sign of a failing society rather than failing teachers.

  14. cough cough 14
    11 August 2010 at 7:44 pm

    whereas R0b just then goes on to make the classic error of projecting his own inadequacy.

  15. Frank Macskasy 15
    13 August 2010 at 4:25 pm

    The tax cuts last year, and coming up in October, are a waste of time and resources.

    It would’ve been far better to spend our taxdollars on infrastructure. For example, spend the money lost on taxcuts on building 5,000 new state houses. This would inject money into the economy by way of wages and building materials.

    At the same time, we’d be putting unemployed into jobs; reducing money spent on benefits; and stimulating the timber industry. Plus the government would be recouping much of the investment by way of PAYE, GST, provisional tax, ACC levies – as well as renting out the 5,000 new rentals.

    Instead, as I type this, Bill English is announcing more cuts in the state sector. In other words, this government is contributing to unemployment.

    This is indeed a caretaker government that is utterly clueless.

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