Is the local MSM and opposition giving this subject the coverage it deserves?
The World Economic Forum has just named severe income inequality a top global risk.
A recent OECD report showed the gap between New Zealand’s rich and poor is growing faster than any other developed nation, yet many in this country fail to comprehend the severity of the problem.
There’s a widespread misconception that there has, and always will be, a divide between rich and poor, hence many believe there is no problem. Wrong.
It’s not that there has always been a gap, it’s the fact that the gap is growing to unsustainable levels.
This is having a dire effect on global economies.
Another misconception is that the poor aren’t that bad off in New Zealand.
However, it’s not the the poor aren’t that bad off, it’s the growing number of the working population lack the disposable income to sustain the demand local businesses require to survive.
Businesses depend on the demand of the average wage earner to sell their goods.
A lack of jobs and low wages equals low demand, which equals falling profits.
Over the years, credit has come to fill that void and help boost demand, but the growing debt is now becoming critical.
A recovery requires the benefits of new growth to be better shared, which will stimulate more growth and create a sustainable economy for all to prosper.
Balancing inequality is vital to our economic recovery, but voters and Government seem to be overlooking this fact.
It’s the media and oppositions job to inform the public and hold the Government to account.
Are the local MSM and opposition sufficiently highlighting and pushing the importance of this issue?
The cost of credit card credit is very expensive in terms of interest, as also is hire purchase; though of course many retailers are now offering “interest free” terms. But as the cost cost of providing credit must be built into the selling price somewhere this probably means that we are all paying for it, whether or not we actually take advantage of “easy credit ” terms.
Capitalist owners build up their own capital by paying workers substandard wages.
Capitalist owners can then take the capital they made from paying substandard wages, and loan that capital out as credit to workers who are on substandard wages.
Capitalist owners can then charge those workers interest and fees, clawing back additional money from workers’ substandard wages.
The unsustainable “middle classes” (top earning quartile of the population) appear quite happy with the way income inequality is going. While the bottom quartile have given up on voting in their own best interests.
I mean seriously, who does not vote for first $5K in income, tax free?
Even the wealthy end up worse off in an unequal and divided society
Bryan Gould sums it up nicely:
All too often, the market’s apparent recognition of merit simply reflects the dominant position of those who walk away with the spoils. The best-paid people set each other’s salaries and they are adept at ensuring that, while the global economy demands that working people’s wages are driven down to third-world levels, it requires that top people are paid the huge salaries that are now the norm in the international marketplace.
No one begrudges appropriate rewards for those whose efforts add to the general welfare. But many big earners do not create new wealth; they merely manipulate existing assets. Bankers, property speculators and even (dare one say) foreign exchange dealers cream their fortunes off the top of assets that others have created, thereby siphoning off wealth for themselves that might otherwise have been more fairly distributed.
Growing inequality of course means that the wealthy lead quite separate lives, buying themselves out of life as the rest of us live it. We gain little from them and they know even less of us. While few now give credence to the “trickle-down” theory, the flipside of the market as moral arbiter – invariably rewarding the deserving – is the belief that the poor have no one to blame but themselves.
Those who manipulate the market to their own advantage enjoy not only material rewards but a sense of moral superiority.
What the apologists for inequality do not grasp is that we are all, including the wealthy, made worse off, not only because we live in a more divided and less cohesive society, but also because – by diverting so much national wealth into so few pockets – we thereby undervalue and make poor use of the productive potential of the rest of us, so that we produce less as a country than we should.
It’s not that there has always been a gap, it’s the fact that the gap is growing to unsustainable levels.
The problem really is that there’s a gap – any gap is unsustainable). The poor are at subsistence level and can’t save (this isn’t the problem) while the better off can (which is). The problem that makes the gap unsustainable is the interest that’s paid on those savings which increases the gap by increasing the income of the better off and by decreasing the income of the poor.
A recovery requires the benefits of new growth to be better shared, which will stimulate more growth and create a sustainable economy for all to prosper.
The only problem with this is that we can’t afford any more growth. As Peak Oil progresses the economy will shrink. Growth requires resources and we just don’t have any more.
To reward the various different inputs the labour force produce, and to provide a fiscal incentive for one to exceed, a gap of sorts is required.
Interest on savings is largely offset by inflation and is taxed.
Inflation coupled with population growth necessitates the need for growth.
Limited resources is another challenge that the globe faces, but improved structures and new technologies will help.
Nevertheless, our resources are secure for some time yet – and New Zealand itself is rather well placed for this mad max scenario – as long as we ‘own our own future’.
and only produce what we need rather than, as now, produce far more than we need.
Speaking of the NZ economy, we need to build up the capability to produce virtually everything we will need in future. Many NZ factories were shut down in the 1980’s and 90’s – we now rely almost solely on foreign suppliers for some categories of goods.
Brian Gaynor: Shareholders must battle inequality (highlights)
Excessive executive remuneration and income inequality will continue to be major issues this year as they are at the heart of growing criticism of our capitalist system.
The OECD advocates economic policies that have a strong emphasis on reducing income inequality as well as achieving economic growth.
According to its chief economist “Rising inequality is one of the major risks to our future prosperity and security.
The main challenge facing governments is implementing reforms that get growth back on track, put people to work and reduce the widening income gap.”
Listed companies are major contributors to income inequality because there has been a significant transformation from owner capitalism to manager capitalism over the past few decades.
By this we mean that managers, rather than owners, are controlling major enterprises and these managers are granting themselves huge pay increases. These then flow on to other organisations, including the public sector.
The problem starts in the US, where income inequality is the greatest.
The share registries of most large companies are dominated by institutions, many of which are short-term holders. The talking heads on CNBC – who buy, sell, and short shares on a daily basis – generally have no interest in monitoring these companies from an ownership point of view.
Consequently, many US boards which have the same individuals as chairman and chief ex ecutive, overpay their chief ex ecutives and give them generous stock options.
Thus there has been a big switch from owner capitalism to manager capitalism, mainly because boards are dominated by an ex ecutive chairman, the non-ex ecutive directors are acquiescent, and institutions are disinterested.
The US sets a precedent for the rest of the world because boards of directors in other countries employ consultants to look at international salaries when assessing the remuneration of their senior ex ecutives.
So US senior ex ecutive pay levels quickly set a precedent for the rest of the world because consultants take these into account when advising non-US boards.
This process ratchets-up salaries in other countries, with Australia being a good example of this. As a result, income inequality across the Tasman, as defined by the OECD, has escalated dramatically over the past 30 years.
Australian directors argue that they have to pay international salaries to keep their top ex ecutives and this means they follow US trends. In addition, the share registries of nearly all the major Australian companies are dominated by institutions, rather than individuals. Many of these institutions are not long-term owners, as demonstrated by their aggressive selling of shares in Billabong, Kathmandu, and other companies when these ASX-listed entities announced recent profit downgrades.
New Zealand follows Australia and the remunerations of our senior ex ecutives are rapidly ascending as a result.
A number of countries are looking at higher income tax rates for top earners as a solution to growing inequality. Greater shareholder vigilance is a much better option than higher taxes.
It is extremely important that New Zealand shareholders, both individuals and institutions, exercise their full rights and wrestle control back from managers who have put themselves ahead of other stakeholders.
Shareholders have a powerful role to play in reducing income inequality. This power needs to be used more aggressively as it is highly unlikely the New Zealand government will introduce the same reforms as were proposed in London this week.
According to our free trade agreement with China, it appears the government could have faced an international lawsuit if it hadn’t proceeded with the sale of the Crafar farms to Pengxin.
“The Government could not treat applications from Chinese investors differently from similar applications from other countries’ investors under what was known as the “most-favoured nation” of MFN rule.”
The idea is that we don’t want any foreigners buying up this land. It doesn’t matter whether they’re Chinese or not.
The proposed law by Labour, that all sales over 5 hectares to foreigners would have a default position of “decline”, wouldn’t breach the free trade agreement with China because it would apply equally to all foreigners.
“I was in the cabinet that approved the signing of the agreement, the negotiations for which were led by Phil Goff,” David Parker said. “I was Minister of Land Information at the time and recall specifically checking at the Cabinet Policy Committee that New Zealand’s ability to control land sales was not overruled by the terms of the FTA.
The spin must be coming out of C/T as NAct realise just how much the people of NZ don’t want to sell our assets.
Sarkozy is planning to introduce a financial transactions tax – with or without other European support:
Nicolas Sarkozy has announced plans to impose a tax on financial transactions.
The French president said a new 0.1% tax would come into force in August regardless of whether or not the European Union agrees to impose a ‘Tobin tax’ across the EU.
If Sarkozy does impose a Financial Transaction tax as he proposes he will lose so many Billions to London and Frankfurt who will not bring such a tax.
Frankly France cannot afford it, irrespective of the idea.
The City of London is a casino for legalised theft, scammers and ponzi schemes. Its lax regulation meant that its not a coincidence that the epicentre of problems at AIG, MF Global, Lehman Brothers and others was in their London operations.
Spain has 25% unemployment and 50% for the 18- 25year olds. Spai Air has collapsed.The grim prospects must have a flow-on effect.
What effect would there be for a New Zealand tourist visiting Spain?
I heard those grim statistics this morning on the news. The report went on to tell of the enormous numbers of unemployed youth in Greece, Italy and France. May other European nations are struggling with this issue as well.
However, in many of these countries there exists a huge shadow economy whereby goods and services are supplied, but are not taxed or regulated. A Financial Times report on 08/06/2011 illustrates how pervasive it is. Spain’s grey market economy is estimated to be nearly 20% of the nation’s GDP.
It is this clandestine activity that helps to explain one of the more embarrassing economic mysteries of modern Spanish society: an extraordinarily high rate of official unemployment without much of the civil unrest and popular anger that such a problem would normally generate. If it were true that 4.9m people, or more than 21 per cent of the workforce, were jobless, Spain would not be as peaceful as, barring a few demonstrations, it has so far been, say economists and business leaders.
It is an open secret that the Spanish jobless rate – double the European average – is a fiction. Hundreds of thousands of people claim unemployment benefit when they actually have some kind of work; millions are not registered as working, which means that neither they nor their employers are paying social security contributions. One proof, say employers, is that when unemployment fell to 8.5 per cent at the height of the boom in 2006-07, they could find no workers to hire. Yet that figure, the recent Spanish minimum, is high enough that it would be associated with a deep economic recession in almost any other industrialised country.
Madrid would like to cut the jobless rate dramatically. But ministers are reluctant to do so by openly condemning Spaniards as cheats or dismissing their own statistics as unreliable, since that would undermine the country’s reputation further in the midst of an already damaging sovereign bond crisis. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/efc3510e-9214-11e0-9e00-00144feab49a.html#axzz1kydt5Sfs
I’d say that although the official figures are alarming (yikes! 1/2 of 16 to 24 year-olds are out of work), the reality is that as a New Zealand tourist you won’t be too inconvenienced.
That was great thanks happynz. And I suppose Tourism would be welcomed especially by the unregistered “unemployed.” And congratulations on your search skills.
Here is one trend to look out for: as the “official” economy disowns more and more of the population, more and more of the population is going to disown the official economy. People are going to go grey market and black market to survive.
Most would love to move on to a ‘brighter future’, but the Government seem unwilling to play their part.
For various reasons (that you should be aware of) the local private sector is unable to produce the national growth required.
The high number of unemployed is just one example of the private sector (and this current Government’s) failure.
The ‘Cycle Track’ was a feeble attempt that failed to cut it.
We require Government to play a far larger role in commerce, increasing our offshore return. This will help fill the current market void and help stimulate the economy.
The new wealth generated (being generated offshore and attained through Government) can be far better distributed to the local workforce and contractors employed.
Sir Peter Gluckman: Science key to a richer country (highlights below)
The government, while critical, cannot do it all: local government must take a major role.
There is a need to promote, plan and incentivise an “innovation city”.
It needs the development of technology parks, clustering academia, entrepreneurs and support services.
It needs the hospitals, universities, technical institutes and crown research institutes to co-operate rather than compete.
It seems every few days we hear about more instances of flooding. South East Asia, Southern Pakistan, Northwestern Australia and Southern Brazil all experienced severe flooding in January this year alone… with the cost for such events often massive.
We’re far from done on that score this summer with the pattern pushing the wet systems up against others acting like a giant sponge over us.
Golbal warming can’t be denied, debating why is neither here nor there, moisture goes up in ever larger volumes and comes down so you hardly need a Phd to figure out the impact on land and life.
Probably about time to remove the electoral authorisation, Lynn?
Only for the purposes of Electoral Act 1993, the Electoral Referendum Act 2010 and the Broadcasting Act 1989 everything on this page is:-
Authorised by Lynn Prentice, 3/10 Rose Road, Grey Lynn, Auckland, New Zealand.
Translation: If you want to whine about the site during this election campaign, then please contact me. As a blog site we don’t need this authorization. However I rather enjoy the notion of either verbally or in writing telling idiotic critics why, in my opinion, that they are such pathetic wee morons. In particular why their interpretation of the legalities governing blogsites is symptomatic of their general lack of intelligence and perseverance in reading the acts. I will also take a great deal of pleasure in publishing all correspondence received on the subject complete with my descriptions of the complainants failings in the fields of personality and politics.
Remember too, that this was the single question that Key said was worth bothering to reply to. He hand-picked it and then made a promise to speak to someone about it.
Given the context and the way he framed it, I don’t believe that “anyone listening to the programme would have realised his comments were “light-hearted banter”.”.
The fight to stop the privatisation of the Port of Auckland just ratcheted up a notch. MUNZ will be taking limited strike action for a week, starting in the middle of February. They will be targeting the already casualised Conlinxx container delivery service.
From the press release:
Mr Parsloe says this is legal and protective action to protect jobs and family livelihoods from outsourcing and casualization.
He says the industrial action was taken with reluctance, but was necessary as port management refused to negotiate.
“It is aimed at getting management to negotiate rather than dictate. The Union is prepared to work through productivity and other issues but not under the type of threats the management are holding over its employees.”
I’m a bit surprised, too, that the Prime Minister was – in a lighthearted, banterish sort of way – making a play for a demographic that he apparently believed to be, at least in part, “dying off”.
Costs in running the business will be split between LandCorp and Pengxin. Presumably this would include startup capital such as diary herds. I believe that the farms are currently being operated as a going concern and will therefore likely come with some cows already.
LandCorp is an SOE of the crown and the core part of the act is that SOEs must act as if they are purely commercial operations. The crown/taxpayers paying for cows for LandCorp would be no different than the bailout of any other privately-owned company, something that generally the government avoids doing at all costs.
As far as I know, LandCorp runs at a profit. If you would like to provide information and sources that contradicts that, then please, go ahead.
I’ll be talking about the tension around Iran and the possibility of engineered false flag attacks in the strait of Hormus to trigger an all out war with Iran on the Vinny Eastwood show at 1 PM for those open to some much needed education on what is really going on in he middle East!
Maori Party could quit its support of Govt
By: Lesley Deverall | Latest News | Tuesday January 31 2012 12:52
The Maori Party says it may quit its support of John Key’s government over its asset sale plan.
Tariana Turia and Pita Sharples say plans by the government to have no treaty clause in the SOE sale legislation is a deal breaker.
The pair say maori are already contemplating a hikoi over the issue – and Mrs Turia has raised concerns that the issue may flare up at Waitangi celebrations this weekend.
Who really cares what the current Maori Party publically think. They are extinguishing themselves.
They are ceasing to be relevant as a real Party, and by next election, when the two leaders retire, Hone will pick up their votes.
SCOTUS declared companies were people with political rights.
Well guess Campbell Live will be interviewing the civic grass for a comment on its victory for grass free expression.
Public Grass Lawns has political rights too damn it.
For years now, the legacy entertainment industry has been predicting its own demise, claiming that the rise of technology, by enabling easy duplication and sharing — and thus copyright infringement — is destroying their bottom line. If left unchecked, they say, it is not only they that will suffer, but also the content creators, who will be deprived of a means to make a living.
What we found is that not only is the sky not falling, as some would have us believe, but it appears that we’re living through an incredible period of abundance and opportunity, with more people producing more content and more money being made than ever before. As it turns out… The Sky Is Rising!
So, can we now tell the fuckwits who want to make it even harder to produce content to fuckoff?
Well, well, flogging our future to Johnny Foreigner isn’t popular over the Tasman either. Dick Smith is rather pissed off at having an iconic Aussie brand sold to overseas owners.
Does anyone happen to know any of the background that leads Clare Curran to email Red Alert commenters asking them to verify their identity if they want to comment on Red Alert in future?
I do that on the odd occasion when people are claiming to be specific people or have specific knowledge. Most recently when the lead communications person from the Ports of Auckland left comments. There are usually one or two a month where I check likelihoods using track backs and other technical means, and email checks maybe once every few months. That is mainly to allay flamewars about people’s identities.
But that sounds like Red Alert should look at shifting to the login model with verified email addresses – like kiwiblog. That is automatic and tells you at least two things – that you have a valid email address, which means that you can track people back if you have to, and a login that you can disable requiring effort to get another. Alternatively to use one of the 3rd party verifications like Google or WordPress.
I look at those periodically for here, but decide that it isn’t worth the effort. A robust immoderation policy tends to deter the really irritating people who can’t argue with their peers without a phrase book of keywords that they think are shared values. I find that giving them my personal attention amuses me and deters similar abuses of the concept of argument. And when I don’t have time (like now) there are other moderators, and helpful highlights by experienced commentators.
But MP’s can’t do that. They really need to get a volunteer to moderate their blog or put in a gatekeeper of logins. The halfway house they are doing at present just provides munitions for idiots like Cameron.
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My sister Belinda asked Dad yesterday what one word would describe Mum best. He said: vivacious.If you only knew her from the photos on the slideshow we've made for today,you might wonder about that, because the camera tended to lie with Mum.If ever she saw a camera pointed at her, she ...
There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
From Kiwiblog’s David Farrar – Bryce Wilkinson writes: Senior Fellow Bryce Wilkinson’s analysis reveals that since March 2009, New Zealand has spent $158 billion more overseas than it has earned, but its NIIP has only fallen by $32 billion.Statistics New Zealand shows that receipts from overseas reinsurers have ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
The Local Government, Transport and Auckland Minister hasthreatened councils with intervention if they don’t merge water assets to take them off balance sheet, just as the now-repealed Three Waters plan directed. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things of note this morning for Monday, March 25 include:Simeon ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
COMMENTARY:By Ronny Kareni Since the atrocious footage of the suffering of an indigenous Papuan man reverberates in the heart of Puncak by the brute force of Indonesia’s army in early February, shocking tactics deployed by those in power to silence critics has been unfolding. Nowhere is this more evident ...
Analysis - Nicola Willis is holding firm on tax cuts despite the economic outlook being worse than forecast and critics urging her to wait, writes Peter Wilson for The Week In Politics. ...
Opposition MPs and unions are criticising a proposal by New Zealand’s Ministry of Pacific Peoples to cut staff by 40 percent. The country’s largest trade union — The Public Service Association — says the ministry has informed staff that it is looking to shed 63 of 156 positions. Opposition MPs ...
A poem by Poetry Aotearoa Yearbook 2024 featured poet Carin Smeaton. Daughtr of the 90s when she gets promoted to usherette a baby blu eel carries her all the way up to mothership she’s hovering high she lets the underaged in to see keanu reeves she lets the only lonely ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Keith Rankin, trained as an economic historian, is a retired lecturer in Economics and Statistics. He lives in Auckland, New Zealand. My earlier article – Can ‘Good’ be the Greater Evil? – looked at the issue of how wars should end, and how Good versus Evil ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 AMMA by Saraid de Silva (Moa Press, $38)A stunning debut novel reviewed by Brannavan ...
From Steve Martin to Ricky Stanicky, a pick’n’mix of things worth watching and listening to this long weekend. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. If you’re at a loss for something to occupy yourself with this Easter, don’t panic: The Spinoff’s got ...
Jesus had dinner with his 12 disciples right before he died. Noted historian Madeleine Chapman finds out who really deserved to be there.First published in 2018 but let’s be honest, the subject is timeless. As you sit on your couch this Easter Sunday, eating a chocolate egg you know ...
The newly-promoted Northern League club is on a mission to return to the National League for the first time in two decades. Plenty about domestic football in New Zealand has changed in that time – but the sense that this amateur competition is not an entirely level playing field remains. ...
Comment: Every year on February 2, a dozen men in tuxedos and top hats approach the burrow of a groundhog in Gobbler’s Knob, Pennsylvania and entice the beaver-like rodent to emerge and predict the weather. If the groundhog, named Punxsutawney Phil, sees its own shadow when it is summoned, legend ...
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Auckland Council has put a deadline on new weather-impacted property owners applying for categorisation as government funding looks set to run out. Councillors have voted to support a deadline of September 30 for property owners who haven’t accessed support to come forward and engage with the council’s recovery office. It ...
NONFICTION 1 BBQ Economics by Liam Dann (Penguin Random House, $40) “It’s official,” wrote Dann nine days ago in the Herald, where he works as business editor at large, “we’re in recession.” Yeah, great. He delivered the bad stats: “GDP fell 0.1 percent in the December 2023 quarter, compared with ...
By Anneke Smith, RNZ News political reporter A petition urging the New Zealand government to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people has been tabled in the House. More than 200 people gathered on Parliament’s forecourt today and they were met by MPs from Labour, the Greens and Te ...
Pacific Media Watch The Paris-based global media freedom watchdog RSF (Reporters Without Borders) has appealed for information about the “disappearance” of Palestinian journalist Bayan Abusultan. She was reportedly last seen on March 19 among people “sequestered” in this week’s raid and siege of Al Shifa hospital by Israeli troops in ...
EDITORIAL:The Jakarta Post It happens again and again; indigenous Papuans fall victim to Indonesian soldiers. This time, we have photographic evidence for the brutality, with videos on social media showing a Papuan man being tortured by a group of plainclothes men alleged to be the Indonesian Military (TNI) members. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn J. Whitaker, Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity A strange and eclectic range of activities takes place across these few weeks of the year. Some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University It’s Easter weekend, which means many of us will be kicking back with the greatest hits on repeat. But whether you’re a boomer, or an ‘80s or ’90s kid, you might be ...
RNZ Pacific Fiji’s Acting Public Prosecutor has filed an appeal against the sentences of former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended police chief Sitiveni Qiliho in their corruption case. Bainimarama was granted an absolute discharge for attempting to pervert the course of justice while Qiliho received a conditional discharge with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Arosha Weerakoon, Senior Lecturer and General Dentist, School of Dentistry, The University of Queensland Casezy idea/Shutterstock How does toothpaste work? What did people use before toothpaste was invented? – Amelia, age 7, Meanjin (Brisbane) Thanks for your ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brett Hallam, Associate professor, UNSW Sydney IM Imagery/Shutterstock Solar SunShot is well named. The Australian government announced today it would plough A$1 billion into bringing back solar manufacturing to Australia, boosting energy security, swapping coal and gas jobs for those ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Dix, Research Fellow in Nutrition & Dietetics, The University of Queensland Easter is the time for chocolate. The shops are full of fantastically packaged and shiny chocolates in all shapes and sizes, making trips to the supermarket with children more challenging ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Felton, Adjunct Senior Researcher, University of South Australia Even in a stubborn cost-of-living crisis, it seems there’s one luxury most Australians won’t sacrifice – their daily cup of coffee. Coffee sales have largely remained stable, even as financial pressures have ...
Mining company Trans-Tasman Resources has unexpectedly withdrawn its application for a consent to suck the valuable metals vanadium and titanium from the Taranaki seafloor, as it apparently wagers on the Government’s new fast-track process. It had spent two-and-a-half days putting its case to the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision-making committee, at ...
Contrary to the Associate Minister of Education’s claims, analysis of Healthy School Lunches Programme - Ka Ora, Ka Ako assessments has revealed it provides excellent value for the taxpayer dollar, as a groundswell of public opposition to Government ...
Greenpeace says wannabe Taranaki seabed miner Trans-Tasman Resources is likely banking on Christopher Luxon’s fast-track process to side-step proper scrutiny of its Taranaki seabed mining proposal by bailing out of the Environmental Protection Agency hearing ...
Kiwis Against Seabed mining today slammed Australian owned would-be seabed miner Trans Tasman Resources (TTR) for abandoning its application to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to mine the seabed of the South Taranaki Bight. The company ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katie Attwell, Associate Professor, School of Social Sciences, The University of Western Australia Ground Picture/Shutterstock Months after COVID vaccines were introduced in 2021, governments and private organisations mandated them for various groups. Health and aged care workers were among the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Dzurak, Scientia Professor Andrew Dzurak, CEO and Founder of Diraq, UNSW Sydney Diraq For decades, the pursuit of quantum computing has struggled with the need for extremely low temperatures, mere fractions of a degree above absolute zero (0 Kelvin or ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne A national Essential poll, conducted March 20–24 from a sample of 1,150, gave the Coalition a 50–44 lead including undecided, a reversal ...
The Taxpayers’ Union has today made a formal request under the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Open Government Information () for information held about how New Zealand Members of Parliament are spending taxpayer ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Nelson, Honorary Principal Fellow, The University of Melbourne A Byzantine depiction of the Eucharist in Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv.Jacek555/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA A nasty quarrel arose in the 11th century over what kind of bread should be used in holy ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Patrick Hesp, Professor, Flinders University Patrick Hesp In some parts of Australia, coastal dunes are retreating from the ocean at an alarming rate, as waves carve up the beach and wind blows the sand inland. But coastal communities are largely ...
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Is the local MSM and opposition giving this subject the coverage it deserves?
The World Economic Forum has just named severe income inequality a top global risk.
A recent OECD report showed the gap between New Zealand’s rich and poor is growing faster than any other developed nation, yet many in this country fail to comprehend the severity of the problem.
There’s a widespread misconception that there has, and always will be, a divide between rich and poor, hence many believe there is no problem. Wrong.
It’s not that there has always been a gap, it’s the fact that the gap is growing to unsustainable levels.
This is having a dire effect on global economies.
Another misconception is that the poor aren’t that bad off in New Zealand.
However, it’s not the the poor aren’t that bad off, it’s the growing number of the working population lack the disposable income to sustain the demand local businesses require to survive.
Businesses depend on the demand of the average wage earner to sell their goods.
A lack of jobs and low wages equals low demand, which equals falling profits.
Over the years, credit has come to fill that void and help boost demand, but the growing debt is now becoming critical.
A recovery requires the benefits of new growth to be better shared, which will stimulate more growth and create a sustainable economy for all to prosper.
Balancing inequality is vital to our economic recovery, but voters and Government seem to be overlooking this fact.
It’s the media and oppositions job to inform the public and hold the Government to account.
Are the local MSM and opposition sufficiently highlighting and pushing the importance of this issue?
The cost of credit card credit is very expensive in terms of interest, as also is hire purchase; though of course many retailers are now offering “interest free” terms. But as the cost cost of providing credit must be built into the selling price somewhere this probably means that we are all paying for it, whether or not we actually take advantage of “easy credit ” terms.
Indeed .
And easy credit is not the way to a ‘brighter future’, but will we ever learn?
Credit demand spikes:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/6318995/Credit-demand-spikes-among-young-and-old
Capitalist owners build up their own capital by paying workers substandard wages.
Capitalist owners can then take the capital they made from paying substandard wages, and loan that capital out as credit to workers who are on substandard wages.
Capitalist owners can then charge those workers interest and fees, clawing back additional money from workers’ substandard wages.
Brilliant system.
The unsustainable “middle classes” (top earning quartile of the population) appear quite happy with the way income inequality is going. While the bottom quartile have given up on voting in their own best interests.
I mean seriously, who does not vote for first $5K in income, tax free?
Even the wealthy end up worse off in an unequal and divided society
Bryan Gould sums it up nicely:
All too often, the market’s apparent recognition of merit simply reflects the dominant position of those who walk away with the spoils. The best-paid people set each other’s salaries and they are adept at ensuring that, while the global economy demands that working people’s wages are driven down to third-world levels, it requires that top people are paid the huge salaries that are now the norm in the international marketplace.
No one begrudges appropriate rewards for those whose efforts add to the general welfare. But many big earners do not create new wealth; they merely manipulate existing assets. Bankers, property speculators and even (dare one say) foreign exchange dealers cream their fortunes off the top of assets that others have created, thereby siphoning off wealth for themselves that might otherwise have been more fairly distributed.
Growing inequality of course means that the wealthy lead quite separate lives, buying themselves out of life as the rest of us live it. We gain little from them and they know even less of us. While few now give credence to the “trickle-down” theory, the flipside of the market as moral arbiter – invariably rewarding the deserving – is the belief that the poor have no one to blame but themselves.
Those who manipulate the market to their own advantage enjoy not only material rewards but a sense of moral superiority.
What the apologists for inequality do not grasp is that we are all, including the wealthy, made worse off, not only because we live in a more divided and less cohesive society, but also because – by diverting so much national wealth into so few pockets – we thereby undervalue and make poor use of the productive potential of the rest of us, so that we produce less as a country than we should.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10778102
The problem really is that there’s a gap – any gap is unsustainable). The poor are at subsistence level and can’t save (this isn’t the problem) while the better off can (which is). The problem that makes the gap unsustainable is the interest that’s paid on those savings which increases the gap by increasing the income of the better off and by decreasing the income of the poor.
The only problem with this is that we can’t afford any more growth. As Peak Oil progresses the economy will shrink. Growth requires resources and we just don’t have any more.
To reward the various different inputs the labour force produce, and to provide a fiscal incentive for one to exceed, a gap of sorts is required.
Interest on savings is largely offset by inflation and is taxed.
Inflation coupled with population growth necessitates the need for growth.
Limited resources is another challenge that the globe faces, but improved structures and new technologies will help.
Nevertheless, our resources are secure for some time yet – and New Zealand itself is rather well placed for this mad max scenario – as long as we ‘own our own future’.
Money doesn’t motivate us to exceed – purpose does.
Cancel interest, cancel inflation, keep the value of money static – no growth required.
Population growth also needs to be cancelled.
No amount of “improved structures and new technologies” will offset declining resources if population continues to grow.
We’re quite well off if we rationalise our economy and only produce what we need rather than, as now, produce far more than we need.
Speaking of the NZ economy, we need to build up the capability to produce virtually everything we will need in future. Many NZ factories were shut down in the 1980’s and 90’s – we now rely almost solely on foreign suppliers for some categories of goods.
And the really stupid thing about that is that we export the raw resources to make the items which we then import.
While Fran was busy gloating, Brian gets into it.
Brian Gaynor: Shareholders must battle inequality (highlights)
Excessive executive remuneration and income inequality will continue to be major issues this year as they are at the heart of growing criticism of our capitalist system.
The OECD advocates economic policies that have a strong emphasis on reducing income inequality as well as achieving economic growth.
According to its chief economist “Rising inequality is one of the major risks to our future prosperity and security.
The main challenge facing governments is implementing reforms that get growth back on track, put people to work and reduce the widening income gap.”
Listed companies are major contributors to income inequality because there has been a significant transformation from owner capitalism to manager capitalism over the past few decades.
By this we mean that managers, rather than owners, are controlling major enterprises and these managers are granting themselves huge pay increases. These then flow on to other organisations, including the public sector.
The problem starts in the US, where income inequality is the greatest.
The share registries of most large companies are dominated by institutions, many of which are short-term holders. The talking heads on CNBC – who buy, sell, and short shares on a daily basis – generally have no interest in monitoring these companies from an ownership point of view.
Consequently, many US boards which have the same individuals as chairman and chief ex ecutive, overpay their chief ex ecutives and give them generous stock options.
Thus there has been a big switch from owner capitalism to manager capitalism, mainly because boards are dominated by an ex ecutive chairman, the non-ex ecutive directors are acquiescent, and institutions are disinterested.
The US sets a precedent for the rest of the world because boards of directors in other countries employ consultants to look at international salaries when assessing the remuneration of their senior ex ecutives.
So US senior ex ecutive pay levels quickly set a precedent for the rest of the world because consultants take these into account when advising non-US boards.
This process ratchets-up salaries in other countries, with Australia being a good example of this. As a result, income inequality across the Tasman, as defined by the OECD, has escalated dramatically over the past 30 years.
Australian directors argue that they have to pay international salaries to keep their top ex ecutives and this means they follow US trends. In addition, the share registries of nearly all the major Australian companies are dominated by institutions, rather than individuals. Many of these institutions are not long-term owners, as demonstrated by their aggressive selling of shares in Billabong, Kathmandu, and other companies when these ASX-listed entities announced recent profit downgrades.
New Zealand follows Australia and the remunerations of our senior ex ecutives are rapidly ascending as a result.
A number of countries are looking at higher income tax rates for top earners as a solution to growing inequality. Greater shareholder vigilance is a much better option than higher taxes.
It is extremely important that New Zealand shareholders, both individuals and institutions, exercise their full rights and wrestle control back from managers who have put themselves ahead of other stakeholders.
Shareholders have a powerful role to play in reducing income inequality. This power needs to be used more aggressively as it is highly unlikely the New Zealand government will introduce the same reforms as were proposed in London this week.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10781666
According to our free trade agreement with China, it appears the government could have faced an international lawsuit if it hadn’t proceeded with the sale of the Crafar farms to Pengxin.
Now, which government signed that free trade agreement? And which party is now belly-aching about the outcome? Hmmmm.
“The Government could not treat applications from Chinese investors differently from similar applications from other countries’ investors under what was known as the “most-favoured nation” of MFN rule.”
The idea is that we don’t want any foreigners buying up this land. It doesn’t matter whether they’re Chinese or not.
The proposed law by Labour, that all sales over 5 hectares to foreigners would have a default position of “decline”, wouldn’t breach the free trade agreement with China because it would apply equally to all foreigners.
http://labour.org.nz/news/government-wrong-to-blame-fta-for-crafar-sales
The spin must be coming out of C/T as NAct realise just how much the people of NZ don’t want to sell our assets.
Great debate on BBC world the other night.
World Debate Reinventing Capitalism.
Bernard Hickey would have loved it and it’s the type of discussion this nation should be having.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p00nb3cp/The_World_Debate_Reinventing_Capitalism#programme-info
Sarkozy is planning to introduce a financial transactions tax – with or without other European support:
When’s the presidential election?
If Sarkozy does impose a Financial Transaction tax as he proposes he will lose so many Billions to London and Frankfurt who will not bring such a tax.
Frankly France cannot afford it, irrespective of the idea.
Maybe. But then France seeks to have real industries, not just be a tax haven,
The City of London is a casino for legalised theft, scammers and ponzi schemes. Its lax regulation meant that its not a coincidence that the epicentre of problems at AIG, MF Global, Lehman Brothers and others was in their London operations.
Spain has 25% unemployment and 50% for the 18- 25year olds. Spai Air has collapsed.The grim prospects must have a flow-on effect.
What effect would there be for a New Zealand tourist visiting Spain?
I heard those grim statistics this morning on the news. The report went on to tell of the enormous numbers of unemployed youth in Greece, Italy and France. May other European nations are struggling with this issue as well.
However, in many of these countries there exists a huge shadow economy whereby goods and services are supplied, but are not taxed or regulated. A Financial Times report on 08/06/2011 illustrates how pervasive it is. Spain’s grey market economy is estimated to be nearly 20% of the nation’s GDP.
I’d say that although the official figures are alarming (yikes! 1/2 of 16 to 24 year-olds are out of work), the reality is that as a New Zealand tourist you won’t be too inconvenienced.
That was great thanks happynz. And I suppose Tourism would be welcomed especially by the unregistered “unemployed.” And congratulations on your search skills.
Here is one trend to look out for: as the “official” economy disowns more and more of the population, more and more of the population is going to disown the official economy. People are going to go grey market and black market to survive.
Its already happening in NZ.
Yep and youth unemployment in Greece is now over 45%.
Frakking dangerous territory this is. The stuff of facism and white spremacy movements.
Civic Square in Wellington is now the property of the 100% again. No trouble. No fuss. lets all move on to a brighter future.
Most would love to move on to a ‘brighter future’, but the Government seem unwilling to play their part.
For various reasons (that you should be aware of) the local private sector is unable to produce the national growth required.
The high number of unemployed is just one example of the private sector (and this current Government’s) failure.
The ‘Cycle Track’ was a feeble attempt that failed to cut it.
We require Government to play a far larger role in commerce, increasing our offshore return. This will help fill the current market void and help stimulate the economy.
The new wealth generated (being generated offshore and attained through Government) can be far better distributed to the local workforce and contractors employed.
Sir Peter Gluckman: Science key to a richer country (highlights below)
The government, while critical, cannot do it all: local government must take a major role.
There is a need to promote, plan and incentivise an “innovation city”.
It needs the development of technology parks, clustering academia, entrepreneurs and support services.
It needs the hospitals, universities, technical institutes and crown research institutes to co-operate rather than compete.
More here: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/economy/news/article.cfm?c_id=34&objectid=10779810
We’re trying to, unfortunately you RWNJs keep getting in the way and stealing all the wealth.
I missed this Campbell Live account of the Occupy Wellington protest which aired last week. Unusually for mainstream media the reporter and cameraman both stayed overnight and tried to find out what it was all about. It is worth watching again in the light of the eviction this morning.
http://www.3news.co.nz/Occupy-Wellington—behind-the-scenes/tabid/367/articleID/240960/Default.aspx
Prepare for climate change
It seems every few days we hear about more instances of flooding. South East Asia, Southern Pakistan, Northwestern Australia and Southern Brazil all experienced severe flooding in January this year alone… with the cost for such events often massive.
We’re far from done on that score this summer with the pattern pushing the wet systems up against others acting like a giant sponge over us.
Golbal warming can’t be denied, debating why is neither here nor there, moisture goes up in ever larger volumes and comes down so you hardly need a Phd to figure out the impact on land and life.
Probably about time to remove the electoral authorisation, Lynn?
Also the edit function is broken.
It seems that the Prime Minister did not end up talking to “someone important” at TVNZ over the Coronation Street scheduling issue last year.
This is because, as his spokesperson clarifies:
“his comments were “light-hearted banter””
And
“It is not appropriate for the Prime Minister to intervene in TVNZ’s programming decisions.”
It’s presumably far more appropriate that his electorate chair make such interventions, via NZOA.
Remember too, that this was the single question that Key said was worth bothering to reply to. He hand-picked it and then made a promise to speak to someone about it.
Given the context and the way he framed it, I don’t believe that “anyone listening to the programme would have realised his comments were “light-hearted banter”.”.
The fight to stop the privatisation of the Port of Auckland just ratcheted up a notch. MUNZ will be taking limited strike action for a week, starting in the middle of February. They will be targeting the already casualised Conlinxx container delivery service.
From the press release:
Mr Parsloe says this is legal and protective action to protect jobs and family livelihoods from outsourcing and casualization.
He says the industrial action was taken with reluctance, but was necessary as port management refused to negotiate.
“It is aimed at getting management to negotiate rather than dictate. The Union is prepared to work through productivity and other issues but not under the type of threats the management are holding over its employees.”
I’m a bit surprised, too, that the Prime Minister was – in a lighthearted, banterish sort of way – making a play for a demographic that he apparently believed to be, at least in part, “dying off”.
Ooops! Was meant to be an addition to comment 11.
Who’s paying for the cows that Labour Corp will need to buy when new overseas owners take over? NZ Tax payer?
Costs in running the business will be split between LandCorp and Pengxin. Presumably this would include startup capital such as diary herds. I believe that the farms are currently being operated as a going concern and will therefore likely come with some cows already.
LandCorp is an SOE of the crown and the core part of the act is that SOEs must act as if they are purely commercial operations. The crown/taxpayers paying for cows for LandCorp would be no different than the bailout of any other privately-owned company, something that generally the government avoids doing at all costs.
As far as I know, LandCorp runs at a profit. If you would like to provide information and sources that contradicts that, then please, go ahead.
I’ll be talking about the tension around Iran and the possibility of engineered false flag attacks in the strait of Hormus to trigger an all out war with Iran on the Vinny Eastwood show at 1 PM for those open to some much needed education on what is really going on in he middle East!
Whoopsadoodle:
http://newstalkzb.co.nz/auckland/news/1151955745-Maori-Party-could-quit-its-support-of-Govt
Might pull support, might not. Will kick up shit however; which is all good.
Just heard that on the news too.
maori Party growing a spine. Oh dear.
Wonder what John Banks has to say about it.
Who really cares what the current Maori Party publically think. They are extinguishing themselves.
They are ceasing to be relevant as a real Party, and by next election, when the two leaders retire, Hone will pick up their votes.
Probably NAct as the Maori Party leaving the coalition opens the way to a snap election due to loss of confidence.
SCOTUS declared companies were people with political rights.
Well guess Campbell Live will be interviewing the civic grass for a comment on its victory for grass free expression.
Public Grass Lawns has political rights too damn it.
The Sky Is Rising!
So, can we now tell the fuckwits who want to make it even harder to produce content to fuckoff?
Edit not working:
Clare Curran has a post over on RA covering this as well.
Well, well, flogging our future to Johnny Foreigner isn’t popular over the Tasman either. Dick Smith is rather pissed off at having an iconic Aussie brand sold to overseas owners.
Does anyone happen to know any of the background that leads Clare Curran to email Red Alert commenters asking them to verify their identity if they want to comment on Red Alert in future?
I do that on the odd occasion when people are claiming to be specific people or have specific knowledge. Most recently when the lead communications person from the Ports of Auckland left comments. There are usually one or two a month where I check likelihoods using track backs and other technical means, and email checks maybe once every few months. That is mainly to allay flamewars about people’s identities.
But that sounds like Red Alert should look at shifting to the login model with verified email addresses – like kiwiblog. That is automatic and tells you at least two things – that you have a valid email address, which means that you can track people back if you have to, and a login that you can disable requiring effort to get another. Alternatively to use one of the 3rd party verifications like Google or WordPress.
I look at those periodically for here, but decide that it isn’t worth the effort. A robust immoderation policy tends to deter the really irritating people who can’t argue with their peers without a phrase book of keywords that they think are shared values. I find that giving them my personal attention amuses me and deters similar abuses of the concept of argument. And when I don’t have time (like now) there are other moderators, and helpful highlights by experienced commentators.
But MP’s can’t do that. They really need to get a volunteer to moderate their blog or put in a gatekeeper of logins. The halfway house they are doing at present just provides munitions for idiots like Cameron.
Ugly out of touch outdated unionists
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/image.cfm?c_id=6&gal_cid=6&gallery_id=123614#8552768
F.A.G is real!? Time to re-watch Team America methinks 🙂