Sshhh! You’ll make the economy cry

Written By: - Date published: 9:00 am, August 5th, 2009 - 29 comments
Categories: democracy under attack, economy, john key - Tags:

3310371834_2b88fd3797-speak-no-evilJohn Key says we shouldn’t be talking about the number of people going on to the dole. He reckons that mentioning the fact that thousands of people are losing there jobs will cause people to lose confidence and hurt the economy.
  1. Isn’t the real problem for the economy that thousands of people are losing their jobs, not that people are talking about it?
  2. Since when did comments by the opposition affect the economy?
  3. How can more facts on the table be a bad thing? Efficient market hypothesis, which underpins National’s economic ideology relies on markets having perfect information. However knowledge of unemployment causes people to change their behaviour (or not) that’s surely better than them acting without knowledge
  4. This is reminiscent of the Bush era when any questioning of the Government’s approach was labelled anti-patriotic and aiding the enemy. It’s simply a ham-fisted way to try to shut down dissent and stop the Government looking stupid/ineffectual.
  5. Can you imagine the reaction if Clark had said ‘the best thing you can do about unemployment is shut the hell up about it?’
  6. What does Key propose we do if not discuss rising unemployment and ways to combat it? Does he think if we all close our eyes and stick our fingers in our ears everything will be OK?
If Key wants us to stop talking about spiralling unemployment he should do something about the reality, rather than calling for self-censorship.

29 comments on “Sshhh! You’ll make the economy cry ”

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  1. Tigger 1
    5 August 2009 at 9:09 am

    I love how he also told Keisha Castle-Hughes to ‘stick to acting’ – in other words, shut the fuck up. It’s akin to punching Mother Teresa. Crosby-Textor, where the heck are you? Oh right, that WAS you.

    • Marty G 1.1
      5 August 2009 at 9:11 am

      really! when was that?

      • Pascal's bookie 1.1.1
        5 August 2009 at 9:36 am

        Marty g: yesterday, in Brisbane. According to the report he brought her up in discussion in order to slap her down, which makes it fewer ok, in this bookie’s book.

        http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10588731

        • Tim Ellis 1.1.1.1
          5 August 2009 at 9:45 am

          As much as I think a lot of New Zealanders might be uncomfortable with celebrities sticking their names to political causes, I thought Mr Key’s suggestion to Keisha was blunt and unwise.

          • Bright Red 1.1.1.1.1
            5 August 2009 at 9:49 am

            Why? Why shouldn’t she voice her opinion on climate change?

            I suppose you’ll support the government releasing her IRD details too?

            Hack.

            • Tim Ellis 1.1.1.1.1.1
              5 August 2009 at 11:19 am

              There’s nothing wrong with her expressing her opinion on climate change. I think the assumption that people should give her credibility on climate change just because she’s a high profile celebrity is another issue.

              Greenpeace uses celebrities not for the expertise but their capacity to bring publicity. Excuse me, Bright Red, but that is cynical manipulation.

              If I were a hack I wouldn’t have suggested that John Key’s criticism of Keisha Castle Hughes was unwise. It is for example far more neutral than your failure to condemn Labour for anything it did in its nine years of government.

              Double hack!

          • jarbury 1.1.1.1.2
            5 August 2009 at 10:58 am

            OMG TIm Ellis not towing the party line.

            Shock horror! Someone see if his account has been hacked!

            • Tim Ellis 1.1.1.1.2.1
              5 August 2009 at 11:20 am

              You should know jarbury, it’s part of my employment agreement in the national party research bureau to criticise John Key every now and then to make myself look neutral. It is straight from the crosby textor playbook.

            • felix 1.1.1.1.2.2
              5 August 2009 at 11:56 am

              I don’t think it’s working.

        • Tigger 1.1.1.2
          5 August 2009 at 10:49 am

          PB – yes, I thought that was off. And why do it at all? What on earth did Key gain from slapping her around?

          See Mum, he’s not ‘that nice Mr Key’ at all. He was mean to Keisha!

      • BLiP 1.1.2
        5 August 2009 at 12:02 pm

        Was in yesterday’s Herald too. The Goober was saying Labour was ruining confidence in the economy by repeatedly talking about 1000 people per week joining the dole queue. He said the figures were wrong but wouldn’t supply the correct figures.

    • Ianmac 1.2
      5 August 2009 at 10:09 am

      “Keep quiet Keisha or else- the IRD will be checking up on your tax return. And youse Labour whiners keep quiet or or I’ll check your Housing Allowances! It worked for Paula Benifit didn’t it?” said John Key from Brisbane today.

    • felix 1.3
      5 August 2009 at 12:08 pm

      Frankly I think Key should stick to money trading.

  2. lprent 2
    5 August 2009 at 9:11 am

    It comes up frequently in conversation these days. Perhaps clueless should start doing some work on it? Over the long term it is a structural issue around skills training, as this makes people and businesses more flexible.

    However this government seems to prefer to cut training rather than enhance it. The same attitudes in the Bolger & Shipley governments and their training cuts or bums on seats policies caused skills shortages throughout the last decade. Looks like the key government is going for the same track record.

    Pathetically short term thinkers in the nats

    • travellerev 2.1
      5 August 2009 at 9:15 am

      Actually Iprent,

      That’s not short term thinking at all. Educated people are critical people.
      They have a nice little club and they don’t want you or me in it.
      Not educating the great unwashed has been a mainstay of all secretive and greedy rulers throughout the centuries and it is a proven strategy.

    • Deciduous 2.2
      5 August 2009 at 9:19 am

      I thought the government just announced a whole package of youth training measures, or did you guys miss that news.

      • travellerev 2.2.1
        5 August 2009 at 10:19 am

        Yeah, military style training and stupid jobs to keep them happy and dumb.
        Can’t have too many angry teenagers. It’s the young ones stupid and angry enough to take to the street and actually start a revolution if your not careful enough.

        The old ones worn down by poverty and childcare who actually smart enough to learn and go back to school are the ones you don’t want educated. They might find out that their ruling elite is up to no good and is stealing from the countries piggy bank instead of sharing some of their loot and actually join the young ones. Now that would be really bad.

      • BLiP 2.2.2
        5 August 2009 at 12:05 pm

        National Inc announced that it would be handing out more corporate welfare to private education providers to train youth and to business so they could sack older workers and take on subsidised youth at the minimum wage.

  3. travellerev 3
    5 August 2009 at 9:11 am

    Too right.
    So much for transparency eh?

  4. Tom Semmens 4
    5 August 2009 at 9:19 am

    DPB Mum’s, Keisha Castle-Hughes, WHITE BUSINESSMEN WILL NOT TOLERATE DISSENT FROM WOMEN OF ANY SORT!!!

  5. vto 5
    5 August 2009 at 9:19 am

    Key is right when he says that. Confidence is a fragile thing that can disappear in a flash. But marty you are right too to expose this oddity, especially re free market orthodoxy and the full and perfect information arm of that. I guess free market obviously doesn’t always equate to rising market. Free market can lead to freefalling market too, which, if further confidence is lost, is where we will be heading.

    • Lanthanide 5.1
      5 August 2009 at 9:48 am

      I would be curious as to what employers wouldn’t have made anyone redundant, except now that people are talking about rising unemployment they have decided to? Just because it is now a topic of conversation? Any employer who acted in that way – jumping on the bandwagon of popular discourse, rather than actually doing long-range business planning – doesn’t deserve to be in business.

      It seems to me that John is saying that all employers are morons and it’s better to keep them in the dark, rather than spook them into more redundancies, which is the only outcome of talking about unemployment.

    • BLiP 5.2
      5 August 2009 at 12:06 pm

      It would seem that Key prefers the confidence to be built on lies.

  6. Zaphod Beeblebrox 6
    5 August 2009 at 9:51 am

    So its not the Governement’s fault that our economy wallows whilst everybody else recovers. its the doubter’s and realists.

    BTW I don’t thnk Keisha will shut up- she’s going to be around a lot longer than he will when the planet starts baking .

    Really bad politics- PI, Maori and young voters will all be put off by rich white guy telling us not too worry about the Pacific Ocean flooding the islands.

  7. randal 7
    5 August 2009 at 11:13 am

    confidence is another weasel word to hide the fact that capitalism has its own dynamic that must be hidden from the masses.
    go keisha. say it again and this time louder.
    make his coupons curl right off the scrip.

  8. Draco T Bastard 8
    6 August 2009 at 12:44 am

    # Isn’t the real problem for the economy that thousands of people are losing their jobs, not that people are talking about it?

    That would be true if people were rational but they aren’t. There’s a significant amount of evidence to suggest that most investors follow the herd. If things look like they’re going well investments will boom and risks shall be taken until such time as it all falls flat on its face. Then everyone will hoard money until such time as things look good again.

    The capitalist free market: Here to give you a roller coaster ride.