Was National a good economic manager?

Written By: - Date published: 9:30 am, March 10th, 2018 - 75 comments
Categories: Economy, national, same old national, the praiseworthy and the pitiful - Tags:

No.

For your next set of arguments with people still pining for John Key, who look back at near-history and feel it was a time where everyone was relaxed and people had a generally good time, and attribute that feeling to those time-honoured National skills managed the economy so well, here’s the actual performance, laid out by the CTU in simple graphs and brief commentary.

The summary says it all:

It’s a crucial part of the mythology around National Party Governments that they are “good economic managers”, as their new leader, Simon Bridges, is repeating. The business commentariat repeat it endlessly too. How true is this?

‘Economic management’ often confuses fiscal – management of the government’s finances – with management of the entire economy over which the Government of the day has relatively limited influence: it cannot take credit or blame for existing trends or random events – luck. And what is ‘good’? The business media have typically assumed that ‘good fiscal management’ is simply holding down spending, balancing the budget and reducing debt. But it is hardly good management to hold down spending if in the real world people can’t find jobs or cannot afford acceptable housing or are living in poverty or can’t get the health care they need. Similarly ‘good economic management’ is not just strong GDP growth. It is hardly good economic management if GDP is growing but the income is not fairly spread or growth is in areas that provide a poor basis for future development or creates growing environmental degradation.

I look at National’s record on growth in GDP (and GDP per person), productivity, trade, employment, unemployment and joblessness, wages and salaries, inequality, poverty, housing and environmental sustainability. Even on GDP growth its record is mediocre; it has a little to be proud of in employment but less so when looking at the quality of the employment and continuing levels of joblessness. In the other areas there are demonstrable failures.

Its management of government finances started well in its handling of the Global Financial Crisis: using debt rather than austerity reduced the social and economic impacts. It sensibly funded the Canterbury earthquake recovery partly from debt. Yet there their praiseworthy fiscal management largely ends. Their 2010 tax cuts were inappropriate in a recessionary economy with high levels of inequality and poverty. National used the crisis and a supposed excessive debt level (even at its peak, still much lower than most countries in the OECD) to justify a programme of spending cuts for its entire period in office. It put off spending in a host of areas that would inevitably come home to roost on a future Government including in Health, Superannuation, Education, Housing, Poverty, Environment and Conservation.

This is not responsible fiscal management: it is turning a blind eye to the future. On this record, National cannot fairly claim to be a good economic or fiscal manager unless its definition is so narrow as to ignore the consequences of its management policies.

75 comments on “Was National a good economic manager? ”

  1. cleangreen 1

    Good article Advantage,

    No,no,no.no!!!!!!

    How can National ever claim it “Was a good economic manager”?

    Just look at their sad record!!!!!!

    Well firstly; – they have already sold everything except the barn door in nine years.

    Then while promising we would all be expecting a “brighter future”.

    Then they borrowed another $60 Billion to give tax breaks to the rich.

    What they didn’t do;

    Upgrades on Infrastructure, roads, and rail, and airports, and ports,

    These are urgent needed repairs now required as all agencies, & local councils are claiming these are all crumbling along with local municipal asserts and their infrastructure of buildings drains water supplies, are all in desperate need of upgrading.

    So we are simply in deep shit after National ‘s nine years of mis-management of robbing Peter to pay Paul and carry out a silent undeclared program of austerity, so we have been savaged severely by National.

    • Wensleydale 1.1

      Sadly, it doesn’t matter whether the “good financial managers” narrative is true or not. It will be parroted endlessly because people believe the myth. It’s become part of National’s brand. “National – good with money, shit at everything else, especially people.” And yet, they’re not even good at the one thing they’re supposed to be good at. When you look at the things they get up to while in office, you’d be forgiven for concluding that the National Party is little more than a giant money-go-round, and a means of securing lucrative future employment post-parliament, with the various corporates you did favours for while you were a minister. It’d be funny if it weren’t so sad.

  2. arkie 2

    My question is how the meme of RW parties as ‘good economic managers’ is maintained in the face of the evidence. Are there effective ways to counter this narrative?

    • Loop 2.1

      Arkie

      ” My question is how the meme of RW parties as ‘good economic managers’ is maintained in the face of the evidence. ”

      The answer is simple. Repeat the lie many, many times and some will believe as if it were the truth.

      The same applies when the “black hole” in Labours budget. Joyce said he’d leave politics if he was wrong. FINALLY he left, not because of the “black hole” though,but at least he’s gone!

      • arkie 2.1.1

        indeed, ‘catapult the propaganda’ as G.W. Bush said.

        I’m interested in what methods can be used by us on the Left, to counter it effectively, to let the truth sink in.

        The management of an economy can be a pretty nebulous metric to measure let alone explain. Apart from mandating the reading of this post, i can’t think of a good way to challenge the RW narrative,

      • greywarshark 2.1.2

        I don’t count on Joyce having left us for good though. He won’t be doing good wherever he is, and he won’t be distanced from NZ interests for too long.
        Walk out the front door and go in the side door somewhere I would think.

  3. adam 3

    Can we talk inflation? The last government ruled over almost runaway inflation.

    Yes I know, the usual turds will bring out the official rate at this point. But a few things are missing from the official rate. The two big ones are rent increases and house prices. Both these have been removed from the official rate, and if you can honestly say these have not been running high I will eat my hate.

    The unseen, or insidious inflation which has passed by most, (well not really, but treasury has turned a blind eye) is the reduction in product size. Especially food products. A few grams here and there and bob’s your uncle, same price, less product – no change to the official inflation rate.

    The national party sat and did nothing whilst this went on. So yeah, agree with Ad completely.

    • Whispering Kate 3.1

      It’s not just food products but cosmetic products as well. Now I know you are going to say they are not necessary but I am also including moisturisers and deodorants in here as well. They introduce a new product, remove the existing one from the shelves and hey presto its in a smaller packet, weighs less and costs more. Happens all the time and has happened like this for as long as I can remember.

      Even worse the new one introduced is not as good in a subtle way that the user can recognise the difference if they are regular users of the product. Do they think the consumer is a bit slow on the uptake or is it just pure arrogance that they know they can get away with it. No wonder consumers become cynical about the whole process of delivering a fair trade on their manufacturing.

      Meanwhile as Adam says in his comment above, people’s incomes are not keeping up with the never ending creep of costs – then they have the nerve to say the inflation rate is low and successful.

      • smokes kreen 3.1.1

        Anyone who buys Pro sensitive Toothpaste will also have noticed the recent $2 – $3 a tube increase (depending where you buy it). Also, I’m not sure whether Council rates and insurance premiums are measured for inflation. Our Council is proposing a 9.5% rates increase for each of the next two years. Our house and contents policies also rose by a massive amount (about 25%). Wages are certainly not keeping up with these kind of increases.

        • Whispering Kate 3.1.1.1

          The Rapid Relief was $9.99 at the supermarket today – a bloody rip off if you ask me.

    • dukeofurl 3.2

      Thats right.
      The end of year CPI announcement talked about ‘drops in the price of new cars’
      New cars !
      It was only ‘specials’ for end of year , but still. ( The impact of new cars was shown by Toyota at certain months have 80%+ are sold to rental fleets, yet the assumption is these are ‘consumer purchases’)

      The current CPI includes everything but nothing in that major items which are must haves are buried under the dross of nice to haves.

    • Almost everything you wrote there is wrong.

      • adam 3.3.1

        Yeah, right.

        • Draco T Bastard 3.3.1.1

          Rent is included in the CPI and Stats does take into account the reduction of packet size.

          House prices are left out of the CPI and that is a concern but it was the only thing that he was right about.

          It’s difficult to have a conversation about something when one of the participants is talking bollocks.

          • dukeofurl 3.3.1.1.1

            What about car prices ?

            Heres an example of a certain well known hatchback which was tracked over 10 years
            The ‘real price’ increased from $29500 in 2001 to $36000 in 2011.
            Thats 22% over that period.

            But not in the CPI , its adjusted price has fallen to $28900 over those 10 years.

            The reason why they only use the adjusted price is because the later car is higher quality. Even though you cant buy the ‘equivalent quality’ car that is the price used.

            And what were these ‘quality improvements’ ?

            the engine size increased from 1.6 litres to 1.8 litres
            the transmission changed from a five-gear manual to a four-gear automatic
            a CD stereo replaced a cassette stereo and four more speakers were included, taking the total to six
            the car now comes with an extra remote key and power windows
            traction control and rear disk brakes became standard
            airbags were upgraded from being only on the driver’s side to being a full package of front, side, curtain, and driver’s knee
            tilt steering and driver’s seat height adjustment were added
            tyres became wider
            luggage capacity decreased.

            They are mostly nonsensical of course, and impossible to quantify ,tyres became wider, or 4 more speakers.

            All new cars have upgraded features, they arent like ‘I prefer to have the 1.6 engine please’ and anyway the car is likely to be heavier and a larger engine maintains performance.
            http://archive.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/economic_indicators/prices_indexes/new-car-prices.aspx

            We can easily see the number of biscuits in a pack has decreased and ‘raise the price accordingly’ as the quantity has decreased.

            What about the quality/quantity of chocolate in the biscuit. ?

            In reality only specific changes in quantity or quality can be addressed by the CPI where the numbers change, but wider tyres isnt a quality increase ( when it may be driven by the heavier weight of a car)

            http://archive.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/economic_indicators/prices_indexes/new-car-prices.aspx

            • Draco T Bastard 3.3.1.1.1.1

              The ‘real price’ increased from $29500 in 2001 to $36000 in 2011.
              Thats 22% over that period.

              But not in the CPI , its adjusted price has fallen to $28900 over those 10 years.

              So, what you’re saying is that the nominal/I> price had increased but the real had decreased.

              As I said – it’s difficult to have a conversation when someone’s talking bollocks.

    • halfcrown 3.4

      “The unseen, or insidious inflation which has passed by most, (well not really, but treasury has turned a blind eye) is the reduction in product size. Especially food products. A few grams here and there and bob’s your uncle, same price, less product – no change to the official inflation rate.”

      Agree with that, but you have all got it wrong Treasury or whoever measures inflation by only the important things like the increase in the price of Moet or the latest Mercedes car. Unimportant items like food, rates rent insurance are never considered.

      • patricia bremner 3.4.1

        I agree Halfcrown. The size of our favorite deodorant has shrunk, covered by “Turn it upside down design”, thin on one end!! Price has doubled.

        Milk Cheese Butter …… crazy.

        insurances and services for the home, electrical plumbing and maintenance have increased beyond belief.

        Drs. and charges on prescriptions, petrol and car maintenance.

        I am so lucky to have taken up the GSF teacher’s pension. (21 years worth of saving) This closed 1991?
        It gave us, when we first got it, another amount equal to a single weeks pension fortnightly. Now, because it is increased according to the CPI, it is equivalent to two thirds of a single week. Losing a third. So the CPI is gradually measuring less of value.

        So don’t agree to NZ superannuation going to the CPI instead of wages. It would be worth a third less.

  4. Delia 4

    Crippling rents, selling of state housing which used to house the vulnerable, and jacking up GST on groceries is not sound economic management.

  5. AB 5

    ‘Good economic management’ is not actually a thing in itself.
    Economic management can be assessed only in terms of whether it fulfils ends that are themselves non-economic. This is what Rosenberg’s piece is trying to do by implying that anything that results in avoidable suffering (poverty, unemployment) can’t be ‘good economic management’ because it fails the ethical sniff test in terms of outcomes.

    The genius of RW propaganda on the economy is that it has elevated their preferred fiscal settings into the very definition of ‘good economic management’ and these settings are treated as ends in themselves. That these settings favour existing wealth and power therefore never needs to be mentioned.

    • Incognito 5.1

      Excellent comment!

    • Macro 5.2

      Yes AB, that is it in a nut shell. We have allowed politicians, media, economic gurus, and now the great uneducated populace to think that “good economic management” means continually achieving “positive” numbers on a range of economic measures such as GDP, CPI, Workforce, etc. In doing so we completely overlook the fact that these numbers do not actually describe economic reality. Indeed the very creator of the measure for GDP Simon Kuznets in 1934 in his first report to the US Congress warned of the limitations of the very measure he had helped to develop. In 1962, he went further adding:

      Distinctions must be kept in mind between quantity and quality of growth, between costs and returns, and between the short and long run. Goals for more growth should specify more growth of what and for what.

      Do we hear any discussion in the MSM as to what goals for growth in the economy of NZ we need apart from Dairy?
      The economic reality that has been achieved under the past few administrations is one of increasing inequality, homelessness, and despair. NZ has an appalling record on child abuse – both physical and sexual.
      http://newzealandchildabuse.com/child-abuse-in-new-zealand-today
      Children are part of the economy too. What else is the economy for, if it is not to provide goods, security, safety, and well being for all people?
      No Government can take pride in being a good manager of the economy until they ensure that all people in the country are well provided, and cared for.

      • Macro 5.2.1

        Just further to the above comment re Simon Kuznets – a Noble Laureate for his work in Economics – the advice he gave the US congress wrt to GDP was that in no way should growth in GDP be regarded as a measure of economic wellbeing. Advice which most economic commentators today studiously disregard.

    • patricia bremner 5.3

      Yes, they are very good at creating situations to increase their own capital by:

      Selling off Public assets to Private interests.
      By buying up property and land,
      Reducing the value of labour and welfare.
      Having high immigration.
      Austerity budgets for everything except cows and roads, is another.
      This with tax cuts aimed at the top goup is the cream. Happens every time.

      • patricia bremner 5.3.1

        Oh!! I forgot raising GST, and borrowing billions.
        How could they be worse?? Lying? Saying it was people’s poor choices? Not doing the prefu properly? So it goes.

  6. Loop 6

    Not an economist, nor do I claim to understand the intricacies of finance, but…..when I got my calculator out it appears En Zed debt increased 1000% under nationals 9 year reign.
    This begs the question, has any of the Labour governments coming in to power following national governments increased debt to this degree?
    Also some on this site are being a bit less than complimentary about how naughty national have been with the selling of assets etc. I don’t disagree but prebble and dougless. Ring any bells? And how many this stratagem put out of work? The signing of the free trade agreement with china and what this has done to En Zed industry. Ring any bells?

    • Nic the NZer 6.1

      You should go through the MMT post recently put up. This stuff is 100% accessible for lay-people.

      Its superficial and often incorrect to be concerned about the level of government debt as an economic indicator. The outcomes the CTU is concerned about are more relevant anyway, and the debt increases were actually largely out of government control anyway and fundamentally the government can not ever run out of money (government borrowing happens but for different reasons to what you may think).

      One important reason this is miss-leading is that NZ government debt is NZers savings. This should be obvious if you think about it as the NZ government is on the opposite side of a balance sheet from NZers, e.g everybody else who mostly transacts in NZ$.

      • Loop 6.1.1

        Nic, Thanks. The article is interesting though I will have to read and re-read it a number of times. Numbers are not my friend as they are for some. With the little I’ve read already I feel a little more enlightened. Cheers

      • patricia bremner 6.1.2

        Perhaps I should have said, the borrowed money was not spent wisely for the economy/people to meet needs.

  7. R.P. Mcmurphy 7

    fixed income recipients are beginning to hurt as creeping inflation eats away at pensions and the basic cost of living.

    • Last time I looked NZ Super recipients aren’t on a fixed income – it goes up at the same as the average income goes as it’s based on being a %age of the average income.

  8. Sanctuary 8

    I was listening in (probably impolitely, but there you go) on a couple of your fairly typical NZ businessmen the other day. They work for a company that has less than 200 employees, both Pakeha middle aged men and both live on the North Shore and drive SUVs. Both are, in my opinion, over rate their own ability and are over paid for the impact they have.

    But anyway.

    They are both as white cracker stereotypical National as you can get.

    Listening to them, I realised that the whole “good economic managers” thing is actually just “allowing white men in the private sector to do what ever the hell they want”.

    it isn’t about the economy, it is more like a badly coded appeal to class war.

  9. UncookedSelachimorpha 9

    Where are the RWNJs on this one?

    Strangely silent.

    • mac1 9.1

      Getting the lines to run on a weekend is a bit difficult. This having to defend National’s record on economic management is not easy, because we defenders of the Economic Faith of English and Joyce cannot believe that it could be attacked, or faulty, or wrong!

      It is the Economic Faith after all. We are the party of business. Business is about money. Economics is about money. We have lots of it- well, some of us do and the rest of us wanna have lots. So we know about economics, right?

      Stands to reason.

      Eh?

      You mean Key and English and Joyce did not have their financial shit together? You mean I’ve been duped? You mean that I have wasted my energy defending the indefensible?

      Brain hurts. Must get the Word from the true prophets of the Faith. I cannot be wrong………… must not be wrong…….

  10. CS 10

    No National are not competent economic managers aside from being right in not implementing viscous austerity in the face of the GFC.

    I give them credit for that. And any progressive who goes on about public debt increases under National being proof that they were incompetent compared to Cullen is shooting themselves in the foot. Because a good government does exactly that in a crisis.

    But, I must put it out there that Labour in the Clark/Cullen years was no better an economic manager. So those who tend to go on about how great Cullen was, be warned, it doesn’t wash with me!

    Cullen happened to run a surplus because he presided over a massive increase in private debt and the very household debt explosion that has rendered so many families unable to make ends meet.

    Here I defer to Steve Keen:

    “[Private] debt thus plays a pernicious role in our political system, as well as in our economy. Because a private debt bubble stimulates demand while it is expanding, the incumbent on whose watch the bubble begins gets undeserved reputation for effective economic management. Then when the bust occurs the blowout in government spending that results lands the hapless incumbent at the time with the charge of being a poor steward of the nation’s finances.”

    So neither Labour nor National are competent economic managers IM – sometimes probably not humble enough 😉 – O.

    • So neither Labour nor National are competent economic managers

      That’d be true – they’re still hanging on to capitalism despite its proven failure.

  11. Matthew Whitehead 11

    Actually National’s record on employment wasn’t great- what it mostly did was kick people off benefit despite them not getting a job yet, so they no longer counted as “unemployed” and had to beg for private assistance, and promote McJobs to everyone else.

    • CS 11.1

      Both National and Labour accept the concept of the NAIRU – the idea that a certain proportion of NZ citizens must be kept unemployed and impoverished to control inflation by putting downward pressure on wages.

      They both avoid true full employment in the name of controlling inflation.

      Currently the labour underutilisation stats are at about 11% I believe. Hence no wage pressures in NZ.

      They both have presided over a system where the labour income share has decreased and has not kept up with productivity.

      They both allow the rich to get richer and the poor to get poorer.

      Labour stubbornly refused to extend benefits to beneficiary families with children who couldn’t fulfill work requirements. Shame on them. Unforgiveable.

      A plague on both their houses.

  12. Sparky 12

    And TPP11 signing Labour are? All you guys can think of to talk about is past tense National when the current mob are behaving in a very convincing way JUST LIKE THEM!!!! Unbelievable.

    • Not all of us are doing that. Enough are of course.

    • Matthew Whitehead 12.2

      Didn’t I just do a big post about how Labour were lying about having bottom lines on TPP and how their spin on having made it better is basically all BS?

      Just because Labour suck on TPP doesn’t mean that National don’t actively try and loot the economy in additional ways. *shrug*

      • Stuart Munro 12.2.1

        It’s not all bullshit – they did avoid the copyright extension nonsense which would have given us a significant up front cost. But they folded on ISDS for no good reason. Sometimes no deal is the best deal.

        • Matthew Whitehead 12.2.1.1

          No, they didn’t avoid it. It’s just suspended. This means that there is actually a fairly decent chance that the corporate Democrats in the US will start up TPP12 again in 2020 and we will be looking at a 70-year copyright term for some inexplicable reason.

          Do not expect anything that is suspended in that agreement to be permanently gone, it’s only gone so long as we can keep the US out of the deal.

          That said, I do give Labour credit for some very, very minor gains agreed to in TPP11, although the only one I’m certain applies to them is that there is apparently some weak acknowledgement of the Treaty of Waitangi in there, probably indirectly.

  13. Stuart Munro 13

    Good economic management would have something to do with the medium and long term. Under the previous government the cry of ‘skills shortages’ was used ad nauseam to justify the import of cheap foreign labourers. But in eight years a responsible government could readily have trained whatever was required – that’s enough time for a PhD.

    Good economic management would be broadly based and diversified so that a botulism scare wouldn’t knock the socks off the NZ economy. It would develop from existing bases and abundant local resources. And it would probably solicit some expertise on lifting productivity, having thrown that baby out with the cheap labour bath water.

    Good economic management would not leave necessities like housing to the vagaries of the market. It would plan so that housing was available at a reasonable price, so that it simply wasn’t a major issue, much less the basis of a dysfunctional inflation ladder that sucks up local liquidity and deters investment in productive sectors.

    It would also involve losing the failed far-right neo-liberal mandarins of Treasury. Having achieved nothing for NZ it’s time these faux technocrats were shown the door and a younger, more centrist and more competent group took their place.

  14. Ed 14

    Simple answer.
    No.

  15. CHCOff 15

    NO, the worst rorting in New Zealand modern history.

    TO be balanced with that, the path was inevitable laid by the full embrace of ‘free trade’ that started with the free trade deal with China.

    THe modern ‘rock star’ western inflation ‘free market’ economy that is less dynamic than a communistic one!

    It hasn’t been complete economic suicide though, the plan seemed to be that New Zealand becomes a pacific Switzerland (recently rated the most corrupt nation by a non profit type group’s project analysis which does that sort of thing) type of safe haven for big international capital to escape to – as in a place to go for avoiding it’s mis-management of resources elsewhere.

    All of the above is why there is not alot of choice in joining the TPP currently (to be sensible about it), whether it’s going to be an acceleration to national societal disaster trends or not depends on what extent any alternative approaches can get back to basics with a different approach from what has been the past few decades really.

  16. Tanz 16

    They are far better at economic management than Labour. Huge surplus, no debt, less taxes, full employment. Now all being undone by Labour and co, who only love to spend other people’s money. No wonder Lab can’t win an actual election. Still, Cullen is terrifying the masses with his tax plans, that’ll really bolster the polls for the govt, not.

    • Stuart Munro 16.1

      These are simply lies Tanz.

      Full employment – not since Rogergnomics
      No debt – try $90 billion
      Huge surplus – not on balance of trade
      Less taxes – unless you count gst

      Labour have not been great economic managers – but they’re a hundred times better on their worst day, than any Gnat since Muldoon. Cullen is perfectly competent, if not adventurous – which made him NZ’s best finance minister in the last fifty years. The run of the mill is that bad, and the Gnats were the worst of them. Bill couldn’t even run Solid Energy without crashing it – if he hadn’t borrowed like there was no tomorrow he’d’ve crashed the whole economy.

    • Incognito 16.2

      They are far worse at economic management than Labour. No or miniscule (within rounding error) surplus, large debt, more taxes, under-employment. Now all being undone by Labour and co, who love people more than money. No wonder National can’t win an actual election and form a government. Still, Joyce is was terrifying the masses with his tax hole, that’ll really bolster the polls for the govt.

      FIFY

    • NZJester 16.3

      No Debt Really?
      It was the Helen Clark government that paid down the countries debt to a record low, something that John Key’s National Government immediately borrowed against when they got into power to pay for a Tax cut. Then they did a tax swap with PAYE and GST moving the burden of tax onto the poor to keep offing up more tax cuts for the rich.
      Over their time running the country they failed to keep up the funding of essential services in line with inflation and the rise in population. I have seen family members rejected from the official waiting lists for operations becoming part of the growing hidden unofficial waiting list that grew while under National. While some small amount of the debt was legitimate to help out with disaster cleanups, the majority of it was wasted.

      • CS 16.3.1

        NZ Jester – but the legacy of that low public debt in the Cullen years was a huge explosion in private household debt. Households borrowed and borrowed and borrowed and bid up house prices and bought rentals. And now we have housing costs as the number one reason for poverty and inequality in NZ.

        Cullen presided over a speculative boom that increased tax receipts allowing him to reduce public debt. He was hugely irresponsible in his effort to look fiscally prudent.

        A speculative boom based on kiwis selling houses to each other and overseas banks creating money for them to do so. And now the economy creaks on like a zombie under the weight of very high household debt sapping demand, destroying growth.

        Households such as my own spend nothing to stimulate the economy because of the weight of household debt and no wage increases.

        We have normalised the idea now that low income households paying high rents can’t provide lunches for their children and private charity should do so. Or that low income teenage girls need charity to buy sanitary products.

        National did nothing to end the situation either.

        Meet the new boss…. same as the old boss. Oh and who’s behind Labour’s economic policy these days – Cullen! The actual old boss.

        Sometimes I think Cullen gets away with a lot on the Left because he sort of looks like Michael Joseph Savage.

        This blog from Chris Trotter raises questions as to whether Cullen actually understands concepts like endogenous money, the reality of banking and the fact that savings are not required to make loans. http://bowalleyroad.blogspot.co.nz/2017/10/adults-in-room_7.html

        • Loop 16.3.1.1

          Hiya CS. Just wondering what you categorise as “households”?
          1) family “households” struggling to make ends meet?
          2) politicians/specutators/corporates “households” investing in property as rentals?
          3) foreign corporates “households” buying up just about everything they could use as rentals?
          4) “Households” with enough expendable income to speculate in property?

          No matter which “household” you are referring to, they ALL prey on the ideology that most Kiwis are desperate to achieve, their own home.
          I don’t know if there is something successive governments could have done to stem the property market hysteria, but they sure should have tried a bit harder.
          The likelihood of not being able to own ones own home is only going to add to social disruption that started with the vast generational unemployment caused by the first looting of public owned enterprises mid-late 80’s.

          • CS 16.3.1.1.1

            Reserve Bank data on household debt including debt on rental properties owned by households.

            https://www.rbnz.govt.nz/statistics/key-graphs/key-graph-household-debt

            Note the steep increase from 2000-2007.

            Household debt comprises mortgage loans, consumer loans such as credit cards, and student loans.

            I think home ownership is a good thing by and large. I’m glad I own my own modest home. I see the benefits in stable schooling and attachment to community. I just wish every family had that option. But exploding debt to income levels due to a lack of regulation on lending, foreign buyers and tax loopholes that encourage speculation yadda yadda yadda is not.

            The debt compounded by no real wage increases is also a problem. Nothing inflating my debt away like it did for my parents’ generation.

    • Craig H 16.4

      You must have mistaken National and Labour, because three out of four of your chosen measures (“Huge surplus, no debt, less taxes, full employment”) are far more true of the 5th Labour Government than the 5th National Government.

  17. RedLogix 17

    This article asks exactly the same question of Australia:

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/09/labor-v-liberal-who-best-runs-the-australian-economy

    and concludes:

    On both measures, the level of economic growth and that growth relative to the US, Labor is a better performer than the Coalition.

    .

  18. Westiechick 18

    I don’t think we could have taken another 3 years of “good economic management” . Enough damage done in the 9 they had.

  19. Beowulf 19

    Not for me ..

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  • Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6.06 pm on Tuesday, March 19
    TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Tuesday, March 19:Kāinga Ora’s dry rot The Spinoff DailyBill McKibben on ‘Climate Superfunds’ making Big Oil pay for climate damage The Crucial YearsPreston Mui on returning to 1980s-style productivity growth NoahpinionAndy Boenau on NIMBYs needing unusual bedfellows Urbanism SpeakeasyNed Resnikoff's case ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    57 mins ago
  • Relentlessly negative
    Negative yesterday, negative today. Negative all year, according to one departing reader telling me I’ve grown strident and predictable. Fair enough. If it’s any help, every time I go to write about a certain topic that begins with C and ends with arrrrs, I do brace myself and ask: Again? Are ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 hours ago
  • Scoring 4.6 out of 10, the new Government is struggling in the polls
    Bryce Edwards writes –  It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 hours ago
  • Promiscuous Empathy: Chris Trotter Replies To His Critics.
    Inspirational: The Family of Man is a glorious hymn to human equality, but, more than that, it is a clarion call to human freedom. Because equality, unleavened by liberty, is a broken piano, an unstrung harp; upon which the songs of fraternity will never be played. “Somebody must have been telling lies about ...
    3 hours ago
  • Don’t run your business like a criminal enterprise
    The Detail this morning highlights the police's asset forfeiture case against convicted business criminal Ron Salter, who stands to have his business confiscated for systemic violations of health and safety law. Business are crying foul - but not for the reason you'd think. Instead of opposing the post-conviction punishment and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 hours ago
  • Misremembering Justinian’s Taxes.
    Tax Lawyer Barbara Edmonds vs Emperor Justinian I - Nolo Contendere: False historical explanations of pivotal events are very far from being inconsequential.WHEN BARBARA EDMONDS made reference to the Roman Empire, my ears pricked up. It is, lamentably, very rare to hear a politician admit to any kind of familiarity ...
    3 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Scoring 4.6 out of 10, the new Government is struggling in the polls
    It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support for the various parties in ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    4 hours ago
  • Bishop scores headlines with crackdown on unwelcome tenants – but Peters scores, too, as tub-thump...
    Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 hours ago
  • Will it make the boat go faster?
    Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    8 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi The fact that a ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    8 hours ago
  • Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    8 hours ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' at 10:10am on Tuesday, March 19
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st Century The SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims Stuff Steve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    9 hours ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things on Tuesday, March 19
    It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    10 hours ago
  • New Life for Light Rail
    This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail  Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    11 hours ago
  • Why Are Bosses Nearly All Buffoons?
    Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    13 hours ago
  • Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6.06 pm on March 18
    TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Peters holds his ground on co-governance, but Willis wriggles on those tax cuts and SNA suspension l...
    Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago
  • Labour’s final report card
    David Farrar writes –  We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how  went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promise The result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • “Drunk Uncle at a Wedding”
    I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • Gordon Campbell on Dune 2, and images of Islam
    Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
    1 day ago
  • New Rail Operations Centre Promises Better Train Services
    Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
    1 day ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things at 6.36am on Monday, March 18
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    2 days ago
  • The Kaka’s diary for the week to March 25 and beyond
    TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Bitter and angry; Winston First
    New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • Out of Touch.
    “I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • The bewildering world of Chris Luxon – Guns for all, not no lunch for kids
    .“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago
  • Expert Opinion: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
    3 days ago
  • Manufacturing The Truth.
    Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet –  is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
    3 days ago
  • A Powerful Sensation of Déjà Vu.
    Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
    3 days ago
  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    Bob Edlin writes –  And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from 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 public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    4 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    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:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    5 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    5 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    5 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • There’s a name for this
    Every year, in the Budget, Parliament forks out money to government agencies to do certain things. And every year, as part of the annual review cycle, those agencies are meant to report on whether they have done the things Parliament gave them that money for. Agencies which consistently fail to ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago

  • Government moves to quickly ratify the NZ-EU FTA
    "The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 hours ago
  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 hours ago
  • Minister confirms reduced RUC rate for PHEVs
    Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    8 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand.  Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    9 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    23 hours ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
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