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Keynes and Hayek rap
In Fear the Boom and Bust, John Maynard Keynes and F. A. Hayek, two of the great economists of the 20th century go out for a night on the town and sing about why there's a "boom and bust" cycle in modern economies and good…
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Archives · 2010-01-01 to 2010-12-31 · Page 72
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Searching: posts Sorted by: newest Results: 2,131–2,160 of 2,431
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Stifling dissent
John Key and his National Party have a long and dishonourable record of trying to shut down those who speak out to oppose them. The most outrageous case was Key's attempt to shut down the "we would love to see wages drop" story by putting…
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Labour, don’t stand by while English lies
I am flabbergasted that Labour has remained silent on Bill English's repeated lie that the economy grew just 0.9% a year in Labour's last term in government. This is your reputation and your legacy the little creep is lying about, guys. Stand up for yourselves.…
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Journalistic independence, or why Radio NZ matters
One of the strongest arguments for keeping Radio NZ properly funded and not reliant on advertising and sponsorship is the need to give journalists the independence they need to fulfil their role as the fourth estate. While journalists at commercial stations are all too aware…
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Return of Editing the Herald
Guess what? Editing the Herald is back for the new year and it's as sharp as ever. The Herald is still full of casual idiocy, incredible stuff ups (like the headline that went to print on page 3 as "HeadXXX"), and the bizarreness of Garth…
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Pansy Wong bids for worst minister award
When you've got a Finance Minister who can't get basic statistics right, a Social Welfare Minister who can't define her flagship policy, a Minister of Education who doesn't understand her flagship policy, and a Minister of Justice who is running scared from his government's major…
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Key laughs off minimum wage earners
John Key's recent stint at the Big Gay Out wasn't all target marketing and niche political branding. He also had a run in with living-wage campaigners who took him to task for his government's poor response to minimum wage earners and asked if he could…
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A sign of the times
The Northern Action Group has, with the support of 80% of Northern Rodney District, been petitioning the Government to leave Northern Rodney out of its Supercity experiment. The Government, as throughout the Supercity process has completely ignored the wishes of the people. Symbolically, the Northern…
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Phil Goff trips up Sloppy Key
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Financial literacy – Educate adults.
I see that Simon Power is taking up some of the recommendations of the Capital Task Force. All very good. But the emphasis that Powers is putting on improving the financial literacy of New Zealanders in the spin on the decisions is quite strange bearing…
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Open mike 19/02/2010
Open mike is your post. It's open for discussing topics of interest, making announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. Comment on whatever takes your fancy. The usual good behaviour rules apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike...
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Nats substitute tax cuts for economic plan
An interesting piece from One News. Bill English gave another underwhelming speech on National's economic plan, which basically boiled down to 'tax cuts!'. We assume that business people are obsessed with tax cuts too but that's simplistic. A young businesswoman, Anna Hamilton-Manns, told English she wanted…
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Coleman bites off more than he can chew
Broadcasting Minister Jonathan Coleman may have bitten off more than he can chew with his attack on Radio New Zealand. With his distaste for the very concept of public broadcasting a matter of public record it seems unlikely it ever crossed Coleman's mind that New…
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Armstrong on Clueless Tolley
John Armstrong on our clueless Minister of Education, Anne Tolley: "Ask the average person how the concept of "inter-school moderation" will work and you are likely to get a very blank look. Ask the Minister of Education the same question and you would expect an…
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Clark on RNZ
Have a listen to today's interview of Helen Clark by RNZ's Kathryn Ryan on the UNDP and aid strategies during times of international recession. Such a pleasure to hear a PM who's clearly completely on top of their game, who speaks with credibility, a solid…
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National moves to trash RNZ
So the Nats are attacking National Radio. It had to happen. Last time the wee blighters were in power they tore down RNZ's building, locked them into an absurdly expensive lease in an inappropriate building, tried to make them a commercial radio station and pushed…
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Whanau Ora defined-ish
BLiP gives the best definition of the Key Government's billion dollar Whanau Ora plan to date: "Whanau Ora = privatisation of social services." Yeah, it does. But I'm still struggling to understand what social services. Will Whanau Ora providers be running hospitals and clinics? Will…
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Hickey slams Key’s get rich quick scheme
Is it just me or does this 'financial hub' idea of John Key's sound a bit too much like a get rich quick scheme? Apparently all we have to do is exempt foreign owners of foreign assets stored in NZ-based trusts from tax and the…
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Open mike 18/02/2010
Open mike is your post. It's open for discussing topics of interest, making announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. Comment on whatever takes your fancy. The usual good behaviour rules apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike...
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Labour pins clueless Nat ministers
Sometimes it is hard to decide which is worse: Do Nothing John Key flouncing around the country while thousands of Kiwis lose their jobs, the Joyce cabal pushing their dinosaur hard-right economic philosophy (tax cuts! roads! tax cuts!), or the rest of them who don't…
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Brownlee lying over mining on conservation land
According to The Press, Energy Minister Gerry Brownlee is denying he trimmed a South Island conservation park after being lobbied by mining company L&M. However, documents posted on The Standard and No Right Turn show he was lying. The article in the The Press states:…
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Electoral finance reform hohum?
I've been looking for feedback on Simon Power's electoral finance reform package. I think I heard Russel Norman this morning on Morning Report but I can't find anything from Labour. After the hell that rained down on them over the EFA (much of it richly…
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Dompost learns not to take English’s word
Relying on Bill English's statements in the House yesterday, the Dompost writes (not online): "Statistics NZ has revised the growth figures going back about two decades and discovered that between 2005 and 2008 the economy grew a mere 0.9% a year, not 1.5% as previously…
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MMP campaign heats up
Simon Power has done the right thing and opted for a re-run of the process that chose MMP. First, a referendum to be held at the time of the 2011 election will ask voters if they want to keep MMP or have a different electoral…
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Key too busy doing nothing
With tongue firmly in cheek George notes: When asked in Parliament why he hadn't paid closer attention to his share portfolio, Key gave the reply: 'small technical issue, I've been busy running the country'. That statement must come close to misleading Parliament. He is the…
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Guyon tires of Key’s empty grin
Guyon Espiner isn't exactly what you would call a critic of John Key's government, so when he has a blog post titled "John Key's sloppiness as costly as it is charming" you know things are bad. The post starts with an example of how That…
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David Farrar’s conflict of interest
In his NBR column a few weeks ago (subscriber-only) Matthew Hooton made a passing reference to David Farrar getting rich off National Party polling. Shortly after that Fran O'Sullivan ran a piece about Farrar's company impression polling on a couple of National's front-benchers. At the…
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Open mike 17/02/2010
Open mike is your post. It's open for discussing topics of interest, making announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. Comment on whatever takes your fancy. The usual good behaviour rules apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike...
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Public: GST should pay for cuts to bottom rates
John Key has been very clear: "it is an extremely complex calculation, but if one looks at the net effect of raising GST, lowering personal taxes right across the board—the top, lower, and middle end—and taking into consideration the other moves the Government is making,…
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Key’s “sloppy” excuse on uranium shares
John Key has tried to excuse himself from owning shares in a uranium company by saying he was "sloppy". I'm afraid that's not good enough for a Prime Minister worth millions, who likely pays top dollar for a lawyer to advise him on just these…