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Is it just me, or is it getting pretty crowded on the right wing of NZ politics? National, ACT, Peter Dunne, the Maori Party, and now this: Colin Craig announces new Conservative Party Businessman and failed Auckland mayoral candidate Colin Craig has announced he is…
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The neoliberal myth is that government economic policy doesn't really matter, it can't affect the economy - apart from being an anchor on growth. The truth is, government is the biggest actor in our economy. What it does matters. Bernard Hickey has listed 10 ways…
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120 jobs per weekday lost last quarter but nothing to worry about. The market will right itself. The data is from the Quarterly Employment Survey. They only do it by region, but I bet most of the job losses are in Christchurch.
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For quite some time now I've been meaning to write about how the Christchurch quake was giving us a salutary lesson on how the "free market" handles a major disaster. But (with hat tip to Bryce Edwards) I see that novelist and poet Fiona Farrell…
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A bad mistake by John Key in the House yesterday. He was asked by Phil Goff about the widening gap between rich and poor. Thinking himself something of a smart-arse, he cited a report that the government had released just minutes earlier about Household incomes…
capitalism class war equality john key labour phil goff poverty
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Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike...
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This development is going to generate a fair bit of discussion in the media! Duncan Garner reports: Key, Goff refuse debate with minor parties The public will once again be denied the opportunity to see John Key and Phil Goff debate all the minor party…
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Climate change: The ETS's first year The government released its first Report on the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme, tracking progress in the ETS, today. Their conclusion is that the scheme is working well, and I'd agree. Forestry emissions - the most direct and immediate…
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The PSA is launching its election campaign this evening. Our big challenge is to break through the government’s narrative (now reaching mythic proportions) that NZ is sinking under debt the likes of Greece tooand the only solution is to cut public spending and sell assets.…
debt / deficit Economy economy election 2011 uncategorized Unions
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Sources- Statistics NZ trade figures. Reserve Bank foreign exchange turnover.
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There's already a perfectly good "Peter principle", but perhaps we need a new one, a "Peters principle" for New Zealand politics. It could read as follows - "Whatever Winston Peters does will attract far more media attention than it deserves". There's been heaps of coverage…
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Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike...
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Remember John Key's awful Letterman appearance? Supposedly worth a fortune in tourism. We know that was complete crap. It was a stunt meant to impress us saps. Now we learn that we paid for it. PM's office pleaded for months to get on Letterman. Try-hard…
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It is one of the failures of our society that far too many young people are politically disengaged or apathetic. Many - but not all! Meet Generation Zero: From the About page: Globally, and in Aotearoa, young people are outraged at the lack of action…
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How did the wealth of the 151 richest people grow by 10% of GDP when the economy grew only 1.5%? Mostly by revaluing existing assets. Not a lot of 'wealth creation' from our self-appointed Randian Heroes, just book changes. But, apparently, we owe everything to…
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John Key infamously stated that parents on the DPB are "breeding for a business". Over the weekend Stuff ran a piece that seems to agree: Pre-teens dream of kids and dole Lots of babies, lots of partners, lots of houses and lots of benefits. Welcome…
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The polls show that New Zealanders, quite rightly, prefer the policies of the Left, such as capital gains tax, over National/ACT's 'plan' to hock off our assets. But the majority still seem to favour returning a Key-led (and Key's the, um, key) government, even if…
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Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike...
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Geoff Simmons will speak on the importance of Pharmac at a Fabian seminar today at St John's Church at 5:30pm. Pharmac is "on the table" in negotiations with the US in the Trans-Pacific Trade agreement. It is no secret that the US pharmaceutical industry would like…
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=aE3R1BQrYCw
accountability activism capitalism class war democracy under attack democratic participation economy
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Reposted from bsprout* at Local Bodies blog. I have already expressed my concern that this government's focus on numeracy and literacy, above all else, will have negative consequences on our children's learning. The Ministry have just revealed that around 20% of schools have refused to set targets against the Standards and therefore…
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So Breivik has given us an eyes wide open gaze into the abyss. Chilling isn't it? Much has been written in the last week about the political atrocity he committed, yet this article in the Sunday Star Times today is equally wrong. Here is why.…
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"Government to clear beggars before international sporting event". We've seen variations of this kind of headline many times over the years. China before the Olympic games. India before the Commonwealth games. South Africa before the Soccer World Cup. What terrible problems such countries must have!…
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Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike...
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Cooperation is the word that the tea party has forgotten. But increasingly it looks like the evolutionary feature that defines humanity. I find it rather amusing that the tea party is un-cooperating itself towards extinction. It is a pity that they damage the rest of…
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Another gem from I/S at No Right Turn: Stuff this morning had more results from their poll, reporting that National's lead is built on trust in its handling of the economy: National's yawning lead in the polls is built on an even larger gap in…
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There's a certain kind of commentator that like to accuse Labour of arrogance. My colleague Bryce Edwards (g'day Bryce) is a prime example: Labour and its cheerleaders ... are paying the electoral price for their assumptions that ‘we are right’ and that ‘voters must come…
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Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike...
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Weekend social is for non political chat. What's on for the weekend, gigs, film or book reviews, sports, or whatever. No politics, no aggro, why can't we all just get along?
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The threshold and stability Over on Kiwiblog, DPF attempts to defend MMP's undemocratic threshold. To his credit, he opposes Phil Goff's nakedly self-interested desire to remove the "electorate lifeboat" clause, and supports a lower 4% threshold, as recommended by the Royal Commission on the Electoral…