Posts on the economy, work, business, income, and labour
Written By: - Date published: 7:55 am, August 9th, 2012 - 6 comments
Yesterday, National was patting itself on the back for getting, wait for it, 25 people into work and off benefits as part of rebuilding Christchurch. This in a $770,000 programme called Work InZone that was meant to get 100 people into work. This programme didn’t create jobs, it just helped get the select beneficiaries to the front of the queue for them. Just means someone else missed out.
Written By: - Date published: 11:09 am, August 8th, 2012 - 30 comments
The Libor banking scandal has grown into a full fledged international crisis. Just another example of the rot at the heart of capitalism.
Written By: - Date published: 8:52 am, August 8th, 2012 - 25 comments
I plan to start a business. I will be a job creator. 50 people will have jobs thanks to me. The whole community will benefit. My business will make poisoned puppy toys. Don’t get me wrong. They won’t kill every puppy who chews on them every time. Only 50% over the puppies’ lives. 30 puppies a year will die per job created. But – jobs! Does it make it better if I’m only selling the poison puppy toys in Australia?
Written By: - Date published: 9:36 am, August 6th, 2012 - 11 comments
Hey John – where’s our “Brighter Future”? Hey National voters – was this what you voted for?
Written By: - Date published: 11:32 am, August 5th, 2012 - 45 comments
No one can fix the tail of educational underachievement without fixing poverty.
Written By: - Date published: 9:40 am, August 4th, 2012 - 22 comments
For some reason the Nats are in a hurry to complete their privatisation programme within two years. Anyone in any doubt as to how the process of consultation with Maori will play out might be informed by some recent history.
Written By: - Date published: 11:37 am, August 3rd, 2012 - 27 comments
Anyone else taking a perverse pleasure in the Pullar-Collins-Boag-Judge affair? They’re all Tory villains. And they’re eating each other alive. Judge was handpicked to privatise ACC. Now, Collins is trying to stick the Boag email leak to him, Did he do it? Who knows. The other most likely option is Collins. So implicating Judge serves Collins’ purpose.
Written By: - Date published: 4:44 pm, August 2nd, 2012 - 7 comments
Labour’s people-centred economic policy got a huge boost last week, courtesy of the Members’ Bill lottery. Paid parental leave extended, holidays Mondayised, minimum wage raised, and assets fenced off from sale. The first two have gone to Select Committee. They are worth supporting.
Written By: - Date published: 2:19 pm, August 2nd, 2012 - 62 comments
A post (reprinted with permission) from bsprout at the Local Bodies blog…
Written By: - Date published: 11:05 am, August 2nd, 2012 - 38 comments
Although Key’s privatisation programme has hit plenty of problems with Maori water rights, his job is made a whole lot easier by the luxury of an ethical main opposition party.
Written By: - Date published: 6:47 pm, July 31st, 2012 - 21 comments
The government have $3 billion for the Christchurch rebuild burning a hole in their pockets. But at the same time they’re claiming governmental poverty is why we need to sell our productive assets… And there’s 30,000 people nearby wanting proper houses to live in.
Written By: - Date published: 1:13 pm, July 31st, 2012 - 7 comments
Many of those who participate in the comments here at The Standard also run their own excellent blogs. We regularly feature No Right Turn and Imperator Fish Today we’re reposting (with permission) pieces from two other blogs that attracted some attention in Open mike recently. Here’s the second one, from The Political Scientist…
Written By: - Date published: 11:13 am, July 31st, 2012 - 103 comments
Many of those who participate in the comments here at The Standard also run their own excellent blogs. We regularly feature No Right Turn and Imperator Fish Today we’re reposting (with permission) pieces from two other blogs that attracted some attention in Open mike recently. First up here’s Frankly Speaking…
Written By: - Date published: 3:58 pm, July 30th, 2012 - 70 comments
The Waitangi Tribunal has recommended that asset sales should stop.
Will update as reaction emerges.
Written By: - Date published: 11:14 am, July 30th, 2012 - 30 comments
The pay of CEOs in our largest listed companies increased at more than four times the rate of the pay of workers last year. And workers’ pay actually went backwards after inflation. Meanwhile, the average CEO has pocketed more than $1,500 a week of tax cuts from National. Meanwhile, the 150 richest New Zealanders saw their wealth increase by 18% in the past year.
Written By: - Date published: 7:03 am, July 30th, 2012 - 37 comments
In April, Christchurch Council revealed its plan for the CBD rebuild following an extensive period of public consultation. The chance to rebuild the CBD of our second-largest city was a once-in-generations opportunity to fit the city for our future challenges. The Council plan had its faults but one of the good aspects was it addressed smart transport. King Gerry ripped it up immediately.
Written By: - Date published: 9:30 am, July 29th, 2012 - 1 comment
My regular Sunday piece of interesting, longer, deeper stories I found during the week. It’s also a chance for you to share what you found this week too. Those stimulating links you wanted to share, but just didn’t fit in anywhere (no linkwhoring). This week: hiding tax, growing up neo-liberal and Syria.
Written By: - Date published: 10:20 am, July 27th, 2012 - 52 comments
3 opposition private members’ Bills passed – extended paid parental leave, Mondayisation, and lobbying disclosure – on Wednesday (moving a ban on land sales to foreigners up the list). Then, all 5 drawn from the ballot on Thursday opposition bills too: marriage equality, $15hr minimum wage, super-majority/referendum protection for asset sales, charging government agencies that pay access to info, and controlling water pollution.
Written By: - Date published: 10:59 am, July 26th, 2012 - 45 comments
Gosh, isn’t government austerity working well in Britain. Thank goodness we’re following in their footsteps.
Written By: - Date published: 10:00 am, July 26th, 2012 - 46 comments
Key loves mythical “mum and dad investors”. Real mums and dads – not so much.
Written By: - Date published: 9:00 am, July 26th, 2012 - 33 comments
Last month on The Nation (or Q+A?) Groser mentioned how the much hyped, but actually insignificant, free trade deal with Russia had hit a mysterious wall. Groser couldn’t even get to see the current minister and had “tough” talks with the ex-minister instead, while Key’s meeting with Putin was cancelled by Putin at the last minute. Now, I think we know what the trouble is.
Written By: - Date published: 9:45 am, July 25th, 2012 - 10 comments
The biggest petition to Parliament in 3 years was presented yesterday with Greenpeace’s 140,000 signature call for the Government to halt subsidisation of fossil fuels and invest in a clean energy future instead. 140,000 signatures is a remarkable achievement. Predictably, it got a nasty response from the Government. Their ugly attitude is turning off voters.
Written By: - Date published: 5:29 pm, July 24th, 2012 - 25 comments
Loyalty Scheme: $360 million.
Brokerage Fees: $90 million.
Advertising/PR: $30 million.
Iwi Settlements: $unknown.
Lost Revenue: $100 million/year.
Written By: - Date published: 2:14 pm, July 23rd, 2012 - 59 comments
One law for the rich, another for the poor.
Written By: - Date published: 9:14 am, July 22nd, 2012 - 6 comments
My regular Sunday piece of interesting, longer, deeper stories I found during the week. It’s also a chance for you to share what you found this week too. Those stimulating links you wanted to share, but just didn’t fit in anywhere (no linkwhoring). This week: The Olympics, some interesting science on inequality and performance pay, and what does history look like when it’s not the propaganda of the victor?
Written By: - Date published: 2:00 pm, July 20th, 2012 - 30 comments
We know that more sprawl is actually twice as expensive to the rate- and tax-payer than increasing density within existing urban limits because of all the additional infrastructure that’s needed. But there’s added cost to the residents of the sprawl as well. Not just more time lost to commuting, but a more oil-dependent lifestyle that’s […]
Written By: - Date published: 8:20 am, July 19th, 2012 - 106 comments
Whether you accept the evidence that the consumption of oil is currently peaking or not, it is undeniable that a) the world’s fossil fuel resources are finite and we’ve already consumed a large fraction of it and b) we won’t keep consuming evermore per day until it’s all gone. So, inevitably, the shape of human fossil fuel use is going to look like this.
Written By: - Date published: 7:33 pm, July 18th, 2012 - 69 comments
Never let the Nats tell you that they’re making responsible cuts in tough times. When the Greens tried to amend the social welfare bill currently before Parliament to ensure no kids would “unduly suffer”, National vetoed it saying that would eliminate $128m of the savings National’s planning to make. Get that? National’s welfare reforms take $128m from poor kids.
Written By: - Date published: 2:41 pm, July 18th, 2012 - 4 comments
This report has been prepared for the purposes of verifying the Prime Minister’s statement on Tuesday 17 July 2012 that it was unlikely a meteorite would hit the earth that afternoon. Having comprehensively reviewed a number of economics journals that we agree with, we can find no evidence that a meteorite struck the Earth on the afternoon of Tuesday 17 July 2012.
Written By: - Date published: 1:56 pm, July 18th, 2012 - 50 comments
Many modern companies are now operating markets of their own, but they’re not “free” as claimed. Rather there is only one possible purchaser of your labour, leading to a tournament of who is able to accept the lowest pay and conditions. This isn’t even capitalism, but we’re letting them get away with it.
Written By: - Date published: 8:23 am, July 18th, 2012 - 47 comments
I don’t know which is stranger, a currency-trading capitalist denigrating people for maximising their economic opportunities, or claims dating back to The Treaty being passed off as somehow superficial.
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