Posts on the economy, work, business, income, and labour
Written By: - Date published: 11:27 am, January 4th, 2012 - 35 comments
I read Colin James’s piece on the need for a resilient economy/society in yesterday’s ODT. A competent explanation of a risks facing New Zealand and an acknowledgement that New Zealand needs to design itself to withstand and exploit them. Nothing new to readers of The Standard. But are we building that resilience? James offers no opinion. The answer is ‘no’.
Written By: - Date published: 11:26 am, January 2nd, 2012 - 104 comments
An earlier post by Mike Smith on inequality referred to a claim by Geoff Vincent that 12% of the taxpayers were paying 49% of the the taxes. Now this was patently a spinners interpolation on the tax data and shouldn’t be part of the debate.. A comment by DH has a look at that bullshit. […]
Written By: - Date published: 12:00 pm, December 31st, 2011 - 140 comments
Scott at ImperatorFish has a look at the moral blame game that some use when violence is used against children. If people want to talk about a lack of values, they could start with the set of neoliberal values during the reforms of the 1980s and 1990s. We are still paying the price for the massive trauma caused to communities in the name of greed.
Written By: - Date published: 2:17 pm, December 29th, 2011 - 36 comments
Even smart conservatives in my experience generally think far too short term, fail to look at history and in the final analysis view everything from their own narrow interests rather than those of society as whole. They prefer historical mythmaking and moralizing about others rather than thinking. The Economist throws up another telling example by David Brooks.
Written By: - Date published: 1:56 pm, December 29th, 2011 - 75 comments
In today’s Herald, Geof Nightingale, PWC tax partner and member of the Nats’ Tax Working Group, joins the argument for greater inequality in New Zealand. Ironically in the same issue Garth George writes his last column as the editors decided that his column “does not fit in with their future plans for the opinion pages.” Garth thinks the most serious and vexing problem facing New Zealand – and the Western World – now and in the immediate future is income inequality and unemployment. I’m with Garth – I hope the Herald’s future plans are not with Nightingale.
Written By: - Date published: 6:56 pm, December 27th, 2011 - 98 comments
Katherine Rich attacks the waterside union in an opinion piece today.
But that’s not surprising given she’s being paid to speak on behalf of some of the biggest corporations in the world.
Anyone would think there’s some kind of connection between how strong unions are and how big a slice of the pie the rich can take for themselves…
Written By: - Date published: 8:45 am, December 23rd, 2011 - 22 comments
In a heart-warming Christmas story, 111 workers have stood strong and faced down Canterbury Meat Packers, which locked them out for2 months to extort a 20% wage cut and make them work harder for less money. It’s not a total victory, there will be small pay cuts, but they won improved conditions and they’re back at work. United, workers win.
Written By: - Date published: 12:01 pm, December 22nd, 2011 - 75 comments
There’s a new union in town and who knows? it might just prove to be the salvation of the union movement (so you can put money on some hard-headed unionists opposing it for ideological reasons!) The concept of Together is simple; if you currently belong to a union and you’ve got family members who work in places where there’s […]
Written By: - Date published: 11:45 am, December 22nd, 2011 - 40 comments
CTU President Helen Kelly talks about Pike River and the death of security guard Charanpreet Singh Dhaliwal and what these tragedies tell us about employer accountability for health and safety in the workplace.
Written By: - Date published: 7:05 am, December 22nd, 2011 - 59 comments
“Once in office, you’ve got to do something. That is why having a plan matters.” – Simon Power, 2011, valedictory speech to parliament
Written By: - Date published: 1:36 pm, December 21st, 2011 - 3 comments
Scott at Imperator Fish has kindly given us permission to syndicate posts from his blog – the original of this post is here
Who’s going to ‘boss the kiss’ of the Roundtable – NZ Institute ‘merger’?
Written By: - Date published: 10:34 am, December 21st, 2011 - 14 comments
I’m really disappointed the New Zealand Institute is merging with the Business Roundtable. It smells like the NZI was out of cash. It’s a pity because, since getting rid of David Skilling, the NZI has been producing some good, broad-minded,practical work on the economy’s fundamental challenges. Merger just leave a shill for the neoliberal elite.
Written By: - Date published: 8:44 am, December 20th, 2011 - 38 comments
If that was the year of “The Protestor”, what did it accomplish? Is effective protest no longer possible in today’s world?
Written By: - Date published: 10:33 am, December 19th, 2011 - 25 comments
Trillions have been plowed into bailing out banks, investors, and whole countries during the economic crisis. The cost easily exceeds total investment in tackling climate change. Is it, as George Monbiot argues, that elites just look out for themselves, or are humans just incapable of perceiving the danger of large, slowly-building problems?
Written By: - Date published: 8:19 am, December 19th, 2011 - 44 comments
Key: “Of course, if we could have lower personal taxes, we think that would stimulate the economy – but we just can’t afford it”. But, if tax cuts stimulate the economy, you could make them self-funding. The 2010 tax changes were meant to pay for their net cost with extra growth. Didn’t happen. They’ve cost $1.1b so far. Does Key still buy this trickle down garbage or not?
Written By: - Date published: 11:16 am, December 17th, 2011 - 14 comments
A quick post on sentences handed down in the wake of riots in England.
Written By: - Date published: 2:33 pm, December 15th, 2011 - 37 comments
Key is playing petty politics as usual on poverty. He should have accepted Shearer’s call for a cross party process and his offer of help on the new “ministerial poverty committee”.
Written By: - Date published: 9:33 pm, December 13th, 2011 - 81 comments
Phil O’Reilly’s article in today’s DomPost headed “The rich get richer but so do the poor ” is appalling. Responding to the OECD report on inequality, he is following in the footsteps of Alasdair Thompson. BusinessNZ are still dinosaur employers from the Victorian age.
Written By: - Date published: 12:03 pm, December 13th, 2011 - 18 comments
140 more jobs have been lost in Christchurch. Employment in the region had already fallen by 26,800 in the year to September. DoL research says that 18% of surviving businesses cut staff due the earthquakes, 40% lost revenue, 50% survived with government support, and 28% a finding they are losing more staff. The economy is […]
Written By: - Date published: 9:20 am, December 10th, 2011 - 40 comments
Truth-Out content is licensed for redistribution, so I’m going to repost this excellent piece in its entirety. It’s long, but it’s worth it. Is Obama going to grow a pair at last?
Written By: - Date published: 11:34 am, December 8th, 2011 - 18 comments
Paula Bennett’s staff in tomato-growing contest with MSD staff – Stuff
Benefit costs up up $2 billion pa in the last 3 years – Treasury
Written By: - Date published: 7:58 am, December 8th, 2011 - 99 comments
In its final days, South Canterbury Finance quietly loaned $300m to related-parties. Breach of the deposit guarantee scheme’s rules. Nats did nothing. When SCF collapsed the related parties got off scot-free – if they owned SCF bonds, the Nats even paid them $350m voluntarily. Now, the Serious Fraud Office has laid the biggest fraud charges in history over SCF. What’s the bet it’s over those related-party loans and bonds? And where’s our fucken money?
Written By: - Date published: 12:32 pm, December 7th, 2011 - 57 comments
Charter schools and national standards/league tables are part of the same process. It’s about siphoning off public funds, the best pupils, and the best teachers into ‘elite’ schools, and leaving everyone else behind. It’s about cutting money for ‘failing’ schools and ‘failing’ students. It ultimately means more lost potential and a poorer NZ, but one that serves the elite’s interests.
Written By: - Date published: 8:19 am, December 7th, 2011 - 62 comments
The OECD has a report out blasting increasing income inequality, and saying trickle down doesn’t work for wealth or social mobility. New Zealand had the greatest increase in inequality in the Western World. So what are we going to do to fix it?
Written By: - Date published: 12:13 pm, December 6th, 2011 - 11 comments
National will pass a Spending Cap Bill, under the cover of its Confidence and Supply deal with John Banks. The question isn’t if this Bill is a farcical idea that would hurt NZ if ever enforced (which it wouldn’t be) – even the arch-neoliberals in Treasury oppose it. The question is why National has no better ideas for Parliament’s precious time.
Written By: - Date published: 9:02 am, December 6th, 2011 - 33 comments
Tax take is down, deficit is up, growth forecasts for next year are down. Nice to be told all this one week after the election, eh? Still John and Bill are relaxed and optimistic that the future will still be bright.
Written By: - Date published: 11:25 am, December 5th, 2011 - 131 comments
I enjoyed Jenny’s piece the other day on David Shearer’s leadership abilities. His skill at taking the ball and running with it, and doing what he thinks is right. I want to similarly praise David Cunliffe for his leadership in economic thinking. God knows we need someone who gets the problems and the solutions. Cunliffe brings that understanding in droves.
Written By: - Date published: 9:26 am, December 5th, 2011 - 216 comments
David Cunliffe has said that, if he is Labour leader, he will look to buy back any assets National sells once he is PM. Under the existing Takeovers Code, that wouldn’t be too hard. But why not go a step further and make it clear to any potential investor that our energy sector won’t be their cash cow? A bit of regulatory reform would sink the assets’ share value.
Written By: - Date published: 3:46 pm, December 2nd, 2011 - 74 comments
This post is intended to do more than merely generate discussion. It’s a serious proposition seeking action. Its intent is to lay out or sign post (at least some of) the basic or necessary legal and social structures of a Community Collective comprised of both workers and housing collectives that would enable people to assume meaningful control over aspects of their futures.
Written By: - Date published: 8:16 am, December 2nd, 2011 - 14 comments
Six weeks ago CMP workers were locked out for refusing to accept a 20% pay cut.
Tomorrow there will be fundraising protests around the country to support them.
Written By: - Date published: 8:12 am, December 2nd, 2011 - 30 comments
In May, they were promising growth would be 4.2% in 2012. By October, it was 3.3%. November, 2.5%. December, 1.5% …. with ‘downside risks’ aplenty. Looks like we’re going to be waiting on that brighter future a while longer. Vernon Small points out there’s no way National’s going to keep its promise to get back into surplus in 2014. When will they tell the truth?
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