Tax Working Group report preview
Let’s hope the Tax Working Group’s report out today is more worthwhile than the effort of the 2025 Taskforce. The basic idea that […]
Economy
Posts on the economy, work, business, income, and labour
Where’s Key?
Brash’s taskforce releases its report today. Where’s Key? CHOGM ended yesterday but he’s not back until Wednesday. Catching Aussie by 2025 is meant […]
Shifting the centre
Well the productivity task force is reporting back today and some of their ideas have been forward released. As we expected they are […]
Nats’ dismal record on jobs and benefits
In opposition, National claimed that Labour wasn’t really getting people off benefits, it was just moving them from unemployment benefit and ‘hiding’ them […]
Rally: Lift the freeze on low pay
Just a reminder, thousands of hospital support staff, school support staff and other low-paid public sector workers are rallying in 27 centres nationwide […]
Tax reform for everyone, not just the rich
Why is it that whenever you see discussion of introducing capital gains tax, land tax etc, the assumption is always that the money […]
Shame on you
Never in the history of New Zealand politics has so much taxpayers’ money been hurled into the chasm with such contempt for the […]
Rod Oram on ETS and Monetary Policy
Rod Oram did a business segment on Nine to Noon yesterday. As usual he went quite deep into the issues. A welcome contrast […]
Employers ripping off job ops money
National has only come up with one employment policy to counter the recession. No, not the cycleway – ‘job ops‘. It works like […]
Who’s next?
I was watching that vid by the Greens on ACC and bikoi. What caught my attention was the bikers’ chant: “who’s next, who’s […]
Zero percent won’t pay the rent
If you can, get along to support the hospital support staff, the school support staff, and all the other low-paid public sector workers […]
It’s not spin, the govt told me
The Dompost reports: “The number of places available on a programme to get young people off the dole will be increased after the […]
Kevin Hague blasts Nats on ACC
Good video from the Greens’ Kevin Hague. Gotta love the dirty mo:
We can do better
By and large the Right are refusing to defend their neoliberal monetary policy system. The currency is causing chaos, the housing bubble is […]
Key’s flagship policy now his joke
Anyone with a brain has always known Key’s cycleway is a joke. The sick thing is he’s now using it as a punchline […]
It’s the seasons, stupid
Over the last week or so, I’ve heard John Key, Bill English, and Paula Bennett all make self-congratulatory references to the number of people […]
On “keeping your powder dry”
Reproduced with permission from No Right Turn for a viewpoint on the process of policy formation. This morning, Labour leader Phil Goff announced […]
Broken English
It looked like a duck. It walked like a duck. It quacked like a duck. Turns out it was a duck. The “Plain […]
Monetary policy needs to change
I’m really happy that Phil Goff has taken monetary policy up as an issue. The current system – a puritanical neoliberal model set […]
Bludging farmers
The Fed Farmers have used Goff’s speech on monetary policy to have another whinge about beneficiaries, who they reckon are somehow to blame […]
Bikoi video
Hat tip: Labour.
NZ should follow Norway’s example on oil
National has released its petroleum strategy. It appears they plan to further lower our already low royalties to encourage foreign oil companies to […]
Cartoon: A brief history of corporate whining
Great cartoon from Barry Deutsch at Lefycartoons.com Lifted from Joe Hendren
Goff on monetary policy
It’s great news that Phil Goff is urging a rethink of the way monetary policy is conducted in New Zealand. For too long […]
Doctors speak up against ETS
A couple of days ago I raised (again) the question of why we don’t see more experts, scientists and academics contributing to public […]
Plutonomy
In Michael Moore’s Capitalism: A Love Story (which is excellent, btw) he refers to two 2005 Citigroup memos about ‘plutonomy’ economies and political […]
Laugh track
As Irish has already noted, Fran O’Sullivan has savaged John Key’s record on employment and said that Paula Bennett is “too busy puffing her own achievements […]
Fran’s got it right
For the first time ever I wholeheartedly agree with Fran O’Sullivan’s column. In today’s Herald she writes about the government’s inaction over youth […]
ACC misdirection
It looks like the government’s sleight of hand on ACC is about to pay off. Having put up a clearly outrageous proposal to […]
Bikoi
Just got away from the bikoi at Parliament. What a sight. At least 6,000 people they reckon. The lawn and half the forecourt […]
Softly, softly treatment for militant employers
The continuing wave of lockouts continues to go unremarked by the government, the opposition and the media. Over the past few months there […]
Key to rich mates: NZ for sale
John Key’s residency for the rich scheme has attracted the interest of 12,000 people thus far. Yes, NZ residency is for sale at […]
Urgent action needed on job creation
We’ve talked a lot about the negative effects of unemployment on the unemployed and their communities (depression, crime, family breakup, poor health, poor […]
Key’s $155b subsidy to polluters
A month ago, I wrote that National’s moves to gut the Emissions Trading Scheme would increase government debt by $73 billion by 2050. A Treasury […]
Recession’s causes still not fixed
Recessions are meant to be about fixing economic problems that built up during the previous boom – unwinding imbalances in the parlance. Higher […]
Greens greenwashing for anti-environment govt
The Greens have announced the collapse of the cornerstone of their Memorandum of Understanding with National. With Gerry Brownlee as Minister for Energy, National […]