Would you step into a driverless car?
And would you send your child off to a party in a driverless car?
Economy
Posts on the economy, work, business, income, and labour
Most kiwis support more tax
The CTU have commissioned UMR to poll kiwis on their attitude to tax. The vast majority believe that more money is needed to fix infrastructure. And a remarkable number support the imposition of a Tobin Tax.
Carmel Sepuloni respect
It is great that we have a Minister of Social Development who actually has empathy for poor New Zealanders, as shown by her treatment of dog whistle questions in Parliament today.
Rogue Nation(s)
Just some thoughts that kind of meandered down to the ocean.
Should MPs also be subject to sanctions when they don’t do their job?
National MPs have without notice refused to turn up to the House Committee of Parliament. Should they have their pay docked?
Is Karl Marx dead?
2018 marks several anniversaries of Karl Marx whose significance for the critique of capitalist society is hard to diminish. But what now for his beliefs?
Australia and New Zealand budget days
Isn’t it time we at least synchronized the New Zealand budget with the Australian budget?
A Great Business Opportunity
410 ppm. And rising.
The Centre, the Left and UK local elections
Thoughts on a resurgent left and a collapsing centre.
National wants to add to Auckland’s gridlock
National has promised to overturn Auckland’s Regional Fuel Tax. But has no proposal for how the funding will be replaced.
The Australian banking system review
The review into Australia’s banking system really matters to New Zealand and is doing New Zealand an almighty good service.
Radical Socialism
‘nother guest post by Nick Kelly (Upper Hutt boy in London)
Does this Government have the money to deliver?
I’m sure all revealed at Budget 2018, but the financial management of this government is not surefooted.
National is yeah nah on climate change
National’s Blue Green conference on the weekend suggests that the party has moved on from outright denial that cliamte change exists to grudging acceptance that it is a phenomenon but “balance” requires that it is tolerated.
Thank you Metiria.
Some movement on social security (a thing we all deserve)
Workers’ Rights. Our Rights. And a Government Breaking Bad.
Time for the government to pull its head in.
Is capitalism obsolete?
Former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis has given a speech where he has stated that capitalism is coming to an end because it is making itself obsolete.
Professional identity-Why it matters or Why we are being screwed by the Government
A personal perspective on the repercussions of the government’s current approach to Social Work and Social Workers.
Why Can’t We Hold Vector Accountable?
For those of us who were without electricity to their houses in Auckland for several days, it’s worth turning our thoughts to Vector.
Does New Zealand need more immigration?
The Australian Federal Treasury has put out a think piece that has come out strongly in support of the government policy of adding 190,000 non-humanitarian migrants a year with a focus on taking skilled workers. Should New Zealand do the same?
Global finance and climate change
The two greatest powers at work in the world right now are the roles of global finance, and climate change. In New Zealand we don’t yet see how these intersecting worlds of finance and climate change are interacting, or the government’s role in forming that interaction. But this is close.
Is New Zealand really as ‘racist as fuck’?
I am inclined to believe that there are at least some New Zealanders who are as “racist as fuck”.
Government blocks off shore oil and gas drilling
The Government has announced that there will be no new offshore oil and gas exploration permits issued under the block offer process.
The hidden infrastructure fiscal crisis gets real
Steven Joyce’s $11.7 billion fiscal hole is becoming more and more of a reality although it is in hidden infrastructure costs that National had suppressed in search of the elusive surplus.
Mike Hosking reckons: Minimum wage increase will be terrible for everyone
Mike Hosking reckons that an increase in the minimum wage will increase housing unaffordability and cause job losses and business closures.
Labour speaks up.
Partial transcript of a speech as reported in “The Independent”
Regrets, John Key’s had a few *
or more accurately one. A failed vanity flag referendum.
National’s strong economic management …
Between the crisis facing Middlemore Hospital’s buildings and the farce surrounding the cost of repairs of repairs of the Canterbury rebuild, National’s claim that it is a party of strong economic management looks at least misguided.
Tax is violence
Can we please now save David Seymour from his violent oppression and relieve him of his tax-funded salary?
Labour aims to make transport system more sustainable
The Government has released a draft Government Policy Statement on Transport for consultation. A radical shake up of the Transport system is being proposed.
The Largesse
April the first and second mark the days when those receiving entitlements receive a yearly increase in line with the CPI and the governments increase to Accommodation Supplement also comes into effect. So what does it all mean for those receiving entitlements?
Evidence-based foreign policy
In the second stage of a false flag attack, facts go out the window and the sole issue becomes “are you for us or against us.” Our media and National Party politicians are well into this stage in the Skripal affair. But as questions mount and skeptics proliferate from all sides, Jacinda Ardern and Winston Peters may well be wiser than media advisers by not following blindly the western herd. 26 countries is not the whole world. Update: Porton Down unable to establish Novichok of Russian origin.
NRT: A lawless multinational
Idiot/Savant at No Right Turn on Facebook and the Privacy Commissioner.
Writehanded: A sea change – or just more weasel words?
A few weeks ago Sarah Wilson at Writehanded looked at the promise in Labour’s welfare policy and whether we are going to be disappointed.
Julie Anne Genter: Working for Women’s Rights on the World Stage
The Minister for Women on her recent trip with the NZ delegation to the UN.
overpopulation myth
Conversations on overpopulation are so often framed in a way that is racist and fail to acknowledge the unfair distribution and use of resources. With the added dimension of seeking to punish the poor for problems created by the economically secure.