Good news for landlords
How nice of the government to help out property investors.
Economy
Posts on the economy, work, business, income, and labour
White middle class male privilege
Rohan Lord this week pulled out from being a Labour candidate because he thought his prospects of being elected were remote because he was a white middle class male. His comments displayed a complete lack of understanding of how the Labour Party works and ignores the fact that having a truly representative caucus is a virtue.
Campbell on the budget
Campbell: “As I asked Joyce at the Budget lockup: ‘What is to stop landlords from treating this increase as a green light to hike up rents?’ … In reply, Joyce said that the government would be ‘keeping an eye’ on landlords, to ensure they did not abuse the situation.”
Stunning nature
Drilling for oil we shouldn’t use, in a place that should remain untouched. Is this really what NZ wants?
NRT: A constitutional change
I/S at No Right Turn writes: “The Court has ruled that the High Court was right to declare that National’s 2010 prisoner voting restrictions (the ones which were so shabby and shoddily passed that they brought Parliament into disrepute) were inconsistent with the Bill of Rights Act“
The Greens respond to the Budget
James Shaw on National as the masters of the shell game.
The three big fails in the budget
It was National’s best budget. Which means there are only three critical areas of failure.
Keith Ng’s four tax myths
A useful piece from Keith Ng on myths about tax. It’s an extract from The PSA’s “Progressive Thinking: Ten Perspectives on Tax” booklet.
Budget 2017 – general discussion post
Budget Day.
Tipping vs fair wages
I don’t know of a single piece written in support of Bennett’s proposal. She has been in the bubble too long, and lost touch with the values of NZ.
Geddis on TPP11
Geddis: “So either Bill English was lying to Susie Ferguson on the radio, or his advisors lied to him about what TPP11 will require, or the Crown’s lawyers are lying to the Waitangi Tribunal.”
Pre budget positioning for a government that says it is “doing all it can”
National does the bare minimum that it thinks it can get away with for those in need. This positioning is just preparing the ground for a budget that does more the same not enough.
No one owns water, apart from corporations who sell it …
The Herald has reported that ordinary New Zealanders are paying 500 times as much for water as corporations who export it.
New Zealand’s Neoliberal Drift
In New Zealand, neoliberal reforms have widened inequality and undermined the country’s self-image as an egalitarian paradise.
Campbell on the TPP cargo cult
Gordon Campbell: “The TPP has literally become a cargo cult ritual that’s being performed in the hope that someday, one day, the Americans will return, bearing gifts.”
The possible privatisation of Ports of Auckland
The Government is attempting through coercion and cajoling to get Auckland Council to privatise Ports of Auckland.
The other conference
Richard Harman on the Politik blog: “Overall, to use a favourite Government saying, it was an ‘untidy’ weekend capped by a flat speech from English which saw delegates ignore placards they’d been given to wave when he finished speaking.” The B-team is missing John Key.
Property speculator panic
Labour has set the cat among the property speculator pigeons, and they don’t like it at all.
The looming battle over property
Housing may be the issue that decides this year’s election. And if Labour wins Andrew Little will have a major crisis to deal with, one that he has to solve.
Nats propose centrally planned economy
Not even joking.
Labour’s Manifesto
Old school Social Democracy. (Remember that?)
Nats deny women pay equity transparency
As usual National proves itself to be no friend of women. They have voted the Equal Pay Amendment Bill down because they will always choose employers over people.
Little on immigration
A good piece by Andrew Little in The Herald, setting out Labour’s position on immigration (with policy to come).
Still spinning “social investment”
Directing welfare spending where it will do most good makes sense. But let’s make sure that that is what it is, not an excuse to simply cut funding, stigmatise, and target “undesireables”. National’s record does not inspire confidence, to say the very least. Then there’s the hypocrisy…
Targeting deceased estates, divorcees and dummies
Good work by Lane Nichols in The Herald, a window into the minds of what we must hope is small subset of “property investors”.
NRT: This is why we can’t have nice things
I/S highlights National’s new net debt target of 10-15% of GDP – and specifically, what it will cost us.
NRT: Inflation and poverty
I/S at No Right Turn writes: “The CPI is out today, and it shows that the poor are getting poorer … This is a long-term trend. Since National took office, inflation for poor households has been nearly twice that of rich households.”
Bill English doesn’t get it – literally doesn’t get it – how messed up the “Brighter Future” is
“There are approximately 92,700 Kiwis aged between 15 and 24 who aren’t working, in education or training. That’s up 19 percent during National’s time in power, and Prime Minister Bill English admits he’s not sure why.” Could it be because…
Bringing Liberalism Down.
It isn’t always wise to tackle an adversary head on and sometimes, with a bit of smarts, two birds can be had with one stone. This post is about halting the march of liberalism and killing the potential of fascism.
The patriotic millionaires
In America a group of millionaires have emerged who are advocating for increased taxation for the wealthy and increased democratic rights to everyone else.
StuffMe not
As widely reported this morning, the Commerce Commission has declined the proposed merger of the country’s two biggest media companies.
Protecting our biggest export income earner
Tourism Export Council: “The National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management (NPS-FM) in its current form is nothing more than a PR-stunt from Government who continue to ignore scientists and expert opinion re the state of our freshwater. The NPS-FM does not address the serious problems facing our waterways and, in fact, will make them worse.”
Gould explains how money works to Brash
Interesting series of articles in The Herald, where Bryan Gould schools Don Brash on how money works.
Is the Labour Housing policy even possible?
If Labour wins in September what state infrastructure can it utilise to deliver on its promise to build tens of thousands of affordable homes?
Pencilsword on renting
Pencilsword does brilliant analysis and commentary in cartoon form. Go check out the latest on the invisible rental crisis…
Billions of lies
The Nats are settling in to election mode – smoke and mirrors. Steven Joyce feeds us billions of dollars worth of lies.