The Standard

Economy

Posts on the economy, work, business, income, and labour

Categories under Economy

National – campaign vs reality

Written By: - Date published: 6:07 am, September 6th, 2017 - 13 comments

The brighter future cusp of something special moving forward advertising campaign fluff meets the reality of National’s NZ in this brilliant image.

Speaking of mothers

Written By: - Date published: 1:28 pm, September 5th, 2017 - 31 comments

There’s a direct relationship between how badly we treat mothers and how much we exalt neoliberalism.

A test for NZ media and democracy

Written By: - Date published: 11:01 am, September 5th, 2017 - 23 comments

The Nats are not backing down from their $11.7bn lie. The media need to call it loudly for the big lie that it is. This is now a test for NZ’s democracy.

Steven Joyce – liar or fool?

Written By: - Date published: 7:01 am, September 5th, 2017 - 52 comments

The economists have spoken, and Steven Joyce’s claim that there is a $11.7bn “hole” in Labours’ fiscal plan shows him to be either a liar or a fool. Shame on Bill English for repeating it in the debate.

The actual implications of a Capital Gains Tax

Written By: - Date published: 1:38 pm, September 4th, 2017 - 109 comments

Matthew Whitehead looks at what the Greens, Labour and National really mean when they talk about a CGT.

National’s 18 new taxes

Written By: - Date published: 9:35 am, September 4th, 2017 - 14 comments

A dose of reality on National and taxes, and wise words on the media circus surrounding tax.

Revising Nats’ nasty joggers ad

Written By: - Date published: 9:30 am, September 2nd, 2017 - 22 comments

National’s nasty joggers campaign ad captures the essence of the party nicely, ignoring and making fun of those in need of help, running away from problems. But in light of the recent poll-quake it is in serious need of revision…

Bernard Hickey: Bill English’s Trump-like denial of a productivity problem

Written By: - Date published: 7:03 am, September 2nd, 2017 - 84 comments

Being compared to Trump has got to hurt. And shouldn’t there be consequences when a PM flat out lies to the country on the state of the economy?

Outsourcing Compassion

Written By: - Date published: 3:41 pm, September 1st, 2017 - 58 comments

They starve and freeze and rot among themselves, but they beg, steal and rob among their betters.

Shameful poverty – why we must elect a Labour led government

Written By: - Date published: 7:04 am, August 31st, 2017 - 48 comments

Two excellent but very disturbing pieces in The Herald yesterday. This crisis in poverty, housing and health is a national disgrace. It is why we desperately need to elect a Labour led government in September.

Rachel Smalley stop telling lies about Labour

Written By: - Date published: 7:02 am, August 31st, 2017 - 65 comments

I know I shouldn’t sweat the small stuff, but this piece by Rachel Smalley is full of lies about Labour. We deserve better journalism than this.

“All I can do … is tell the Truth”

Written By: - Date published: 2:47 pm, August 30th, 2017 - 50 comments

“Our integrity and our role as Ministers in holding confidential information is absolutely pivotal to our role”  Bennett 2017

Vote for NZ Labour if…

Written By: - Date published: 1:00 pm, August 30th, 2017 - 53 comments

  1. You want a TPP Agreement.

Dear Winston.

Written By: - Date published: 11:28 am, August 30th, 2017 - 136 comments

How many of these did you receive over your 7 years of over-payments?

National is telling fibs on housing

Written By: - Date published: 7:30 am, August 29th, 2017 - 16 comments

During the weekend one of National’s rising stars Amy Adams debates housing with Labour’s Phil Twyford.  Adams was supremely confident but the data she relied on appears to have problems …

WINZ and Super Scandals

Written By: - Date published: 11:40 am, August 28th, 2017 - 138 comments

Here’s the scandal.

Peters in super trouble

Written By: - Date published: 7:24 am, August 28th, 2017 - 207 comments

Newsroom and Newshub have broken a story about Winston Peters receiving, for the last 7 years, a single person’s super payment that he was not entitled to because he was living with an (undeclared) other person. Peters denies this but has already payed back the excess from an “innocent mistake”.

Greens announce plan to turn trash into cash

Written By: - Date published: 11:17 am, August 27th, 2017 - 22 comments

The Green Party today announced a progressive plan to protect our oceans and the places we love with a ban on plastic bags, refunds on drink containers, a phase-out of plastic packaging, and a commitment to sending zero waste to landfill by 2050.

A billion Indians

Written By: - Date published: 8:00 am, August 26th, 2017 - 33 comments

The Indian Supreme Court has ruled that privacy is a fundamental right to life and liberty under India’s constitution.  Other countries recognise the right to privacy against the state.  But commercial interest through social media have access to huge amounts of private information.  Why should there be a right of privacy against the state but not corporate interests?

The Green Party’s Wellington Transport Plan

Written By: - Date published: 6:30 am, August 25th, 2017 - 2 comments

The Green Party will save families and students money, reduce pollution, and make it easier to get around Wellington.

English on poverty – hasn’t read his own PREFU

Written By: - Date published: 9:48 am, August 24th, 2017 - 14 comments

After nine long years the election is forcing National to acknowledge the poverty in NZ. Bill English is promising to throw money at bootcamps and “social investment” (targeting) – but he hasn’t read his own PREFU.

PREFU

Written By: - Date published: 8:18 am, August 23rd, 2017 - 47 comments

Today is the day for Treasury’s Pre-Election Fiscal Update (PREFU).

Ardern cautious on capital gains tax

Written By: - Date published: 7:04 am, August 23rd, 2017 - 146 comments

Jacinda Ardern will not campaign on a capital gains tax, but will seek advice and will not rule it out in a first term. The Nats have introduced a week form of CGT already. A more robust version needs serious consideration.

Greens will finally close property speculators’ tax loophole

Written By: - Date published: 11:24 am, August 22nd, 2017 - 71 comments

The Green Party in government will end the tax advantages property speculators currently enjoy under National by implementing a comprehensive tax on capital gains

Giovanni Tiso: Speaking Power to the Truth – The Political Assassination of Metiria Turei

Written By: - Date published: 7:03 am, August 22nd, 2017 - 116 comments

Giovanni Tiso writes on New Zealand media and the swimming of sharks.

Wellington’s Trolley Buses – why they should stay

Written By: - Date published: 7:43 am, August 21st, 2017 - 76 comments

Trolley buses make sense for the environment and for people who drive them. But in just a couple of month’s time the Greater Wellington Regional will start an $11m project to dismantle the trolley bus system. Council Tramways Union Vice President Chris Morley writes about why this is a huge mistake.

Excuses/reasons, for not doing anything about children in poverty.

Written By: - Date published: 7:06 pm, August 19th, 2017 - 27 comments

Excuses/reasons, for not doing anything about children in poverty.

This is a re-post from 2013. Unfortunately the need to talk about poverty is even greater now.

Equal pay protestors chase the Government out of the Dunedin hospital

Written By: - Date published: 1:50 pm, August 19th, 2017 - 50 comments

They ran away from equal pay. 

A “Culture of Entitlement”?

Written By: - Date published: 3:39 pm, August 17th, 2017 - 48 comments

With the current dialog about welfare, It is time to look at the people who are the real  beneficiaries, of the welfare system.

Who use the educated and healthy  workforce our system provides

The people who say “everyone should stand on their own two feet”, “you don’t work you don’t eat”,  and “take personal responsibility”,

The business sector.

Are Government-business Think Tanks worthwhile?

Written By: - Date published: 12:41 pm, August 17th, 2017 - 7 comments

In America Donald Trump has abandoned business think tanks that he established not that long ago.  During the last Labour Government Helen Clark established the Growth and Innovation Advisory Board with mixed results.  What should a Jacinda Ardern led Labour-Green coalition do?

National – Delivering no pay rises for NZ

Written By: - Date published: 8:29 am, August 17th, 2017 - 15 comments

Expect plenty of Nat boasting on “the economy” in the election campaign. They’ll be desperate to hide the inconvenient fact that ordinary workers are going backwards.