Posts on the economy, work, business, income, and labour
Written By: - Date published: 4:38 pm, July 1st, 2015 - 35 comments
Replacing electric trains with diesel is the kind of short-term stupid decision making that is unfortunately typical of the way NZ is currently run.
Written By: - Date published: 12:18 pm, July 1st, 2015 - 179 comments
As the last Global Financial Crisis taught us, we’re in for another round of protecting the banks and letting the people suffer.
Written By: - Date published: 9:47 am, June 30th, 2015 - 162 comments
The invisible hand of the market is busy punching itself in the face today. Some observations on Greece and the Euro crisis, from the factual to the fun, courtesy of Twitter this morning.
Written By: - Date published: 9:18 am, June 30th, 2015 - 139 comments
Add another disease of poverty to the list of those that are making a comeback in NZ.
Written By: - Date published: 2:56 pm, June 29th, 2015 - 58 comments
John Key’s interview on Morning Report this morning suggests that National does not know what it is doing with its social housing policy. Are we approaching a situation where profits from New Zealand social housing is going to underwrite the cost of Australian social housing?
Written By: - Date published: 12:00 pm, June 29th, 2015 - 43 comments
Remember how National’s youth rates were going to raise levels of youth employment? Turns out not so much.
Written By: - Date published: 7:22 am, June 29th, 2015 - 22 comments
Last week Treasury came out with a detailed and interesting report, Inequality in New Zealand 1983/84 to 2013/14. It is no surprise to find that the last Labour government acted to reduce inequality, the current National government has acted to increase it.
Written By: - Date published: 3:00 pm, June 28th, 2015 - 166 comments
That’s not my headline. That’s Stuff’s business section’s headline.
Written By: - Date published: 10:29 am, June 28th, 2015 - 20 comments
English needs to explain why the government can’t find NZ buyers for their “social housing” plans. The Nats to explain how selling state houses helps a single family in need.
Written By: - Date published: 6:08 pm, June 26th, 2015 - 433 comments
A respectful open letter to Andrew Little with suggestions for how to win the next election!
Written By: - Date published: 10:52 am, June 26th, 2015 - 97 comments
Income in a world of climate change.
Written By: - Date published: 10:00 am, June 26th, 2015 - 44 comments
The Labour Party has had a sneak peek at the process our government is using to pick “providers” for its mercenary social impact bonds scheme, and it’s like something off television.
Written By: - Date published: 10:51 am, June 25th, 2015 - 36 comments
Key: “The removal of the $1,000 kick-start contribution will not make a blind bit of difference to the number of people who join KiwiSaver.” Wrong. Completely and utterly wrong.
Written By: - Date published: 7:23 am, June 25th, 2015 - 73 comments
Step 1: Make welfare assistance almost impossible to obtain. Step 2: Dismiss the concerns of the poor by telling them they should ask for more help. Done!
Written By: - Date published: 10:18 am, June 24th, 2015 - 34 comments
Ho ho – what am I saying? It’s always a great time to be a bank.
Written By: - Date published: 8:36 am, June 24th, 2015 - 42 comments
It seems crazy but it appears that National may have asked the Saudi sheep farmer to sue New Zealand. And John Key seems to be relaxed about facilitation payments aka bribes.
Written By: - Date published: 11:05 am, June 23rd, 2015 - 11 comments
I/S at No Right Turn: “Since coming to power in 2008, the National government has sold more than a thousand state houses and tightened access to the remainder considerably. The net result? People not getting the assistance they need…”
Written By: - Date published: 9:30 am, June 23rd, 2015 - 51 comments
Beyond discrimination against women, there’s a broader set of assumptions we make about work and workers, and it’s hurting us – workers, society, and business.
Written By: - Date published: 7:16 am, June 23rd, 2015 - 69 comments
Refugees are people, but they get treated as a political football, as recent events in Australia and NZ have demonstrated once again. It is long past time that NZ raised its refugee quota.
Written By: - Date published: 7:30 pm, June 22nd, 2015 - 113 comments
The Conservative Party’s Colin Craig has victimised his former Press Secretary by deliberately breaching a confidentiality settlement in order to frame his inappropriate behaviour as a minor matter they were both equally responsible for. Well, that’s crap, Colin. It’s actually a rich man using his power and privilege to belittle a woman. Again.
Written By: - Date published: 9:30 am, June 22nd, 2015 - 42 comments
It’s 2015, and we’re constantly told that sexism is over, feminism has had its day – so why can’t this woman find a job?
Written By: - Date published: 12:39 pm, June 21st, 2015 - 24 comments
Massive anti-austerity marches have just ended all over Britain. Tens of thousands of protesters have turned out to let the Tory government know that the fight against the right has not ended with the general election. Welsh singer Charlotte Church told the crowd in London that she is proudly British, but for all the right reasons.
Written By: - Date published: 12:00 pm, June 19th, 2015 - 22 comments
Some strong stuff from Labour’s spokesperson for Labour, Iain Lees-Galloway, in Question Time yesterday.
Written By: - Date published: 7:11 am, June 17th, 2015 - 139 comments
Trickle down economics is pronounced dead by the IMF. Housing, the working poor and the economy – the policy settings are wrong everywhere.
Written By: - Date published: 1:07 pm, June 16th, 2015 - 66 comments
No beating about the bush.
Written By: - Date published: 11:57 am, June 16th, 2015 - 56 comments
The Nats want to turn over social problems to the private sector for profit. This account from the UK should give them pause.
Written By: - Date published: 7:01 am, June 16th, 2015 - 243 comments
Auckland has an urgent deficit of 20,000 to 30,000 houses. Meanwhile 22,000 houses are sitting empty. Behold the efficiency of the market!
Written By: - Date published: 2:00 pm, June 15th, 2015 - 116 comments
Whenever unionists talk about the bad employers who put profit over people’s lives, the right wave it away as fear-mongering. Well, here it is straight from the horse’s mouth.
Written By: - Date published: 3:00 pm, June 14th, 2015 - 43 comments
This is the true irony of National governments. Their entire platform is one of “fiscal responsibility” and “good economic management” yet time and time again they spend money the way I did when I was a teenager: false economies and short-term wish fulfilment.
Written By: - Date published: 9:06 am, June 14th, 2015 - 70 comments
Supporters of Tony Blair’s third way and the need for Labour to be aspirational should reflect on recent reports of his huge wealth earned with taxpayer support while he has been engaged on official business.
Written By: - Date published: 9:00 am, June 14th, 2015 - 45 comments
The death of Emma-Lita Bourne is not just a personal tragedy for the family: it is an event that should make New Zealand angry with the powerful people in our society who control the purse strings. They are responsible for condemning thousands of children to life-threatening conditions. And they are doing it in our name!
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