Cui bono?
I’m no lover of the car industry but it’s interesting to see why the effort to put together a bailout for US carmakers […]
Economy
economy
Guest post: those Euro bright sparks follow us
Have you heard the sad news that the EU may be next to join the international communist nanny-state conspiracy against incandescent bulbs? It […]
Unambitious
National/ACT has cancelled the Buy New Zealand Made programme. So, this is that ambitious and positive vision for New Zealand we’ve been hearing so much […]
What to do with Treasury
It’s good to see Treasury’s extreme right-wing prescription for New Zealand has not been wholly embraced by the National Party – and it’s […]
Treasury – Labour left us in good shape
Treasury’s briefing to Bill English as the new Minister of Finance must’ve pissed him off big time. Aside from the expected ideological burp […]
Slash and pray
The Reserve Bank has cut 1.5% off the official cash rate, bringing it down to 5%. The rate has now been cut 2.5% […]
A plea to National
Don’t let Key go abroad representing us again until he has had some diplomacy training. I can’t believe, I literally can’t believe, the […]
Small-target governing
Yesterday it was a $7bn rescue package. Today it’s preparing a contingency plan to bail out big business. But do we get details? […]
PPPs? No, please
I’ve never seen the sense in Public-Private Partnerships. How is it ever going to be cheaper to get a private profit-making company to […]
The departed
The UK has announced plans to increase departure tax from its airports for flights outside Europe to pay for offsetting their carbon emissions. […]
Free trade no answer to credit crisis, part 2
I’m a bit concerned to see people welcoming APEC’s commitment to re-igniting the Doha Round of free trade talks as if they are […]
Free trade no answer to credit crisis
Free trade is basically a good idea. We live on a world of limited resources, we should use those resources as efficiently and […]
Time for Keynes’ real ideas
The article below is well worth a read for anyone concerned about the global economic crisis. It looks at Keynes plan for managing […]
Key’s first test – fail
Well, John Key took my advice and gave a speech at APEC different from the pro forma MFAT-written speech that might have been […]
Credit where it’s due
It’s exam season for high school students. So, for 10 points explain how the following statement (in the ACT-National agreement and repeated uncritically […]
Time for a Green New Deal
With a masterful awareness of the import of his actions, President Roosevelt termed his economic program to lift the US out of the […]
Stimulating
One of the things I like about being left wing is how often the best moral decision is also the best economic decision. […]
The first test
Michael Cullen has released the latest economic and fiscal update, the one Key commented on in today’s papers but which he refused to […]
Cuts, three of the same kind
From Stuff: Mr Key said New Zealand had a significant advantage over other countries because official cash rates set by the Reserve Bank […]
How to stimulate the economy
During the debate over the economic stimulus package in the US earlier this year, Moody’s produced a model that shows which stimulus options […]
More unemployed but more employed too
Unemployment has risen to 4.2%, the first time in four years it has topped 4%. That’s lower than the experts expected, they thought […]
Economy healthier than expected
The latest government accounts show the economy is in better condition than was expected. Tax take was $500 million higher than expected due […]
SSTimes finds more $ in the pocket
From this mornings SSTimes: New research has revealed a dramatic reversal in financial fortunes for the average Kiwi family, which is now $60 better […]
Standard scoop: Another senior Nat failed to disclose conflicts
Last month, Key lied when he was asked whether he had more Tranzrail shares, over which he had failed to declare his conflict […]
Labour’s labour policy good for labourers
Labour has unveiled its work rights policy, and it’s a good one: – minimum wage increases at least at the rate of inflation […]
The Standard line: Kiwisaver
So, you’re talking with someone about politics and they say something really dumb and wrong and you know it’s wrong but you don’t […]
Reserve Bank drops OCR 1%
The OCR is down from 7.5% to 6.5%. That’s an unprecendented cut in one go and further confirmation that we are entering tough […]
Wait, what’s the RSE?
OK, we’ve reported on, given historical context to, and mocked Lockwood Smith’s racist comments about seasonal migrant workers. Now, to the substance of […]
Inflation up but already on way down
Inflation hit 5.1% for the year to September driven by the mammoth spike in oil, food, and other commodity which has abated since […]
Childish
We live on a finite planet. We can’t just keep adding 75 million people a year to the human population while also increasing […]
Make-work don’t work
The Maori Party wants the dole abolished to be replaced by work schemes. It’s a bad idea but it’s not too far from […]
Wrong time for short-term thinking
National’s Nick Smith has announced that they would cancel the $1 billion fund to insulate New Zealand houses, which the Greens won as part of the […]
‘Give me warning next time’, Key whimpers
While Key was blathering on about who-cares-what yesterday, Clark announced a radical and forward-looking economic stimulus package. Now, Key is having a cry over […]
Working our way forward
It was inevitable that the focus of media coverage of Labour’s announements yesterday would be the deposit insurance, it’s a good self-centred middle-class story. […]
Labour takes bull by the horns, Nats left standing
One of the first rules of politics is don’t set yourself up to be snookered; don’t position yourself in a way that your […]
A real economic plan
One of the things that has pissed me off about MSM political analysis lately is the constant repetition of the idea that cutting […]