I turn up to Fabian meetings, when I remember . They are often useful for understanding how other people view topics that I am either familar with or sometimes have little information on. Like the Zoom tonight on the ongoing conflict in the Congo from invading Rwandan troops and their local proxy insurgents.
“Why is the Left failing?”
“We’re doomed” was Private Frazer’s inevitable response to any crisis in “Dad’s Army”. One might stray into such despondency when considering the external context in which New Zealand finds itself, then considering what we are doing as a nation to respond. Nigel Haworth looks at where we are at.
Something to check out if you are in Auckland tonight, the CTU’s Bill Rosenberg discusses the budget. He will “examine the Government’s priorities and look at what needs to be done”.
Off the Track is the 10th State of the Nation report from The Salvation Army’s Social Policy and Parliamentary Unit. Many of the markers routinely analysed for the report currently suggest we are not heading in the best direction for New Zealand as a whole. The Auckland Fabians have a lecture by Alan Johnson on the report on Thursday in Auckland.
Last week there was a Fabian debate between Wayne Mapp and Jane Kelsey about the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement that New Zealand started originally as a free trade agreement. Bearing in mind the short notice there were a quite credible audience. However to enhance the audience, Lyn Collie was inveigled into filming and editing the debate. Here is the film of the debate..
My current view is that the TPPA will provide intergovernmental welfare for Fonterra and farmers while destroying our rapidly expanding technical export industry. It just leaves us as a farm for the world just as we we used to be the farm for the UK. We remain susceptible to policy changes from outside destroying our economy. But maybe this public debate on Wednesday evening in Auckland will provide more information.
As promoted by the Fabians, Professor Robert Wade is speaking across the country on Inequality and the ills it causes. Tonight in Auckland, Thursday Dunedin, Friday Christchurch and next Tuesday Wellington.
TPP Out of the Shadows – What they won’t tell us and why we should be worried about the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Lori Wallach and Jane Kelsey will deliver presentations and take questions on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) at 6.30pm at the Old Government House Lecture Theatre, University of Auckland.
Next Monday evening in Auckland, Professor Peter Davis will present a seminar asking what does social democracy have to offer in addressing our current discontents (loss of sovereignty, emigration of some of our best and brightest, commodity-dependent standard of living, structural deficit, inability to retain our key assets, solidifying underclass)?
Another Fabian seminar in Auckland: Ian Pool & Natalie Jackson – Our Demographic Dividend Wasted. Thursday 9th June, 7.00pm, in the Ellen Melville Hall, Freyberg Place.
“Inequality in New Zealand” with David Craig Venue: St John’s Church Hall, 176 Willis St, Wellington Time: Wednedsay May 11th, 5:30 PM
“Capital Gains Tax” with Craig Elliffe and Chye-ching Huang
Venue: Owen Glenn Building, University of Auckland
Time: May 5th, 6:30 PM
“Reconstructing Christchurch” with Peter Harris and Hon Lianne Dalziel. Venue: St John’s Church Hall, 176 Willis St, Wellington When: April 27th, 5:30 PM
Bernard Hickey speaks about “The Plan for the Productive Economy” Venue: Ellen Melville Hall, High Street, Auckland. Time: 6:30pm, Thursday 21 April.
The next Fabian Seminar at Connolly Hall Thursday 31 March at 5:30pm will feature economist Geoff Bertram examine how the high level of New Zealand’s overseas debt that figures prominently in much policy discourse is largely an increase in foreign-currency liabilities voluntarily taken on by mainly Australian-owned banks in pursuit of private profit. It will be interesting – all are welcome to attend.
The Fabians’ Resilient Economy series run through this year has been stressing the looming problem with New Zealand’s private debt and the need […]
Financial journalist Bernard Hickey of interest.co.nz and Selwyn Pellett of the Productive Economy Council will discuss the need for a complete rethink of […]
The next series of Fabian Seminars will feature financial journalist Bernard Hickey of interest.co.nz and Selwyn Pellett of the Productive Economy Council discussing […]
What Will Fix Child Poverty? The Fabian Society’s next lecture is on Monday in Auckland. Susan St John on behalf of the Child […]
Unique in the world, we task our Reserve Bank with only one goal – keeping inflation in the target range – and give it one blunt tool to achieve it. Adding other objectives would bring us into line with other countries and giving the Bank better tools is long overdue. We need a smarter, more sophisticated approach to monetary policy. It is great to see the Left pushing for it.
Fabians Lecture tonight: Economics for Everyone in Auckland Trades Hall, 147 Great North Rd, Grey Lynn 5:30-7:30 Jim Stanford on why the Economy […]
Peter Conway will speak on the likely composition of the Budget in the second Fabian Society lecture at St John’s Church Hall cnr […]
A really interesting three-quarter page article by Ben Heather in today’s DomPost is titled “Looking for new tools to help exporters.” Lord knows […]
There are a second set of seminars in Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch over the next week on Choices and Consequences of the 2010 budget. Based on the Bold Choices seminar that I attended last weekend in Auckland (there are later ones in Wellington and Christchurch), they will be well worth attending. There are some materials on-line from that seminar.
Oh and David Farrar was shocked to find that Kiwiblog had been advertising the seminars 
The first Fabian Society seminar in Auckland last weekend attracted a good crowd watch an participate as some of New Zealand’s top economic thinkers debated how to get the economy working for us. It has been judged a huge success. The next seminars will be in Wellington on Sunday 28 March and in Christchurch on 18 April.
As previously posted, there is a Auckland seminar running this afternoon on options for the future direction of the New Zealand economy. Bold Choices for a Better Future is the provocative first seminar in the Resilient Economy Series, entailing a pragmatic 360Ëš view of the economy, its problems and their possible solutions.
Go along and argue in real life about some of the same issues that are argued over here.
Looking at the leaders for the Fabians seminar on Sunday, it looks to me like it is going to be quite interesting because it is likely to focus more on incremental rather than radical methods. One of the major issues to me with the existing ‘debate’ on economic matters has been the level at which it is ideologically driven rather than based on the actual economy. The main problem with the ‘debate’ are impatient radicals from all sides.
