Are you impressed by how George Galloway has convinced 200 people (he says there's 500) to run against the Labour Party in the UK? I am. The Workers Party of Britain manifesto is full and clear as to intentions. I'm unsure about social conservatives and leftists teaming up, but I hope it's based on genuine goodwill. What's your take?
The narrative of economic doom and gloom is a right-wing wing construct. AT 53% of GDP our debt ratio is one of the lowest when compared to USA and UK, (both right wing economic basket cases, and yes I know The Democrats are in power)are double digits below. Far from being a populist government this triumvirate was always about what Labour hadn't delivered on and not what any of the three incumbents were offering as an alternative. Especially not the xenophobic grumpy old bastard Peters or the sociopath Seymour. The vast majority of Kiwis are good people and belive in a fair go for everyone. The $2.5billion given to landlords from the public purse is a bloody outrage and most Kiwis would be against it, as would they be against the smoking BS and taking food out of the mouths of children and home care help for the physically and mentally challenged communities. So Luxon has a wake up call either he reigns in the despicable pair or the disgraceful excesses of Seymour and Peters will bring his government down around his ears.
Wow, I think you need to step back and define what right wing is. The USA is not right wing...it is a corrupt system that allows the ultra rich to stay rich....some of those like Soros, Eli Broad, Jon Stryker, Steven Spielberg and Dirk Ziff are left wingers and love nothing better than the economy in the USA that allows them to stay rich.
You underestimate the utter failure of the last government, the promises, the rampant spending and the utter failures.....and this government, quite refreshingly, is implementing the policies it was elected on. Trying to deflect that they have kept their word and attacking them personally shows you haven't got much ammo.
This government is reversing the economic and social harms that the previous government caused. Its going to take more pain to get there and the voting public have short memories and vote on how they feel today. It will take decades to get back to where we were.
The narrative of economic gloom and doom is what we are facing in the future and we need to start to live within our means. Saddling our great grandchildren with debt is not the answer unless that debt is used to generate more wealth for the country. The last government failed at this. Like all socialists they can't generate wealth, only spend it till it runs out. .
Clearly….. you’re the one that can’t read. Or at least can’t construct a valid reply to my concerns about how all the recent new government initiatives transfer wealth from all tax payers to the wealthy few. If you believe that a $2.5 billion handout to landlords is a justifiable burden for all kiwis to share, and if you also believe that abolishing FPA and reintroducing 90 day work trials is a way to build an inclusive society, also if you believe cutting financial support for free school lunches or care support for those parents with intellectually or physically challenged children and dependents, then I would suggest you are a mean spirited person that needs to examine your own moral compass before challenging me over my condemnation for those who have enacted these pernicious acts
FPA's were a reward for the unions...who donated to the Labour party? 90 day trials help everyone. Some people out there interview well but are absolutely useless, or they are not team players, or their skill base is not up to the job?
it's not 2.5 billion by the way, that's the left-wing way of making it sound worse. Landlords are a business and provide a service to people who will in time, can't, won't or are incapable of making the life choices required to enable them into home ownership. As it's a business then interest costs should be deductible. I agree that landlords should have a higher equity requirement to get loans but as the majority of landlords have 1 or 2 houses, they have made those investments so they can ensure they aren't a burden on the NZ tax payer later in life. Imagine that, people that don't want to be a burden on others. Perhaps it's because the last lot of socialists like nothing better than more people relying on the state.
Free lunches - well a friends son got told to stop bringing his lunch to school because the school had free lunches. Imagine that, people who can being told not to because the school wanted everyone to have free lunches.....even though studies have shown up to 40% of those lunches went to waste. They aren't removing school lunches they are looking at making it more targeted so it reduces the cost.
Yes, the care support that was being abused by a part of that community buying alcohol and lotto tickets etc.....Again, it needs to be refined.
I'm not a mean spirited person at all. I am a realist libertarian who grew up with working class parents in a very poor area, went to a very brown school and saw lots of people work hard to get ahead in life....and I also saw those that pretended to be useless....because when lefties are in power....the more useless you act, the more you get handed out.
Clearly you read in echo chambers and seek your information from the same sites which is incredibly sad. I read widely, I read left wing sites, centrist and right sites and make my mind up myself. All too often those left wing sites leave valuable parts of evidence out deliberately which is why I have no sadness that TV3 is shutting down its news agency and laugh that Stuff, an even worse (although still mild) left wing echo chamber has picked up that. They will fail too if they don't start offering information for people to make their own minds up.
Shall I tell you what I think of Jacinda......and Grant.....at least I won't insult them other than to say they were and are utterly incompetent and their economic and solcial harm results speak for themselves. Another 3 years of that three ring circus would have sent NZ backwards to the point where those with money would have been fleeing. At least you would have been happy because house prices would have collapsed.....
Perhaps its you who is mean spirited and you need to investigate things by reading a lot wider because your comments show you seem incapable of considering other peoples positions and debating them, instead you make insults. What a left wing way to argue...all too common. You didn't argue anything, you just made some headline statements from left wing media and threw in some insults.
It's really interesting that in every attempt to justify the mean spirited nature of this government you resort to outlier incidents to prop up your argument to cut support for various issues. You will well know that tax avoidance and evasion outstrips the cost of benefit fraud by another planet! yet all RW governments and individuals such as yourself immediately focus on those few who abuse the system and then tar everyone with the same brush. The cost to the tax payer of the current mortgage relief for landlords is probably closer to $4 billion and that's not from Labour but from economists who have examined the cost and effect to kiwi taxpayers. The reason house prices have been driven so high is supply and demand exacerbated firstly by John Keys open invitation to foreign investors secondly by a pathetic attempt by the first Ardern Labour government to address this hamstrung as it was by Mr Peters, however in the second term they built more houses than in nine years of a Key government. Thirdly because both National and Labour have refused to implement a CGT housing has become 'free money' investment which has driven prices up still further. I wrote in another article recently that trickle down economics works brilliantly. It pays the poor just enough to avoid starvation whist further enriching those already with more that they will ever need in one life. The poor are so busy working 2 to 3 jobs a week just to make ends meet that they have no time to fight the oppressive nature of neoliberal politics. I resent even $1 of my hard earned money going to anyone who doesn't deserve it, but I've watched in my 40 years in NZ and the 'theft' of my dollars has almost entirely gone to men wearing suits and ties than to beneficiaries. I too grew up poor in a working class Britain, my father never had a day off work in his life but without the help of a post war welfare state opportunities of further education and life long free health care would have seen each of his sons and daughters hog-tied for life. My argument to you and others who think the same is that it us NEVER the poor or beneficiaries of this world that have caused economic crisis, rather its the greedy rich who help themselves to far more of the cake than they deserve. And for your information I make sure that I do encounter opinions such as yours so that I can challenge such views. Why are you so challenged by a left wing government that attempted to raise the living standard of ALL Kiwis. Robertsons Covid support kept so many jobs viable, three waters, if passed, would have meant a shared cost by ALL Kiwis across NZ to mend the water infrastructure. It's failure now means a massive increase in local rates that many will simply not be able to afford, or worse still foreign ownership of our infrastructure that will see prices go up and money dissappear offshore. But I tire of attempting to offer an alternate view. You will never convince me that what the current government is doing is in the best interests of anyone but the already prosperous. You have a good day
If populism is on the rise and a strong leader is in demand, we need a left strong man. Serious populist discontent in New Zealand is an opportunity worth exploiting! He'll need to crush contemporary representations of liberalism, identity and 'woke' influences first. Then rebuild.
Yeah, they've had to come out swinging making the cuts the other lot didn't have the stomach to. Economic conditions aren't great. Interest rates very high. Domestically driven inflation is sticky. Government spending has outstripped revenue in the last three budgets fuelling the inflation fire. Being the hatchet man forced to rein in this overspend is never going to be popular but is necessary to enable interest rates to come down, and inflation to fall to more reasonable levels. It looks to me like they've front-loaded all the necessary stuff that pisses people off to actually get something done so by the time the next election rolls around they'll have something to show. In the context of a 3-year term, that's a lot more attractive than doing nothing.
Latest forecasts from RBNZ have the OCR at ~3.5% by the end of 2026, that coast down from the current high of 5.5% will ease the elements of economic pain the government is currently being punished for that they didn't cause. And they'll probably be rewarded for it...
Lol. Ok 'retired arts teacher slightly to the left of Karl Marx'. I'm an economist, CFA charterholder, and political scientist, but please tell me again how ignorant I am.
Btw, I know you'll hate to hear this, but there are very few cases where individuals maximising their own outcomes from a given market, doesn't maximise outcomes in aggregate for all market participants. The state can then redistribute to help out the worst off. Me AND we.....
As ignorant of any other narrative that doesn’t suit your neoliberal trickle down theory! But you keep on puffing up on your own accomplishments. But what you and your kind NEVER do is justify the excesses that I have complained about. So tell me again that giving $2.5 billion from the public purse to landlords, cutting free school meals, abolishing FPA and reintroducing 90 day work trials is part of a fair and equitable society. And when you can’t come see me and I’ll at least teach you how to draw and paint, because your tired economic theories only work to stretch the difference between the rich and poor further than they already have been widened, so you obviously need a better pursuit! 🤣😅😂
Well enabling landlords to deduct interest before they pay their tax bill is just sound policy consistent with both US GAAP and IFRS accounting standards. To not do so is to act punitively against the industry. Cutting interest deductibility was a terrible policy that one would only enact if you wanted political points for 'hitting the greedy landlords' and didn't mind if doing so raised rents...
As for cutting free school meals. Not in favour of that, I'm an egalitarian. Always room for efficiency and evaluation in all government funded aspects of society though...
On the fence about the 90 day trials.
The FPA are atrocious and have been shown in other jurisdictions to slow economic growth and new business formation. Additionally, Union bargaining agreements provide the most value when minimum wages are low. As at 2022 (latest available) NZ had the 4th highest minimum wage as a % of the average wage in the OECD, with only Colombia, Costa Rica, and Chile with higher rates, so I don't think compulsory union bargaining would add much value in this context. What type of art do you like?
Are you impressed by how George Galloway has convinced 200 people (he says there's 500) to run against the Labour Party in the UK? I am. The Workers Party of Britain manifesto is full and clear as to intentions. I'm unsure about social conservatives and leftists teaming up, but I hope it's based on genuine goodwill. What's your take?
The narrative of economic doom and gloom is a right-wing wing construct. AT 53% of GDP our debt ratio is one of the lowest when compared to USA and UK, (both right wing economic basket cases, and yes I know The Democrats are in power)are double digits below. Far from being a populist government this triumvirate was always about what Labour hadn't delivered on and not what any of the three incumbents were offering as an alternative. Especially not the xenophobic grumpy old bastard Peters or the sociopath Seymour. The vast majority of Kiwis are good people and belive in a fair go for everyone. The $2.5billion given to landlords from the public purse is a bloody outrage and most Kiwis would be against it, as would they be against the smoking BS and taking food out of the mouths of children and home care help for the physically and mentally challenged communities. So Luxon has a wake up call either he reigns in the despicable pair or the disgraceful excesses of Seymour and Peters will bring his government down around his ears.
Wow, I think you need to step back and define what right wing is. The USA is not right wing...it is a corrupt system that allows the ultra rich to stay rich....some of those like Soros, Eli Broad, Jon Stryker, Steven Spielberg and Dirk Ziff are left wingers and love nothing better than the economy in the USA that allows them to stay rich.
You underestimate the utter failure of the last government, the promises, the rampant spending and the utter failures.....and this government, quite refreshingly, is implementing the policies it was elected on. Trying to deflect that they have kept their word and attacking them personally shows you haven't got much ammo.
This government is reversing the economic and social harms that the previous government caused. Its going to take more pain to get there and the voting public have short memories and vote on how they feel today. It will take decades to get back to where we were.
The narrative of economic gloom and doom is what we are facing in the future and we need to start to live within our means. Saddling our great grandchildren with debt is not the answer unless that debt is used to generate more wealth for the country. The last government failed at this. Like all socialists they can't generate wealth, only spend it till it runs out. .
Removing wasteful spending is the only answer.
You demonstrate your utter ignorance of neoliberalism. You don't address any of the points I raised, merely confirmed that you stand for me not we.
Clearly you can't read....only rant
Clearly….. you’re the one that can’t read. Or at least can’t construct a valid reply to my concerns about how all the recent new government initiatives transfer wealth from all tax payers to the wealthy few. If you believe that a $2.5 billion handout to landlords is a justifiable burden for all kiwis to share, and if you also believe that abolishing FPA and reintroducing 90 day work trials is a way to build an inclusive society, also if you believe cutting financial support for free school lunches or care support for those parents with intellectually or physically challenged children and dependents, then I would suggest you are a mean spirited person that needs to examine your own moral compass before challenging me over my condemnation for those who have enacted these pernicious acts
And you still play the man not the ball...
FPA's were a reward for the unions...who donated to the Labour party? 90 day trials help everyone. Some people out there interview well but are absolutely useless, or they are not team players, or their skill base is not up to the job?
it's not 2.5 billion by the way, that's the left-wing way of making it sound worse. Landlords are a business and provide a service to people who will in time, can't, won't or are incapable of making the life choices required to enable them into home ownership. As it's a business then interest costs should be deductible. I agree that landlords should have a higher equity requirement to get loans but as the majority of landlords have 1 or 2 houses, they have made those investments so they can ensure they aren't a burden on the NZ tax payer later in life. Imagine that, people that don't want to be a burden on others. Perhaps it's because the last lot of socialists like nothing better than more people relying on the state.
Free lunches - well a friends son got told to stop bringing his lunch to school because the school had free lunches. Imagine that, people who can being told not to because the school wanted everyone to have free lunches.....even though studies have shown up to 40% of those lunches went to waste. They aren't removing school lunches they are looking at making it more targeted so it reduces the cost.
Yes, the care support that was being abused by a part of that community buying alcohol and lotto tickets etc.....Again, it needs to be refined.
I'm not a mean spirited person at all. I am a realist libertarian who grew up with working class parents in a very poor area, went to a very brown school and saw lots of people work hard to get ahead in life....and I also saw those that pretended to be useless....because when lefties are in power....the more useless you act, the more you get handed out.
Clearly you read in echo chambers and seek your information from the same sites which is incredibly sad. I read widely, I read left wing sites, centrist and right sites and make my mind up myself. All too often those left wing sites leave valuable parts of evidence out deliberately which is why I have no sadness that TV3 is shutting down its news agency and laugh that Stuff, an even worse (although still mild) left wing echo chamber has picked up that. They will fail too if they don't start offering information for people to make their own minds up.
Shall I tell you what I think of Jacinda......and Grant.....at least I won't insult them other than to say they were and are utterly incompetent and their economic and solcial harm results speak for themselves. Another 3 years of that three ring circus would have sent NZ backwards to the point where those with money would have been fleeing. At least you would have been happy because house prices would have collapsed.....
Perhaps its you who is mean spirited and you need to investigate things by reading a lot wider because your comments show you seem incapable of considering other peoples positions and debating them, instead you make insults. What a left wing way to argue...all too common. You didn't argue anything, you just made some headline statements from left wing media and threw in some insults.
Play the ball....not the man.
It's really interesting that in every attempt to justify the mean spirited nature of this government you resort to outlier incidents to prop up your argument to cut support for various issues. You will well know that tax avoidance and evasion outstrips the cost of benefit fraud by another planet! yet all RW governments and individuals such as yourself immediately focus on those few who abuse the system and then tar everyone with the same brush. The cost to the tax payer of the current mortgage relief for landlords is probably closer to $4 billion and that's not from Labour but from economists who have examined the cost and effect to kiwi taxpayers. The reason house prices have been driven so high is supply and demand exacerbated firstly by John Keys open invitation to foreign investors secondly by a pathetic attempt by the first Ardern Labour government to address this hamstrung as it was by Mr Peters, however in the second term they built more houses than in nine years of a Key government. Thirdly because both National and Labour have refused to implement a CGT housing has become 'free money' investment which has driven prices up still further. I wrote in another article recently that trickle down economics works brilliantly. It pays the poor just enough to avoid starvation whist further enriching those already with more that they will ever need in one life. The poor are so busy working 2 to 3 jobs a week just to make ends meet that they have no time to fight the oppressive nature of neoliberal politics. I resent even $1 of my hard earned money going to anyone who doesn't deserve it, but I've watched in my 40 years in NZ and the 'theft' of my dollars has almost entirely gone to men wearing suits and ties than to beneficiaries. I too grew up poor in a working class Britain, my father never had a day off work in his life but without the help of a post war welfare state opportunities of further education and life long free health care would have seen each of his sons and daughters hog-tied for life. My argument to you and others who think the same is that it us NEVER the poor or beneficiaries of this world that have caused economic crisis, rather its the greedy rich who help themselves to far more of the cake than they deserve. And for your information I make sure that I do encounter opinions such as yours so that I can challenge such views. Why are you so challenged by a left wing government that attempted to raise the living standard of ALL Kiwis. Robertsons Covid support kept so many jobs viable, three waters, if passed, would have meant a shared cost by ALL Kiwis across NZ to mend the water infrastructure. It's failure now means a massive increase in local rates that many will simply not be able to afford, or worse still foreign ownership of our infrastructure that will see prices go up and money dissappear offshore. But I tire of attempting to offer an alternate view. You will never convince me that what the current government is doing is in the best interests of anyone but the already prosperous. You have a good day
If populism is on the rise and a strong leader is in demand, we need a left strong man. Serious populist discontent in New Zealand is an opportunity worth exploiting! He'll need to crush contemporary representations of liberalism, identity and 'woke' influences first. Then rebuild.
Yeah, they've had to come out swinging making the cuts the other lot didn't have the stomach to. Economic conditions aren't great. Interest rates very high. Domestically driven inflation is sticky. Government spending has outstripped revenue in the last three budgets fuelling the inflation fire. Being the hatchet man forced to rein in this overspend is never going to be popular but is necessary to enable interest rates to come down, and inflation to fall to more reasonable levels. It looks to me like they've front-loaded all the necessary stuff that pisses people off to actually get something done so by the time the next election rolls around they'll have something to show. In the context of a 3-year term, that's a lot more attractive than doing nothing.
Latest forecasts from RBNZ have the OCR at ~3.5% by the end of 2026, that coast down from the current high of 5.5% will ease the elements of economic pain the government is currently being punished for that they didn't cause. And they'll probably be rewarded for it...
Again another ignorant response. Not addressing truth merely ramping up the neoliberal narrative of me not we
Lol. Ok 'retired arts teacher slightly to the left of Karl Marx'. I'm an economist, CFA charterholder, and political scientist, but please tell me again how ignorant I am.
Btw, I know you'll hate to hear this, but there are very few cases where individuals maximising their own outcomes from a given market, doesn't maximise outcomes in aggregate for all market participants. The state can then redistribute to help out the worst off. Me AND we.....
As ignorant of any other narrative that doesn’t suit your neoliberal trickle down theory! But you keep on puffing up on your own accomplishments. But what you and your kind NEVER do is justify the excesses that I have complained about. So tell me again that giving $2.5 billion from the public purse to landlords, cutting free school meals, abolishing FPA and reintroducing 90 day work trials is part of a fair and equitable society. And when you can’t come see me and I’ll at least teach you how to draw and paint, because your tired economic theories only work to stretch the difference between the rich and poor further than they already have been widened, so you obviously need a better pursuit! 🤣😅😂
Well enabling landlords to deduct interest before they pay their tax bill is just sound policy consistent with both US GAAP and IFRS accounting standards. To not do so is to act punitively against the industry. Cutting interest deductibility was a terrible policy that one would only enact if you wanted political points for 'hitting the greedy landlords' and didn't mind if doing so raised rents...
As for cutting free school meals. Not in favour of that, I'm an egalitarian. Always room for efficiency and evaluation in all government funded aspects of society though...
On the fence about the 90 day trials.
The FPA are atrocious and have been shown in other jurisdictions to slow economic growth and new business formation. Additionally, Union bargaining agreements provide the most value when minimum wages are low. As at 2022 (latest available) NZ had the 4th highest minimum wage as a % of the average wage in the OECD, with only Colombia, Costa Rica, and Chile with higher rates, so I don't think compulsory union bargaining would add much value in this context. What type of art do you like?
https://data-explorer.oecd.org/vis?tm=minimum%20wage%20relative%20to%20median%20wage&pg=0&hc[Aggregation%20operation]=Median&snb=2&df[ds]=dsDisseminateFinalDMZ&df[id]=DSD_EARNINGS%40MIN2AVE&df[ag]=OECD.ELS.SAE&df[vs]=1.0&pd=2000%2C&dq=.....MEDIAN.&to[TIME_PERIOD]=false