Yes, we are languishing and the recovery is taking too long.
I however don't take any notice of any articles in the MSM with their biased views. I recently looked at articles from Stuff from 2022 and 23 when inflation was becoming a problem. I have to ask, why were they not jumping up and down then, they put out articles like "Have economists misunderstood inflation" and "Inflation, interest rates, labour and depreciation feed into rates rise", "Think inflation is biting? Spare a thought for Turkey" , yet at every opportunity they now put a picture up of the wet blanket Luxon and have the economy front and center expressing doom and gloom at every opportunity and strangely enough interviewing politicians about it......but they only put a few basic articles in 2022/23 when it was happening and not a single interview with Grant or Jacinda nor asking for comments from the opposition from any of the articles I could find online.
I also wouldn't pay much attention to someone who can't balance their own accounts when it comes to the economy.
The positive I take out of the Nats is that if Labour was still in charge things would be twice as bad.
Sorry Jarrod, I must have missed the brilliant strategy Luxon’s government is rolling out. Seriously, back on track. Anyway, off to Queensland. See ya.
Like I said above, they aren't getting anywhere......but at least we aren't in freefall like we were before they took over. Its not much of a positive, but we would be called New Zimbabwe by now if Labour was still in charge.
Actually, the core financial and economic statistics were better under Labour. Always have been. Interestingly, at every critical juncture back to the 1980s NZ has had a conservative government when Australia had a Labour government. The different outcomes are stark, particularly for workers. My point, you cannot cut your way to prosperity. NZ needs a complete overhaul starting with the tax system. Then the ‘opolies’ need sorting out. Then NZ needs to get real about the basics. Super contributions, what’s that? Why can’t employers pay up? CGT, huh? Tax cuts for property owners, hell yes. Hopeless, short-sighted, and it’s made Kiwis poorer. Sad.
You also can't spend your way to prosperity especially, as the last government did, spending unwisely.
The last Labour government left everything is a mess so not sure how you can say its always better under Labour unless you are a tax receiver, not a tax payer.
The tax system doesn't need an overhaul to put in place envy taxes that are the socialist/communist remit. Socialism has a 100% rate of failure because it removes the onus on individuals to stand on their own two feet, stifles innovation, reduces investment opportunities and always runs out of money. No the Scandinavian countries are not socialist.
If everyone would make the necessary sacrifices, make good life choices and scrimp and save everyone would be a property owner. Rentals are a business and should be afforded the same tax regime as any other as landlords provide a roof over someones head that either are on the path, can't, won't or are incapable of the above.
What is hopeless and short sighted is thinking after the mess Labour left the country in, with all of their records they achieved, record house price inflation, record rental inflation, record increase in spending, record ram raids, record inflation for more than 30 years, record increase in public service numbers (for no better outcomes I might add), record immigration (which broke a lot of our crumbling infrastructure).....etc etc that Labour will do better next time. Talk about head in the sand stuff.
Both sides of NZ government are (or have been) pretty centrist. Neither side of politics as far as I can see has a credible plan for the future. Governments who attempt transformational change here get voted out by the housing market with bits tacked on. Rinse and repeat, whilst going slowly, but consistently backwards. Politicians keep promising the world, voters keep injecting hopium’, and then they drink heavily as nothing gets delivered.
What? Cans up ahead. What cans? Oh the ones that got kicked down the road. Underinvestment in infrastructure. That’s coming home to roost. Underfunded health system, arrived. And so on. Show me the money. How does New Zealand fund future prosperity?
Good luck if you’re over 65 and don’t own your home or have a big super fund to draw down. The NZ pension won’t even sustain someone who owns their own home. What’s the plan for that utter debacle? Homelessness?
Clue: Ditch neoliberalism and reign in capitalism. Oh, and start with ditching Luxon. Baby steps.
I couldn't agree with you more and I would far prefer the scandanavian approach to capitalism. However, first we need a government with the self discipline to fill up the piggy bank wisely with investments that continue to add to the coffers.
NZ is paying for the can being kicked down the road for 25 plus years........and politicians continue to quietly keep kicking it further.
I won't hold my breath for NZ to come up with real solutions as I don't think we have the political skill, the public willpower nor the ability to stay on track long enough for anything meaningful to get off the ground.
Yes the economy isn't good but as the polls and pundits indicate, the malaise goes beyond economics. I believe the non-economic malaise began with the previous government and the divisiveness that emerged under it, on Maori and trans issues etc. House buying becoming unaffordable for the young is another factor.
Maybe that bad case of ‘meh’s’ could be cured with some - oh I don’t know - huge joyous labour strikes or something that gets us out together in the fresh air!
In my view the whole Covid thing plus ideology driven shots in the feet like banning oil and gas exploration, certainly accelerated but has also been masking and continues to mask what was already a downwards economic trajectory largely a result of a failure to seriously diversify into higher value added industries. We simply can't make enough now to sustain an expensive welfare state and replace crumbling infrastructure just by shipping what are basically raw organic commodities half way around the world. The current Government, much the same as the last National one, is doing little more than caretaking with no indicated economic vision whatsoever, no strategy to lift us out of this funk other than opening the door to overseas investors to somehow bail us out. So with a very reduced pool now of intellectual capability (courtesy of a failed leftist ideological education system) and high energy prices (because we won't face the stark reality that NZ must come first), what could possibly attract them other than by effectively giving away some kind of assets (mining, roads, property etc).
Irrespective, the answer of course is not to shift dramatically even further left to a Labour coalition, onto a path that rather than a steep downwards slope will be like falling over a cliff. I don't think the majority of Kiwis will be quite as stupid enough to do that when it comes to actual marks on voting papers, but could easily be wrong.
You say "It seems like it’s time to further analyse what is wrong with the country and how it might be turned around." You then list a series of aspects you intend to examine. You miss what it seems to me is the real elephant in the room and that is NZ's failure of democracy.
Switzerland has a number of national characteristics akin to NZ. It is a small country that is multicultural, multilingual and has a challenging geography. But, compared with New Zealand's failing unicameral "representative" democracy, Switzerland, over last 177 years has had a proud tradition of direct democracy.
A quick economic comparison shows that Switzerland's real GDP per capita is some USD$82,000 as compared with NZ's USD$48,200 (CIA World Factbook 2024 estimate).
What could today's striking public servants do with an extra annual NZD$58,700? Well, to start with, a more generous tax contribution. New Zealand's health, education, welfare, infrastructure, and so on, could be transformed!
Bryce, may I humbly suggest that a careful examination of what would be needed to make the governance of New Zealand more like that of Switzerland would be a compelling use of your time and talents.
Another informative article, however, i feel these commentaries in general are longer than they need to be to make their point. For example, often multiple sources are referenced with quotations to reinforce a point when one source and a single quotation would suffice with comment that other sources express similar views and simply reference them.
I spend a large amount of time in and around the Airport Oaks in Mangere in Auckland (it's where most of the Freight Forwarders /logistics companies are based ) usually very busy lots of traffic , Friday afternoon dead , this after noon dead , at my last call on Andrew Baxter Drive my customer said , It's like Covid all over again dead quiet.
Yes, we are languishing and the recovery is taking too long.
I however don't take any notice of any articles in the MSM with their biased views. I recently looked at articles from Stuff from 2022 and 23 when inflation was becoming a problem. I have to ask, why were they not jumping up and down then, they put out articles like "Have economists misunderstood inflation" and "Inflation, interest rates, labour and depreciation feed into rates rise", "Think inflation is biting? Spare a thought for Turkey" , yet at every opportunity they now put a picture up of the wet blanket Luxon and have the economy front and center expressing doom and gloom at every opportunity and strangely enough interviewing politicians about it......but they only put a few basic articles in 2022/23 when it was happening and not a single interview with Grant or Jacinda nor asking for comments from the opposition from any of the articles I could find online.
I also wouldn't pay much attention to someone who can't balance their own accounts when it comes to the economy.
The positive I take out of the Nats is that if Labour was still in charge things would be twice as bad.
Sorry Jarrod, I must have missed the brilliant strategy Luxon’s government is rolling out. Seriously, back on track. Anyway, off to Queensland. See ya.
Like I said above, they aren't getting anywhere......but at least we aren't in freefall like we were before they took over. Its not much of a positive, but we would be called New Zimbabwe by now if Labour was still in charge.
Actually, the core financial and economic statistics were better under Labour. Always have been. Interestingly, at every critical juncture back to the 1980s NZ has had a conservative government when Australia had a Labour government. The different outcomes are stark, particularly for workers. My point, you cannot cut your way to prosperity. NZ needs a complete overhaul starting with the tax system. Then the ‘opolies’ need sorting out. Then NZ needs to get real about the basics. Super contributions, what’s that? Why can’t employers pay up? CGT, huh? Tax cuts for property owners, hell yes. Hopeless, short-sighted, and it’s made Kiwis poorer. Sad.
You also can't spend your way to prosperity especially, as the last government did, spending unwisely.
The last Labour government left everything is a mess so not sure how you can say its always better under Labour unless you are a tax receiver, not a tax payer.
The tax system doesn't need an overhaul to put in place envy taxes that are the socialist/communist remit. Socialism has a 100% rate of failure because it removes the onus on individuals to stand on their own two feet, stifles innovation, reduces investment opportunities and always runs out of money. No the Scandinavian countries are not socialist.
If everyone would make the necessary sacrifices, make good life choices and scrimp and save everyone would be a property owner. Rentals are a business and should be afforded the same tax regime as any other as landlords provide a roof over someones head that either are on the path, can't, won't or are incapable of the above.
What is hopeless and short sighted is thinking after the mess Labour left the country in, with all of their records they achieved, record house price inflation, record rental inflation, record increase in spending, record ram raids, record inflation for more than 30 years, record increase in public service numbers (for no better outcomes I might add), record immigration (which broke a lot of our crumbling infrastructure).....etc etc that Labour will do better next time. Talk about head in the sand stuff.
I will admit it isn’t easy.
Both sides of NZ government are (or have been) pretty centrist. Neither side of politics as far as I can see has a credible plan for the future. Governments who attempt transformational change here get voted out by the housing market with bits tacked on. Rinse and repeat, whilst going slowly, but consistently backwards. Politicians keep promising the world, voters keep injecting hopium’, and then they drink heavily as nothing gets delivered.
What? Cans up ahead. What cans? Oh the ones that got kicked down the road. Underinvestment in infrastructure. That’s coming home to roost. Underfunded health system, arrived. And so on. Show me the money. How does New Zealand fund future prosperity?
Good luck if you’re over 65 and don’t own your home or have a big super fund to draw down. The NZ pension won’t even sustain someone who owns their own home. What’s the plan for that utter debacle? Homelessness?
Clue: Ditch neoliberalism and reign in capitalism. Oh, and start with ditching Luxon. Baby steps.
I couldn't agree with you more and I would far prefer the scandanavian approach to capitalism. However, first we need a government with the self discipline to fill up the piggy bank wisely with investments that continue to add to the coffers.
NZ is paying for the can being kicked down the road for 25 plus years........and politicians continue to quietly keep kicking it further.
I won't hold my breath for NZ to come up with real solutions as I don't think we have the political skill, the public willpower nor the ability to stay on track long enough for anything meaningful to get off the ground.
Yes the economy isn't good but as the polls and pundits indicate, the malaise goes beyond economics. I believe the non-economic malaise began with the previous government and the divisiveness that emerged under it, on Maori and trans issues etc. House buying becoming unaffordable for the young is another factor.
Maybe that bad case of ‘meh’s’ could be cured with some - oh I don’t know - huge joyous labour strikes or something that gets us out together in the fresh air!
https://open.substack.com/pub/michaelmoore/p/your-pics-from-no-kings?r=pn78u&utm_medium=ios
In my view the whole Covid thing plus ideology driven shots in the feet like banning oil and gas exploration, certainly accelerated but has also been masking and continues to mask what was already a downwards economic trajectory largely a result of a failure to seriously diversify into higher value added industries. We simply can't make enough now to sustain an expensive welfare state and replace crumbling infrastructure just by shipping what are basically raw organic commodities half way around the world. The current Government, much the same as the last National one, is doing little more than caretaking with no indicated economic vision whatsoever, no strategy to lift us out of this funk other than opening the door to overseas investors to somehow bail us out. So with a very reduced pool now of intellectual capability (courtesy of a failed leftist ideological education system) and high energy prices (because we won't face the stark reality that NZ must come first), what could possibly attract them other than by effectively giving away some kind of assets (mining, roads, property etc).
Irrespective, the answer of course is not to shift dramatically even further left to a Labour coalition, onto a path that rather than a steep downwards slope will be like falling over a cliff. I don't think the majority of Kiwis will be quite as stupid enough to do that when it comes to actual marks on voting papers, but could easily be wrong.
You say "It seems like it’s time to further analyse what is wrong with the country and how it might be turned around." You then list a series of aspects you intend to examine. You miss what it seems to me is the real elephant in the room and that is NZ's failure of democracy.
Switzerland has a number of national characteristics akin to NZ. It is a small country that is multicultural, multilingual and has a challenging geography. But, compared with New Zealand's failing unicameral "representative" democracy, Switzerland, over last 177 years has had a proud tradition of direct democracy.
A quick economic comparison shows that Switzerland's real GDP per capita is some USD$82,000 as compared with NZ's USD$48,200 (CIA World Factbook 2024 estimate).
What could today's striking public servants do with an extra annual NZD$58,700? Well, to start with, a more generous tax contribution. New Zealand's health, education, welfare, infrastructure, and so on, could be transformed!
Bryce, may I humbly suggest that a careful examination of what would be needed to make the governance of New Zealand more like that of Switzerland would be a compelling use of your time and talents.
Another informative article, however, i feel these commentaries in general are longer than they need to be to make their point. For example, often multiple sources are referenced with quotations to reinforce a point when one source and a single quotation would suffice with comment that other sources express similar views and simply reference them.
I spend a large amount of time in and around the Airport Oaks in Mangere in Auckland (it's where most of the Freight Forwarders /logistics companies are based ) usually very busy lots of traffic , Friday afternoon dead , this after noon dead , at my last call on Andrew Baxter Drive my customer said , It's like Covid all over again dead quiet.