Willis says Budget finances same as household's, telling MPs cuts needed when money's tight; S&P says NZ's finances not fragile & sees extra 30% of GDP of borrowing capacity; Huge demand for 2054 bond
Kiao ora Bernard. The audio on my playback on itunes cuts out at about three minutes when you’re going to share the Nicola Willis audio and comes back a minute later with you. Does anybody else have this issue?
Thanks for this, Bernard - excellent as ever. However, how can we have such an economically ignorant Minister of Finance in 2024? Margaret Thatcher got way with that kind of comment in the 1980s, but surely finance ministers are more economically literate these days. What must Treasury officials be going through, trying to explain things to her?
Depends on the household ..... if you live from week to week, survival is your only focus - savings & surplus is what other people have.
If you save $$ each week - flush enough to have a surplus and put money aside, then maybe there is a small sense of comparison...
BUT a govrrnment is not a household. Government policies and finances influence a whole nation, not just a household. They need to understand the impact of their decisions over the spectrum of all households, municipalities and country.
We vote for people to have competency at a big picture, social, environmental level - way beyond a household scale. If the extent of their understanding is at 'household' budget level, we should be asking why.
Households do not get to mark-up and mark-down the scorepoints (aka. NZD, aka. tax credits) at the RBNZ. If they did they'd be jailed for counterfeit. That's all you need to know to get the point across to these idiot Tory voters.
Spot on - currency issuer is in no way equivalent to a currency user. Spouting the household requivalent nonsense is simply a justification for austerity and all that follows - infrastructure degradation-asset sales-welfare and service cuts - sorry nearly missed tax cuts.
Great reporting on this issue Bernard it really is a cynical play on the fiscal illiteracy of the average voter. How can we draw more attention to this?
And maybe open this up, Bernard. It's really important. (I was explaining recently to my cleaner why repealing Three Waters was such a bad idea. This lays out the argument much more clearly than I did.)
Anyone who voted for National because they were 'against Three Waters' needs to read this and have a wee think.
Super depressing. Is the Governments (and frankly any of the politicians given the history of no investment) simply say the ratings agencies simply have it wrong? I'd love to hear their response to people who literally do this as their job and have done for many years. I think this is a good one to open up. I'd be interested to see the updated diaspora numbers too - fascinating.
Few in the press know that the ratings agencies are not only wrong, they have it all backwards. A monopoly currency issuer has zero need to issue bonds. Period. Treasury Bonds are nothing but *basic income for people who already have money in proportion to how much money they already have*. Zero need for that policy. To think they do need to issue interest-bearing bonds to people who have NZD is to fail to understand what truly drives demand for the currency (aka. tax credits).
I have been around a long time, however, even in its early days this coalition is by far the most disturbing government to be elected to power. The cruelty, and lack of empathy for our most vulnerable, blatant use of lies to support policies that will harm people and the environment, and the refusal to listen to expert advice is terrifying. For the first time I am not just p**ssed off, I feel helpless, and frightened for our land and its wonderfully diverse and beautiful society.
💯 tautoko! Even after the Key-Joyce bonfire of all sustainability policies in 2008 and the GFC did I not feel this terrified of how deeply this will fuck us all…
How do people hear the excerpt from the select committee for me it cuts out when I try to listen on substack, direct from the email and slso from apple podcast
Kiao ora Bernard. The audio on my playback on itunes cuts out at about three minutes when you’re going to share the Nicola Willis audio and comes back a minute later with you. Does anybody else have this issue?
Agreed timestamp is at 3 - 4 min mark.
Me too!
Me too
Ditto
Yes I was just listening on substack and it cut out
Sorry guys. I’ll fix that and resend
Same Nicola cut out.
Might be my problem but nothing heard on the clip of Nicola Willis at Select Committee.
I suspect The Ministers voice is modified to render it impossible to record, for obvious reasons.
Does she have a reflection in a mirror?
Thanks for this, Bernard - excellent as ever. However, how can we have such an economically ignorant Minister of Finance in 2024? Margaret Thatcher got way with that kind of comment in the 1980s, but surely finance ministers are more economically literate these days. What must Treasury officials be going through, trying to explain things to her?
That statement should immediately disqualify Nicola Willis from being the finance minister
That old chestnut, pity it resonates so well with the financially illiterate
Yes!! What a good idea!!
The country is like a business!
The country is like a house!
How is a house a business... Ohhhhh
Depends on the household ..... if you live from week to week, survival is your only focus - savings & surplus is what other people have.
If you save $$ each week - flush enough to have a surplus and put money aside, then maybe there is a small sense of comparison...
BUT a govrrnment is not a household. Government policies and finances influence a whole nation, not just a household. They need to understand the impact of their decisions over the spectrum of all households, municipalities and country.
We vote for people to have competency at a big picture, social, environmental level - way beyond a household scale. If the extent of their understanding is at 'household' budget level, we should be asking why.
Households do not get to mark-up and mark-down the scorepoints (aka. NZD, aka. tax credits) at the RBNZ. If they did they'd be jailed for counterfeit. That's all you need to know to get the point across to these idiot Tory voters.
And households don’t print their own money or make their own fiscal policy!
Spot on - currency issuer is in no way equivalent to a currency user. Spouting the household requivalent nonsense is simply a justification for austerity and all that follows - infrastructure degradation-asset sales-welfare and service cuts - sorry nearly missed tax cuts.
Please open up
Please open up. I need to share this with a lot of friends and family.
Ditto for me also, please.
No don’t open up. There are too many people who believe that twaddle and she shouldn’t have any more promotion.
And if I remember righty and I may be wrong Hipkins said the same thing some time ago.
Yes our politicians believe we have an insatiable appetite for “Bread and Butter”
Probably why Robertson 'dumped' him...
I played this to my partner and he commented that this should be shouted from the rooftops… thank you Bernard
Great reporting on this issue Bernard it really is a cynical play on the fiscal illiteracy of the average voter. How can we draw more attention to this?
And maybe open this up, Bernard. It's really important. (I was explaining recently to my cleaner why repealing Three Waters was such a bad idea. This lays out the argument much more clearly than I did.)
Anyone who voted for National because they were 'against Three Waters' needs to read this and have a wee think.
The problem it is too late to change your vote, unfortunately - not that I dreamed of voting for them.
Super depressing. Is the Governments (and frankly any of the politicians given the history of no investment) simply say the ratings agencies simply have it wrong? I'd love to hear their response to people who literally do this as their job and have done for many years. I think this is a good one to open up. I'd be interested to see the updated diaspora numbers too - fascinating.
Few in the press know that the ratings agencies are not only wrong, they have it all backwards. A monopoly currency issuer has zero need to issue bonds. Period. Treasury Bonds are nothing but *basic income for people who already have money in proportion to how much money they already have*. Zero need for that policy. To think they do need to issue interest-bearing bonds to people who have NZD is to fail to understand what truly drives demand for the currency (aka. tax credits).
Bernard coming in hot! Thanks for trying to get this info out there, would love to be able to share & can’t wait for the podcast
this is great Bernard - I'd vote to open it up
I have been around a long time, however, even in its early days this coalition is by far the most disturbing government to be elected to power. The cruelty, and lack of empathy for our most vulnerable, blatant use of lies to support policies that will harm people and the environment, and the refusal to listen to expert advice is terrifying. For the first time I am not just p**ssed off, I feel helpless, and frightened for our land and its wonderfully diverse and beautiful society.
Have to agree with you on all points Alex.
💯 tautoko! Even after the Key-Joyce bonfire of all sustainability policies in 2008 and the GFC did I not feel this terrified of how deeply this will fuck us all…
How do people hear the excerpt from the select committee for me it cuts out when I try to listen on substack, direct from the email and slso from apple podcast
please share. If only this government could read, and comprehend.
Channeling Thatcher and Reagan is the worst possible scenarion. God, or someone else, help us.