National still working on fiscal plan
thekaka.substack.com
Sep 13 • 13M
National still working on fiscal plan
Willis says final fiscal plan will be ready 'within a couple of weeks'; National still committed to tax cuts and rejects criticism of foreign buyers' tax; Says won't plan population growth; Eyes PPPs
Appears in this episode
Bernard Hickey
Bernard Hickey and friends explore the political economy together.
Episode details
49 comments
TL;DR: National Finance Spokesperson Nicola Willis has signalled a National Government would produce a lower debt track than Labour, but has yet to say what it is forecasting or how it would pay for infrastructure investment necessary for ongoing population growth of 2%.
Willis told reporters in a standup yesterday after a speech to a KangaNews conference for bond investors and traders in Auckland that a fiscal plan would be due within a couple of weeks.
Have a listen to my questions and Willis’ answers above from that news conference. The transcript is above too. I have opened this up for all, given Willis may be the Finance Minister within 31 days.
National still working on fiscal plan
Willis, like Robertson, won't talk about how a surplus can only be achieved by an increase in private sector borrowing (barring a sudden manifestation of a sustained current account surplus, which is a nice talking point for those who believe in unicorns). The dirty little secret of austerity is that households and SMEs have to extend themselves further so that they receive less in the form of public sector infrastructure and services.
Nice little racket. If you're in the finance sector, at least. We'll suck it up, make those bigger mortgage payments, watch the Aussie banks hoover record profits across the Tasman, and let our built and natural environments go to wrack and ruin. Catabolic capitalism at its finest.
Sound is a bit dodgy but good questions. Shame about the guarded and evasive answers particularly concerning the ETS commitments.