Fire in 94-room Loafers Lodge boarding house kills six, with 11 missing; Tragedy focuses attention, perhaps briefly, on joint housing and poverty crises that Government is not addressing fully
The govt doesnt need to issue debt. It should sell its imprest supply bills (parliaments authorisation for the govt to spend) to the RB, in exchange for a credit to its a/c at the RB. As the spending is done both the supply bill value and the treasuries a/c will move to zero in lock step. No need to issue bonds.
It’s appalling. I had expected Labour to be much, much more courageous. I’m so disappointed and can only hope their tax policy going forward is more progressive. National/Act will do nothing to assist those on lower incomes.
Along with a transparent public open source updated digital version of the MONIAC (Monetary National Income Analogue Computer) that includes not only economics but also all public infrastructure.
While I'm in full agreement with you Bernard, is there any charity that can be extended to Grant Robertson's position/a place where he and the rest of that bunch are not guilty of magical thinking to win the middle?
I'm not giving Labour that benefit of the doubt. They have had 3 years of total majority with the ability to do whatever they wanted. If they had brought in a massive change after the 2020 elections, by now things would start looking better & the middle voter would see that a) the sky aren't falling and b) things are better for everyone.
I don't know if it's political cowardice or simply that they are cut from the same cloth of National only with a little bit of red shade.
The grim reality is that politicians and their parties represent voters in the round. Most voters with burgeoning house equity will, when push comes to shove, not vote for a Party that promises to significantly reduce this equity. In NZ's case this equity is part of housing prices grossly out of kilter with incomes. And therein lies the rub. NZ is not the wealthy country it believes itself to be, but inflated house prices allow us to participate in a delusion we are.
Our problems arise, in the end, from a form of personal greed over public good - it's us, the majority of us, who are the problem.
Why this thoroughly depressing pieces was the straw that got me over the subscriber line I dont' know - surely I need less of it rather than more! However, here I am.
Echo everyone else. Those charts were interesting as Ireland is almost as bad as us I wondered if part of the difference is European countries and the UK to an extent build apartment blocks which house many more people, whereas Ireland and ourselves tend not to?
I know the scale is very different and we didnt' have the terrible stories to keep people gripped, but having been in the UK when Grenfell Tower burned down, the public response (or lack of) from what I can tell is telling.
Same here. Became a subscriber when I realised I'm not so much paying for these words as supporting someone who is asking the right questions of the right people.
I doubt that it's magical thinking because imo its not thinking at all - the appropriate word is 'bullshitting". Grant has, like ruling souls all over the world, learnt to chant words from The Sneaky Little Book of NeoLiberalism/Finance Capitalism/RentierCapitalism - take your pick. He is not saying anything. Could you perhaps Bernard, challenge him on that?
Leilani Farha, UN Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur on a visit to NZ: Among the report's recommendations were that New Zealand recognise the right to adequate housing as an enforceable right in law; develop and implement a comprehensive human rights-based housing strategy; ensure there was a complete prohibition of any evictions that might result in homelessness; and reduce housing speculation by adopting a capital gains tax and limiting debt-to-income mortgage ratios. She was reporting to the 47th session in June/July 2021, so nearly 2 years ago. I didn't read it as reducing the funding of Kianga Ora, nor placing otherwise homeless people in multi-storey fire traps.
The only party which is not guilty of the magical thinking as you have been shouting from the roof topsis the Green Party. That is where my vote is going. We need a strong tail to wag the major party dogs.
Hipkins and Robertson and their ministers are simply incompetent. They have wasted so much money that we can’t fund health, education, and building projects to the level required . The jobs they have created are mostly for government servants and wasted millions on consultants. They have created bureaucracy with more consents in the rural sector which is just stifling growth . They have allowed overseas corporations to plant trees in the wrong areas to claim carbon credits which according to the greens and labour is going to save the planet. We export our best young people to Australia where the opportunities certainly look better and then they give us back the 501s so that they can build up the NZ gang base , what a deal !!!. The Racial division in this country is the worst that I can remember, the push by the Maori party and Labour to install co-governance and have 50% control over water assets and anything else they can get their hands on is appalling.
We need to have business type people running the country to create wealth which can then be used appropriately to create better outcomes for all New Zealanders. I know this is a negative bit of writing but nearly 6 years of incompetence has created a mess.
Goodness. The last thing we need is more business type people running the country, and I say that as a business owner.
The one goal of a business is to make a profit. A govt should run away from that thought. We need to ditch this failed (time and time again) neoliberal hell of economic thinking and start thinking about what is good for people and the planet.
My point is that NZ needs to make money before we can spend it on the needy , climate , or infrastructure. At present we are running a huge balance of payments deficit. ie we are spending more than we are making and that cannot continue or we will end up being a 3rd world country
Nope. Govt books shouldn't be looked at like your private accounts. Even in business this mindset will not get you anywhere, so you borrow the money. Govt had bigger means than a business and when borrowing it should not prioritize paying off debt (that on NZs case is owed to itself) at the expense of investing.
Our future generations will not resent us for a debt we took so we can invest in their future well being. They will hate us for not doing so.
The one goal? As an ex-business owner I know this can be true but for some businesses, making profit is just A goal which is genuinely only justifiable if the profit is made doing something purposeful, good for the commons and society, within planetary boundaries - sharing sufficient wealth to live within our means. We need excellent operators running good (in the equitable and purposeful sense of the word) businesses. In that sense electing political leaders who are excellent operators for the common good of people and planet would be amazing! I agree we don't need businesses who are rewarded/congratulated for profiting at the expense of workers, society and planet. In the same way we do not need more of this same paradigm from politicians and ought to stop rewarding them for it.
One of the (safe) residents of LL was a cousin of mine. For various reasons, he is not compatible with our current 'market' society. He's not young, and he's not a criminal. But he has spent his life in a struggle to hold down a regular job for more than a few months, or to find patient and understanding private landlords. He's a human, with needs that simply diverge from what, for now, we consider conventional.
My cousin has been moved to a (possibly temporary) place to live, which he describes as "a castle". And it likely is, compared to the windowless-shitholes that many like him lived in at LL, and in hundreds of other, socially invisible, places like it around our country.
I actually see little shoots of hope, in the evolution of my own thinking, and that of people around me, and in the response that rallied around people who, not so long ago, might have been described as the 'dregs of society'. But, politically, we clearly still have a long way to go before we see 'people' in these organic forms.
Thank's for this Bernard, also great questions to Grant Robertson. This is such a devastating and senseless situation.
The building of new (for purpose) homes is something I've been exploring a little recently. I've been looking for alternatives and have recently stumbled upon We Can Make in Bristol. https://wecanmake.org/ and video about them https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZdGnM8BdRw
I've also been chatting to my brother (a carpenter) about the problems with the professionalisation of home building. He believes that people have been disempowered from building their own homes, rather than being up-skilled and supported to do it safely. An example; our parents built a kit house in the 80s. They were in their early 20s with a toddler in tow and they had with zero building experience. We don't even have the cultural imagination to build our own anymore, everyone is too intimidated by the process. (And yes, the house our folks built is still standing).
open this up to non-subscroibers Bernard
A blunt and very important piece of commentary. Thank you for this Bernard. Frankly, this was depressing to read.
I will be watching tomorrow for the Budget details on funding (or lack of) for social housing.
The govt doesnt need to issue debt. It should sell its imprest supply bills (parliaments authorisation for the govt to spend) to the RB, in exchange for a credit to its a/c at the RB. As the spending is done both the supply bill value and the treasuries a/c will move to zero in lock step. No need to issue bonds.
It’s appalling. I had expected Labour to be much, much more courageous. I’m so disappointed and can only hope their tax policy going forward is more progressive. National/Act will do nothing to assist those on lower incomes.
Mental health crisis I think you will find
Thanks. Helpful summary. Is it possible to have an equally informative discussion of the revenue-debt aspect of the argument?
Sadly, same old, same old.
David Mohring @NZheretic 7:56 pm · 20 Sep 2017
https://twitter.com/NZheretic/status/910412414016831488
"#LeadersDebate The only businesses to have profited under National are real estate agents and builders of leaky properties."
David Mohring @NZheretic 7:50 pm · 22 Sep 2020
https://twitter.com/NZheretic/status/1308312744202919936
"#Leadersdebate Neither party willing to deal with the main problem is the grossly over inflated residential land prices in our main cities."
New Zealand politics is in desperate need of not new political parties but a new rational political movement
https://thekaka.substack.com/p/dawn-chorus-twitter-capitulates/comment/6239652
Along with a transparent public open source updated digital version of the MONIAC (Monetary National Income Analogue Computer) that includes not only economics but also all public infrastructure.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAZavOcEnLg
https://thekaka.substack.com/p/dawn-chorus-twitter-capitulates/comment/6241568
While I'm in full agreement with you Bernard, is there any charity that can be extended to Grant Robertson's position/a place where he and the rest of that bunch are not guilty of magical thinking to win the middle?
I'm not giving Labour that benefit of the doubt. They have had 3 years of total majority with the ability to do whatever they wanted. If they had brought in a massive change after the 2020 elections, by now things would start looking better & the middle voter would see that a) the sky aren't falling and b) things are better for everyone.
I don't know if it's political cowardice or simply that they are cut from the same cloth of National only with a little bit of red shade.
Same drink different flavour.
The grim reality is that politicians and their parties represent voters in the round. Most voters with burgeoning house equity will, when push comes to shove, not vote for a Party that promises to significantly reduce this equity. In NZ's case this equity is part of housing prices grossly out of kilter with incomes. And therein lies the rub. NZ is not the wealthy country it believes itself to be, but inflated house prices allow us to participate in a delusion we are.
Our problems arise, in the end, from a form of personal greed over public good - it's us, the majority of us, who are the problem.
Why this thoroughly depressing pieces was the straw that got me over the subscriber line I dont' know - surely I need less of it rather than more! However, here I am.
Echo everyone else. Those charts were interesting as Ireland is almost as bad as us I wondered if part of the difference is European countries and the UK to an extent build apartment blocks which house many more people, whereas Ireland and ourselves tend not to?
I know the scale is very different and we didnt' have the terrible stories to keep people gripped, but having been in the UK when Grenfell Tower burned down, the public response (or lack of) from what I can tell is telling.
Thankyou Sally
Same here. Became a subscriber when I realised I'm not so much paying for these words as supporting someone who is asking the right questions of the right people.
Rachmanism is flourishing in NZ unfortunately just to compound the housing shortage.
TIL what rachmanism is.
I doubt that it's magical thinking because imo its not thinking at all - the appropriate word is 'bullshitting". Grant has, like ruling souls all over the world, learnt to chant words from The Sneaky Little Book of NeoLiberalism/Finance Capitalism/RentierCapitalism - take your pick. He is not saying anything. Could you perhaps Bernard, challenge him on that?
Leilani Farha, UN Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur on a visit to NZ: Among the report's recommendations were that New Zealand recognise the right to adequate housing as an enforceable right in law; develop and implement a comprehensive human rights-based housing strategy; ensure there was a complete prohibition of any evictions that might result in homelessness; and reduce housing speculation by adopting a capital gains tax and limiting debt-to-income mortgage ratios. She was reporting to the 47th session in June/July 2021, so nearly 2 years ago. I didn't read it as reducing the funding of Kianga Ora, nor placing otherwise homeless people in multi-storey fire traps.
The only party which is not guilty of the magical thinking as you have been shouting from the roof topsis the Green Party. That is where my vote is going. We need a strong tail to wag the major party dogs.
Hipkins and Robertson and their ministers are simply incompetent. They have wasted so much money that we can’t fund health, education, and building projects to the level required . The jobs they have created are mostly for government servants and wasted millions on consultants. They have created bureaucracy with more consents in the rural sector which is just stifling growth . They have allowed overseas corporations to plant trees in the wrong areas to claim carbon credits which according to the greens and labour is going to save the planet. We export our best young people to Australia where the opportunities certainly look better and then they give us back the 501s so that they can build up the NZ gang base , what a deal !!!. The Racial division in this country is the worst that I can remember, the push by the Maori party and Labour to install co-governance and have 50% control over water assets and anything else they can get their hands on is appalling.
We need to have business type people running the country to create wealth which can then be used appropriately to create better outcomes for all New Zealanders. I know this is a negative bit of writing but nearly 6 years of incompetence has created a mess.
Goodness. The last thing we need is more business type people running the country, and I say that as a business owner.
The one goal of a business is to make a profit. A govt should run away from that thought. We need to ditch this failed (time and time again) neoliberal hell of economic thinking and start thinking about what is good for people and the planet.
Hi
My point is that NZ needs to make money before we can spend it on the needy , climate , or infrastructure. At present we are running a huge balance of payments deficit. ie we are spending more than we are making and that cannot continue or we will end up being a 3rd world country
Nope. Govt books shouldn't be looked at like your private accounts. Even in business this mindset will not get you anywhere, so you borrow the money. Govt had bigger means than a business and when borrowing it should not prioritize paying off debt (that on NZs case is owed to itself) at the expense of investing.
Our future generations will not resent us for a debt we took so we can invest in their future well being. They will hate us for not doing so.
The one goal? As an ex-business owner I know this can be true but for some businesses, making profit is just A goal which is genuinely only justifiable if the profit is made doing something purposeful, good for the commons and society, within planetary boundaries - sharing sufficient wealth to live within our means. We need excellent operators running good (in the equitable and purposeful sense of the word) businesses. In that sense electing political leaders who are excellent operators for the common good of people and planet would be amazing! I agree we don't need businesses who are rewarded/congratulated for profiting at the expense of workers, society and planet. In the same way we do not need more of this same paradigm from politicians and ought to stop rewarding them for it.
One of the (safe) residents of LL was a cousin of mine. For various reasons, he is not compatible with our current 'market' society. He's not young, and he's not a criminal. But he has spent his life in a struggle to hold down a regular job for more than a few months, or to find patient and understanding private landlords. He's a human, with needs that simply diverge from what, for now, we consider conventional.
My cousin has been moved to a (possibly temporary) place to live, which he describes as "a castle". And it likely is, compared to the windowless-shitholes that many like him lived in at LL, and in hundreds of other, socially invisible, places like it around our country.
I actually see little shoots of hope, in the evolution of my own thinking, and that of people around me, and in the response that rallied around people who, not so long ago, might have been described as the 'dregs of society'. But, politically, we clearly still have a long way to go before we see 'people' in these organic forms.
Thank's for this Bernard, also great questions to Grant Robertson. This is such a devastating and senseless situation.
The building of new (for purpose) homes is something I've been exploring a little recently. I've been looking for alternatives and have recently stumbled upon We Can Make in Bristol. https://wecanmake.org/ and video about them https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZdGnM8BdRw
I've also been chatting to my brother (a carpenter) about the problems with the professionalisation of home building. He believes that people have been disempowered from building their own homes, rather than being up-skilled and supported to do it safely. An example; our parents built a kit house in the 80s. They were in their early 20s with a toddler in tow and they had with zero building experience. We don't even have the cultural imagination to build our own anymore, everyone is too intimidated by the process. (And yes, the house our folks built is still standing).