TLDL: In this week's 'hoon' around the political economy, Max Rashbrooke and debate the sustainability of the Covid1-19 elimination strategy given the infectiousness of delta and our creaking tracking, tracing, testing and ICU systems, and whether the lockdown's opportunities for reform will be wasted again.
Max wrote this great piece published in The Guardian on Tuesday: ‘Why we’re happy hobbits in Jacinda’s ‘mysterious socialist hermit kingdom,’ and this piece published in the Dominion Post and Stuff: ‘We put too much faith in big events to usher in real change.’
I wrote these pieces this week here ‘Time to eliminate elimination?’ and here ‘Why elimination will have to end before most voters want it to’ on the elimination strategy, available for all subscribers to The Kākā.
From September 21, the pieces below that were published Monday to Friday will only be for paying subscribers, while these weekend ‘wrap-ups’ will be for free subscribers. I’ll be providing a special inaugural offer for all those on the currently free list. The regular cost will be $19/month or $190/year per subscriber. There will be group and corporate offers too. Watch this space and keep opening the The Kākā emails until Sept 21 to find the coupon to get that offer.
I also had a closer look at this week’s quite hawkish views of the Reserve Bank’s Assistant Governor Christian Hawkesby on Tuesday, along with a deep dive into the super-profits alleged in the electricity generation and retailing industry on Wednesday.
On Monday I reported on MBIE’s decision to stop offering new MIQ slots beyond its emergency quota for a ‘few days’. That suspension remains in place.
Elsewhere, I produced this podcast for The Spinoff on last year’s wage subsidy scandal.
Have a great weekend.
Ka kite ano.
Bernard
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