The holiday grad students who have plagued both the stuff news site and the NZ Herald news site for the last 2 months with their social media click bait bullshit are becoming a screaming embarrassment to journalism.
It’s not like the NZ Herald or Fairfax had that much more to fall in terms of their sycophantic love fest with National Party propaganda, but they’ve managed to turn what was at least a basic news service product into a school yard gossip session.
Dow Jones just plunged another 500 points, the Japanese Market lost 700 points and China had another meltdown yesterday. What are Stuff and the Herald leading with? A story about where to catch sex diseases in NZ, a tennis player helping a ball girl, a compliance officer telling someone how to fillet a fish and a kid wearing a garbage bag for a soccer shirt.
I mean – what the fuck?
These are all bigger stories than the Apocalypse of Global Capitalism? Do the holiday grad students staffing the news rooms at the Herald and Fairfax know what Global Capitalism means? What about the word Apocalypse? How about of?
What would it take for the holiday grad students staffing the news rooms to pay attention to the meltdown of global stock markets?
- If Max Key took an Instagram photo of his ex girlfriend with the caption, ‘losing her is like losing a trillion off global currency markets in 10 days’
- If Lorde tweeted, “glad I sold my stocks early. New bf and property portfolio in 2016 for me”
- A woman complains on Facebook about being fat shamed while walking past depressed economists who yell out, “You look larger than my loss on shorting the oil markets’.
- Someone complains on twitter that a pregnant sports presenter look like they’ll crash harder than commodity prices.
- A twitter fight breaks out with calls of transphobia when someone uses gendered language to describe the cross currency rates.
The banality of what social media journalists have done to the quality of news is a reminder why we desperately need a new media vehicle. Great news on that front next week.
@ Martyn Bradbury . You ask:
” What would it take for the holiday grad students staffing the news rooms to pay attention to the meltdown of global stock markets? ”
Hunger. I’d say hunger. Empty supermarkets and non existent farmers markets forced into oblivion by ridiculous local body by-laws drawn up to protect the Supermarket chains.
The time will come when The Urban Elite will be trying to grow spuds in the astro turf on the sun decks of their studio apartments. You know the ones? The ones with the views of Waiheke Island?
Well, do we expect addicts to growth for growth’s sake to simply suddenly accept their unsustainable addiction to it, and rush into rehab? That happens in the rarest of cases, first they rather try carry on and live in denial, and continue with their addiction, until they hit rock bottom.
That seems to be the to be expected behaviour of the average New Zealander, certainly those trying to run businesses, those believing in the market as they know it, and most so the case with the many property owning people, who went on another Christmas spending spree fueled by credit they were willingly given in view of the increased property values they can show on the balance sheet.
This is a more serious development, and the economists are also afraid, they are trying to calm the concerns of investors and the public, even talk up a gain in business confidence for New Zealand, as if this is such an isolated, independent economy, that will not be affected by what goes on internationally.
China has now ultimately reached its growth potential, that is the real growth potential on the present state of affairs in economic terms, the change to a more consumption based and service based economy is easy to announce from a government office, it will only be happening with major disruptions in parts of the economy.
As for the oil price, this is a development similar to some what happened before the Great Depression, where oversupply and overcapacity, combined with financial distortions, lead to a vicious downward cycle on markets, so the bottom is not reached yet. Iran wants to start exporting more oil, as sanctions are being lifted, and Saudi Arabia continues producing as they can offer cheap production and also have bills to pay.
This is a disaster for countries like Russia, but more so for Nigeria and Venezuela, same Lybia and a fair few other petroleum producing nations, including of course Iraq.
They are running into debt and recession and worse, and stop buying Chinese and other made goods, and that again slows the Chinese economy, and Europe and even the US have also become more dependent on trade with China, they will also suffer.
Australia will face a debacle, due to the end of the commodities boom, and New Zealand’s economy depends very much on what goes on in China and Australia. We heard yesterday that dairy prices are continuing to drop, and that farmers will face more harsh times. There will be many hitting the wall this year.
So much for the golden udder miracles and the white gold rush mania of past years, it is over, dear friends, it is over the boom is turning into a bust, also for New Zealand.
Yet of course, nobody really likes to read the writing on the wall, it is not pleasant news, so keep on distracting and drugging, dreaming of some growth, perhaps in higher real estate prices, now reaching the provinces. The withdrawal though will come, while many others have never had much gain from all that supposed growth, usually benefiting the elite.
More stuff to read:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/stocks-markets-loonie-oil-1.3411432
http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/china-gdp-slow-growth-doubts-1.3410223
http://www.afr.com/opinion/columnists/why-chinas-slowing-economy-is-such-a-worry-for-investors-20160119-gm9jdx
“The real problem is that China’s slowdown coincides with the end of the massive stimulus programs that were embraced by the world’s large central banks in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.
China’s response to the financial crisis is also relevant because the huge stimulus program launched in 2008 to support growth is now showing up in severe overcapacity in many industries, which is putting downward pressure on prices, and squeezing corporate profits.”
“A lower yuan would essentially allow China, the world’s largest exporter and one of the largest importers, to “export” its deflationary pressure to the rest of the world. The prices of China’s exported goods will fall, which will squeeze revenue and profit for producers around the world, leaving them little option but to cut costs even further. For multinationals operating in China producing goods such as automobiles and luxury items, it would represent an even steeper drop in the value of their sales and the profitability of their investments.
What’s more, there’s no guarantee that a lower currency would stem the heavy outflow of capital from China, which is being driven by a lack of trust in the capacity of policymakers to tackle China’s problems, as well as the lack of profitable investment opportunities.”
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-35362397
The “experts” try to limit the fallout by expressing calming words:
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/201786240/brian-gaynor-on-world-market-plunges
We face the risk of deflation which is what hit Japan for decades, and this may happen on a global scale, and it is more serious a threat than inflation is, which is rather low here too, except for housing costs and a few other costs.
I am not sure whether that was included in my earlier comment, but here is an opinion from the Australian Financial Review:
“A lower yuan would essentially allow China, the world’s largest exporter and one of the largest importers, to “export” its deflationary pressure to the rest of the world. The prices of China’s exported goods will fall, which will squeeze revenue and profit for producers around the world, leaving them little option but to cut costs even further. For multinationals operating in China producing goods such as automobiles and luxury items, it would represent an even steeper drop in the value of their sales and the profitability of their investments.
What’s more, there’s no guarantee that a lower currency would stem the heavy outflow of capital from China, which is being driven by a lack of trust in the capacity of policymakers to tackle China’s problems, as well as the lack of profitable investment opportunities.”
Read more:
http://www.afr.com/opinion/columnists/why-chinas-slowing-economy-is-such-a-worry-for-investors-20160119-gm9jdx#ixzz3xpCScYHv
DEFLATION, dear friends, that is a serious worry, very serious, for the whole world!
This is the news. From planet Key.
Yep, and while the government has run out of ideas to address the ever increasing emergency situation on the housing front in Auckland, Bennett has now announced bribes for willing state tenants or those on the waiting list for social housing to accept a change and move to the regions further afield:
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/294583/state-tenants-may-get-money-to-move
Last year this desperate announcement:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/74817819/Government-announces-over-500-new-social-housing-properties-for-Auckland
5oo homes over three years, what a joke.
So once the stock exchange goes down, the businesses start making losses, and more people will lose jobs and income, prepare for more to sleep rough in the parks and along a creek in New Lynn in Auckland, the “most liveable city in the world”, as we are made to believe by those totally out of touch at the top, who are fast running out of any answers and solutions.
A lot of people are going to lose their jobs. No, I don’t mean CEOs, investors, and other parasites.
I mean real working class workers. They’re going to do it tough.
Then ignorant arsehole like Gosman, Andy, etc, will blame increasing number of unemplyed for being “dole bludgers”.
Nasty.
Nothing happens without a reason, while “we the peasants “look to our benevolent masters for relief to our financial woes (be assured we will be hit the hardest )our masters and their puppets have engineered this “crisis ” for their control and financial benefits
NZ ‘journalists’ are just doing what they are paid to do: keep silent on all the major issues of the times (or downplay them).
Don’t scare the horses. Or the consumers and house-buyers.
‘Global Stocks Enter Bear Market: One-Fifth Of All Worldwide Stock Market Wealth Is Already Gone’
http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/global-stocks-enter-bear-market-one-fifth-of-all-worldwide-stock-market-wealth-is-already-gone
MSM also seems to miss the fact that the life in the Pacific Ocean is dying of radiation poison: http://humanus.ca/fukushima-global.php?formI407Posted=true
MSM staff and editors have largely had their brains irradiated, there is little left, hence the indifference or lack of concern.
The CORPORATE media dance to their own beat.
Can’t have the serfs questioning their betters.
So keep them in the dark.
Why do you think Kiwi’s don’t have a clue about the real impact of the TPP?
“Ignorance Is Strength” on Planet Key.
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