I predict dismissing hundreds of public servants will put a lot of small businesses out of business in the Wellington and Greater Wellington area Everthing from retailers to trades people and back again.
Why?
Because when people lose their jobs they tighten their household budget and spend less; and because one person’s spending delivers another person’s income , the economy falters into recession and worse.
Sometimes when governments talk about our national debt they give you the impression that running a country is like running a household.
It isn’t.
For example a government can borrow internationally at very low interest rates and then lend it to its citizens at slightly higher but manageable rates for houses and infrastructure development.
A government can create money . A household can’t do that..
(But don’t get me started how money is created out of thin air – especially bythe banks. I’ll leave that for another day.)
Tax cuts don’t actually help the average family because what is given with one hand is taken away with the other eg. like removing free transport for kids and students.Tax cuts really only benefit the wealthy.
Austerity budgets don’t turn economies around. (Just ask former Conservative UK Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne who has admitted it).
What austerity does is cause a lot of unnecessary pain on the promise of short term gain which for the great majority of citizens doesn’t materialise, whilst creating a huge untaxed winfall for the already well off.
Bryan Bruce is one of New Zealand’s most important and respected documentary makers.
I keep telling these arseholes that people need money to buy their stuff – even if it’s shit stuff. But I think by now even economists have reckoned that austerity doesn’t work except under very strict conditions which don’t actually apply today. But when have facts ever stopped conservatives. Ideology rules.
Its incredibly simple.
1. You spend money in order to have someone do stuff.
2. That money is now in someone else’s pocket. They spend it to do stuff.
3. Stuff getting done generally increases the value of society as a whole.
4. More money that is circulating from pocket to pocket means more stuff gets done which means more value gets generated.
This leads to two important conclusions:
1. Keeping money in your pocket keeps it out of circulation, thus slowing the rate of “doing stuff.”
2. Spending your money on stuff that is completely useless does not generate value, but it does not cause value to be lost either, as society still has the same net amount of money.
For an economy, what’s important is not which pocket the money is in, but the rate to which that money moves from pocket to pocket. Properly regulated capitalism leads to the money repeatedly circulating back to the pockets that can get the best stuff done when they spend it.
Yes…all true …but when the wealthy get excess money it more often than not goes on an overseas holiday…
Money gone out of the country for good …out of circulation.
It’s like try to keep up on treadmill set on full throttle.
None of what this government is doing is going to achieve anything like what they think it’s going to …it’s all guess work and reckons.
And they are not very good at either!!
Brooke van Veldon has admitted on Q@A to Jack Tame that she has no proof of anything , only some anecdotes ….
A guy in Levin told me that blah blah blah …or a woman in Stratford said that blah blah blah….
Shane Jones the same today…no evidence on whether seals will be killed when they ‘free up’ the fishing regulations and areas and wasn’t worried if they were.
And now, today, Chris Bishop….also having to admit that he has no evidence to show that changing the tenancy rules to favour landlords will bring the cost of rents down.
According to him … it’s pretty obvious that the more ‘Mums and Dads’ that become landlords the more competitive the market will be.
Conveniently forgetting that the only reason a ‘Mum and Dad landlord’ would stretch themselves to the max to by a rental property is the assumption that the property will increase in value significantly enough to make it worthwhile taking the risk.
Of course, after they have factored in paying an agent when time to sell, the cost of , insurance, rates, interest, maintenance and management fees, i’m sure they will be only to willing to lower the cost of the rent to ‘meet the market’.
If house values keep rising, then the cost of a deposit is higher and servicing the loan will be more expensive .
That is not a recipe for rent decreases!
It’s farcical…pure fantasyland stuff!
And surprise surprise….The only winners out of that in the wash up will be the usual ticket clippers.. The banks, the real estate agents and the lawyers!!
Thank you Bryan, more common sense.
Do the consequences of mass, neoliberal migration and allowing non-citizens to vote en masse next… *crickets chirping*
“What austerity does is cause a lot of unnecessary pain on the promise of short term gain which for the great majority of citizens doesn’t materialise, whilst creating a huge untaxed windfall for the already well off.”
Which is precisely what this government wants – especially ACT and National and to a lesser degree WinstonFirst. I wonder when this government will stop blaming the previous administration for anything and all that is going wrong. Ultimately they made a bunch of promises that were not really sustainable and not in the interests of most of us (owners of multiple properties, etc.). Now they are cutting the public service back so much it will not function well … next thing they will be bitching about the ineffectiveness of state run activities claiming privatisation is TINA (there is no alternative). As pathetic as it is predictable.
Cutting central government funding for public transport during a climate emergency?
Forcing us to sit in traffic jams in polluting private transport, on a clogged up motorway system?
Swapping central government funding into widening motorways to cope with the congestion?
Creating even more pollution, even more private car use?
The lunacy continues,
Risk of cuts to services
Alka Prasad April 10, 2024
‘Public transport fares could increase and some services axed completely if the coalition government cutback on funding for Auckland, the council has been warned….
…..Auckland Transport chief financial officer Mark Laing said if Government funding didn’t support AT projects, the city could see both significant fare increases and services being cut.’
“What concerns us most is our ability to keep buses running on July 1” Laing said.
https://www.pressreader.com/new-zealand/papakura-courier/20240410/281608130462269
An austerity budget would usually be at the behest of bankers and government/national debt would be repaid and mortgage and business interest rates would fall. This governments plan, tax cuts for rich mates will increase property prices make life harder for everyone else, decrease the income tax take and make government national debt worse.
Yes it is the “money go round” effect that keeps things ticking over. Austerity just puts a spanner in the works.
The major capitalists and their stripe of politicians always want to wage war on the poor, drive down wages and monopolise rather than compete. Smaller capitalists–SMEs–just follow along as best they can, and self employed agree with their masters and the banks out of aspiration to one day be a ‘big boy’ themselves.
The obvious mistake the ruling class makes is that if working class and middle class purchasing power is substantially reduced, people living in cars etc. then who the hell is going to buy their consumer goods?
Another consequence of this governments policies…
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/kahu/public-service-cull-its-not-only-new-zealand-police-eyeing-lucrative-jobs-across-the-ditch/SCZ4NDQDYRA45LA3V2T4JNZQBM/
This National government, the worst in our political history, it only took 6 months.
NSC you are a comedian.
True though.
You an idiot.
You’re an idiot.
Bob you are very very immature.
Even Bob the first knob cant protect this hapless minister, of which there are many in National….
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/the-five-most-baffling-moments-from-melissa-lees-post-newshub-announcement-interviews/6R5PFF4UUBG4ZE6UERF4WT5BGY/
i may be stupid ,but I have never been able how having people unemployed and paying them to be so can be good for the economy .Another thing I dont understand is why all governments prop up rents ,wages and businesess by the way of subsidies .
These subsidies are just inflationary and give the false impression that the economy is booming .If the wage an employer pays is not enough to pay the rent and feed and clothe the family then the price of those items need to drop to an affordable level .
Instead we give subsidies so the employer can continue to pay the wage he wants to pay .We now have working for families ,accomodation allowance ,tax credits for families ,ece subsidies and no doubt more I have missed .
If these were taken away one of two things would happen ,Wages would rise dramatacly ,or the price of houses and food would halve to make them affordable .
Government debt is around 30% of income ,GDP where as house hold debt is 146% of gdp so we should be able to see clearly where NZ dept problem really is .
VAery relevant comments…indeed the halving of the price of food and housing is….something this rentier based society will avoid at ….all costs.
Taxcuts to pay for the rates rises to pay for the infrastructure upgrades they’ve cancelled…rinse and repeat.
There are also consequences when you vote and some of the businesses would have voted for this government. I have no sympathy for them they caused there own demise.
“Austerity budgets don’t turn economies around”
Indeed. Spread it wide and far.
As for fractional-reserve banking, most here would be aware of it and likely feel the same way.
#BHN Why the practice of the right, of profits over people, is just evil
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Z2BhFy0kVQ
@margaretpowell5447
4 hours ago
2 billion to landlords and children will go without. This government needs to go. Bloody disgusting.
@gregoryford5230
2 hours ago
Can we cut funding for MP’s catering?
@jackohere1878
2 hours ago
This Govt is made up of too many privileged folk who have no idea of the day to day struggles thousands upon thousands Kiwi families face hence these draconian heartless policies.
Boys from the black stuff,, Yosser, geez a job. Parliament easter come back, minister of Welfare, being asked in the house. Minister, who is the Taupo, slasher, is the 90 days coming back, with a minimum fare living wage, slashers reply a job is a job, will get slashers freind!s to raise wages,, fuck how a lie to the HOUSE.
Union, will their choice of UNION AFFILIATION, effect outside their bus stop qualifications, or is your need, with the best ever qualifications, fucking you off, Trade Union, member.
The enduring problem for AO/NZ is that 50 thousand primary industry people aka farmers grow and farm and generally produce what’s then swindled off them then exported and sold by crooks to earn money by exporting to foreign markets and in so doing eventually feeding 40 million people ( Yep. Look it up.) and that doesn’t include wool exports so it must beg the question. Where the fuck’s the money because farmers see fuck all of it as do the rest of us normal human beings here. Could 14 multi-billionaires, 3118 multi-millionaires and four now foreign owned banks taking $180.00 a second 24/7/365 help with such inquiring albeit rude questions?
Do our shiny politicians have information they could share?
A huge problem for politicians is me, and the facts. The facts ARE the facts. Black is black. White is white. Up is up. Down is down. Left is left. Right is right. Night is night. Day is day. Dead is dead. Farmers farm then get fuck all for what they produce unless hardship and heart attacks is something while 14 multi-billionaires, 3118 multi-millionaires and four now foreign owned banks taking $180.00 a second 24/7/365 get fatter, fitter, faster and clean away with it.
Look into that @ Bryan Bruce. Watch a sheep be shorn then studiously follow the wool to the socks and fashionistas sport wool on the runway with their bony knees and sour faces. Follow the food from the farm to the mouth to the arse hole to the bowel motion. Watch as flesh and plants turn into gold but not for the farmers who do quite literally all the fucking work. AO/NZ’s economy and its cities and towns are a fucking crime scene. Those plump and puffed up Remuera people are how again? I see there’s a house for sale on Remuera Road that’s likely to go for an estimated $22.7M – $33M million. It’s on popular online auction site. It’s like … how? I know why. Because it’s a symbol of corruption and that, to some people, is sexy. It shows off how sly, cunning, ruthless, rich and impressive one could think of one’s self as being. ‘ Greed is good’ right?
Except that greed isn’t good. It’s vile. And if you think being sly, cunning, ruthless, rich and impressive and need to show it then you’re certifiably fucking insane. There are 600,000 people living in hardship and a house in Remuera is likely to go for an estimated $22.7 to $33 million while our primary industry farmers are on the bones of their already bony arses. What the fuck’s going on @ Bryan Bruce!?
Well said CB
Everyone that voted this Coalition in have drank the Koolaid and been conned. After they finish going for the beneficiaries and the sick, they’re coming for YOU. They’re already gunning for your kids.
EH! what skill, Trade, knowing,, farmer brown.
Knowing, what care.
Go you, give you this, casual employ, how that.
SHOOT the Socialists, shoot straight you Bastards.