Political analysis and commentary shaping the progressive debate in Aotearoa New Zealand, focused on power, policy, and accountability.
Neo-liberalism is designed upon three main planks – a free market unencumbered by state interference, an assumption of individual rather than collective values and the existence of a free marketplace in which we all operate.
It is inevitable as a country that we needed to rapidly move to level three and four in our response to be able to suffocate the spread of the virus.
When share markets crash, it becomes clear that shares are only ever a potential claim on resources. They have to be converted into money before they can command the basics of survival. When the music stops, few want to buy any more. Today’s share market crash reflects not just the bursting of a speculative bubble but also a loss of faith in the viability of the underlying businesses associated with tourism and travel.
Tragic News that coronavirus has reached Gaza.
One of the curious concepts in a crisis is the way in which the ‘old rules’ don’t so much not apply, as seem actively turned upon their head.
I must say, I’m a little surprised at Simon Bridges’ response to the Government’s Covid-19 package.
THE COALITION GOVERNMENT’S greatest political challenge over the next 6-12 months will be keeping up morale. If it can’t hold us together, then it will be swept from office by a tsunami of fear, anger and recrimination.
We are not an inherently benign species. For good, or ill, we are easily led. That’s why the character of a nation’s leadership matters. That’s why it matters more than anything.
At school we studied the so-called great plague of 1665. While the understanding of how it was transmitted was not…
The government’s announcements today are a useful start to combatting the impending crisis. There is an international economic recession unfolding that will cause many businesses to cut spending and slash jobs.