IMF begs Government for new tax revenue

Former NZ Initiate free market acolyte Nicola Willis is amputating the State for ideological reasons.

The game is simple.

Strip the Government’s capacity to bring in revenue via taxation so that there is no money to redistribute in the first place.

The Austerity agenda of borrowing billions for tax cuts we can’t afford to hollow out public service budgets has led the Treasury to warn the government…

Revealed: Tight Budgets force ‘reductions to public services’ – Treasury

Treasury officials have warned the Government that “significant reforms” or “reductions to public services” will be needed in the not-too-distant future if it sticks to its current, restricted spending track.

The Herald can reveal that even with this relatively tight spending, the Government will not post a surplus under the traditional Obegal measure until 2031, which will mark the longest period of Government deficits since the 1979-1994 deficits (which were measured quite differently).

Treasury officials also warned that the Government had planned so much capital investment – spending on items like schools, hospitals and roads – that it might have to cut spending earmarked for public services so it can fund the significant ongoing maintenance of those investments.

…the level of cuts were so extreme it caused the Reserve Bank Governor to stand down and it its generating the momentum for a possible snap election with NZF deeply nervous about Nicola’s next budget massacre.

It has gotten so bad that the IMF are now opening warning us that we need to desperately raise revenue…

IMF calls for Capital Gains Tax or land tax

1. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has again recommended the Government reform the tax system to restart economic growth and reduce future budget deficits, saying a capital gains tax or land value tax would help incentivise productivity-enhancing investment. (See quotes of the day below)
2. The IMF also warned of the risk of another mortgage-fueled surge in the housing market. It also cautioned against a loosening of Reserve Bank capital rules that would unleash such a surge, as is being investigated by Finance Minister Nicola Willis.

…when the fucking IMF are warning you that we need to urgently raise taxation, you know shit just got real.

It’s like your drug dealer begging you to go to rehab.

I’ve argued the replacement of Orr by a 4 Aussie Big Bank Stooge is a risk but starving the State of revenue so that you don’t have to redistribute it in the first place is an ideological  gamble  that risks damaging the entire society.

I don’t think people understand how dangerous this all is to our wider economy, purposely starving the State of revenue to degrade public services until voters scream for privatisation risks causing generational damage.

 

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