Weren't they mostly busy having rationing and dying in world wars? Unless you count the expenditure on WWII and its aftermath, and I'm inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt on that one, it's hard to see where they had time to be selfish...

A romantic generalised notion,…

There doesn't seem to be a shortage of funding for (questionably) good ideas. I'm not sure the public purse needs to join in the fun.

Maybe bring back tax relief on R&D, though..

The problem seems to be all to do with tall poppies and little faith in good ideas. Finance is available for business…

Our dairying/forestry/tourism economy might just die in a similar situation. Remember the year that Ruapehu got hardly any snow and the ski operators and lodges almost went under? Imagine it after six years.

That's highly unlikely on a country-wide scale. We're a maritime nation. It's always going to be raining…

Herald defies Ranapia

Ah yes, the same people who made up an imaginary broadcasting standard because taking a few seconds to check the actual code on the BSA website was too much effort. Now, would you like to buy the Auckland Harbour Bridge, Sacha?

Don't you think we've got enough real problems to deal with, without getting into "little boy who cries wolf, again" mode?

Herald defies Ranapia:

This underpins the taskforce's most worthwhile recommendation, that the Government should sell off minority stakes in state-owned enterprises.
...
The Government has, of course, promised no state…

As a person who's going to have to live through the effects of the last 20-30 years, thanks a bunch.

David Thomson of Massey University... Apparently it finds that the thieves are the generation born 1920 – 1940, rather than the baby boomers.

Weren't they mostly busy having rationing and dying in world wars? Unless you count the expenditure on WWII and its aftermath, and I'm inclined to give them…

David Thomson of Massey University... Apparently it finds that the thieves are the generation born 1920 – 1940, rather than the baby boomers.

What an astonishing revelation! Because of course Mr. Thomson wouldn't be a baby-boomer himself! By no means!

How much we borrowed in 2010 is going to be the least of our problems – most of the urbanised nations of the world are going to have big problems making their payments by then.

You should write Xmas cards y'know. Or maybe sympathy cards: "Think you've got it bad?…

"little boy who cries wolf, again"

Easy to forget the-little-boy-who-cried-wolf was right in the end. Not that he got to gloat ;)

Yep plenty of problems...but, you know, Tim Grosser (if I remember correctly) stating on NatRad that it'll be looked at again post election gives that boy nervous bowel movements

and I guess the sometimes talked about state asset sale post next election will be a shot in the arm for books in the short term but will (most?)probably stuff NZ in the longer term.

Richard: Don't you think we've got enough real problems to deal with, without getting into…

Get serious about being a high-value exporter of this century's stuff. Not dairy and jobs and land.

really that's it – we need a system that rewards capital gains from investments that grow the economy rather than ones from capital that sits idle for 30 years. That way our kids…

Too much blowing?

Heh

And perhaps didn't pay enough attention to the track record of those they voted into power and those pulling their strings.

Babyboomer will take a bite from both ends: They will draw down an increasing amount in superannuation. They will eat up an increasing share of a stagnant pie.

Well there is always the option of revisiting these to items in NZS.

• no asset test
• unrelated to past earnings'…