Public Address | Cafe | OnPoint: Budget 2011: A Credible Path to a Point in Time https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/ en-us Copyright (c) 2026 Public Address Matthew Poole https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=214010#post214010 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=214010#post214010 The ridiculous comment refers to the allocation of 95% of ADSL2+ bandwidth to download, not to the speed itself. If it were 15Mbit/s down and 5Mbit/s up or even symmetric it’d be a more useful service.

Except that that's not how the technology works. If you want symmetric, you need…

]]> Mon, 23 May 2011 10:45:11 +1200 Matthew Poole https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=214009#post214009 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=214009#post214009 There’s also plenty of room before the election for Labour to empahsise their difference from National by reflecting Auckland voters’ preferences in transport policy

They could flick Pull'ya Benefit to the kerb in Waitakere by promoting the CBD Rail Link as cutting 10 minutes off the rail trip into the…

]]> Mon, 23 May 2011 10:32:20 +1200 Sacha https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=214002#post214002 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=214002#post214002 Auckland voters' preferences in transport policy (link to Auckland Council's Plan at bottom of post). ]]> Mon, 23 May 2011 09:31:02 +1200 Sacha https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=214001#post214001 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=214001#post214001 Budget coverage (though he doesn not note that some of the linked NBR articles require a subscription). ]]> Mon, 23 May 2011 09:20:59 +1200 Sacha https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=214000#post214000 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=214000#post214000 I'm heartened by Labour's response (link to Goff's full speech at bottom of post; read comments at own risk):

– Increase research and development.

– Pay for that by restoring 2013 as the start date for the agriculture sector paying some of its ETS costs rather than all taxpayers doing…

]]> Mon, 23 May 2011 09:16:51 +1200 Kumara Republic https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213988#post213988 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213988#post213988 drop its pants and sing Yankee Doodle Dandee – it all seems to… ]]> Sun, 22 May 2011 20:29:36 +1200 DexterX https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213986#post213986 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213986#post213986 The problem is essentially that in NZ, we, as a whole take a lot more out of the economy more out of the economy than it is prepared to put into it and we vote for governments that provide for us on that basis.

A budget based on optimistic forecasts…

]]> Sun, 22 May 2011 19:41:56 +1200 Kyle Matthews https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213981#post213981 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213981#post213981 Apparently there is enough in the public kitty for a tax break just for rugby organisations and professional players

What the hell? Are they going to offer tax breaks to other organisations who organise sports tournaments? I've got about 150 ice hockey players from 6 countries coming to Dunedin this…

]]> Sun, 22 May 2011 18:30:06 +1200 Sofie Bribiesca https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213978#post213978 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213978#post213978 the Budget has failed to amuse and entertain the Press Gallery

maybe the drugs are wearing off?

The drugs just don't work at all anymore!

]]> Sun, 22 May 2011 17:45:50 +1200 nzlemming https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213968#post213968 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213968#post213968 So why dont those people who shit themselves at the thought of liberalizing society, just F** off and take a good hard look at ..well… themselves

To follow Goldacre's reasoning, they can't by their nature.

]]> Sun, 22 May 2011 16:15:27 +1200 Hilary Stace https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213964#post213964 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213964#post213964 Sun, 22 May 2011 14:05:01 +1200 andin https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213963#post213963 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213963#post213963 Sez Ben Goldacre.... "Political stances, for example, correlate with various personality features. One major review in 2003 looked at 38 different studies, containing data on 20,000 participants, and found that overall, political conservatism was associated with things such as death anxiety, fear of threat and loss, intolerance… ]]> Sun, 22 May 2011 13:40:03 +1200 nzlemming https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213961#post213961 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213961#post213961 Are there more people working at TradeMe than used to work at all the record stores and bookshops that have closed?

No, but there are many people using TradeMe to make a living (or part of one) that had no access to e-commerce before. They're operating as dealers where they…

]]> Sun, 22 May 2011 11:36:07 +1200 Steve Barnes https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213948#post213948 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213948#post213948 Separately, the Crown has agreed to reimburse the union for withholding tax incurred on payments made in relation to the tournament.
This is the really interesting bit.
RWT, Residents Withholding Tax, is a tax that is deducted at source from “contractors”, the self employed small sub contractors. As I read…

]]> Sat, 21 May 2011 22:37:58 +1200 Kumara Republic https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213946#post213946 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213946#post213946 Sat, 21 May 2011 21:45:03 +1200 Hilary Stace https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213945#post213945 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213945#post213945 Four hours later, the Prime Minister was across town strutting his stuff in front of an 800-strong top-drawer audience hosted by the influential Transtasman Business Circle. These power-brokers – who flew in from around New Zealand – are the ones who Key needs to ensure remain confident in the country’s… ]]> Sat, 21 May 2011 20:59:43 +1200 bmk https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213936#post213936 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213936#post213936 Sat, 21 May 2011 16:26:07 +1200 Rich of Observationz https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213930#post213930 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213930#post213930 the jump from dial-up to basic broadband didn’t enable any new services or businesses to develop?

Undoubtedly. Whether they were economically positive is another question. Are there more people working at TradeMe than used to work at all the record stores and bookshops that have closed?

]]> Sat, 21 May 2011 15:11:52 +1200 Sacha https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213929#post213929 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213929#post213929 the Budget has failed to amuse and entertain the Press Gallery

maybe the drugs are wearing off?

]]> Sat, 21 May 2011 15:08:55 +1200 Craig Ranapia https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213928#post213928 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213928#post213928 But John Armstrong is disillusioned (notable reversal in tone).

National’s softening-up exercise was so unsubtle, voters felt they were being manipulated. They did not like being taken for a ride. They did not like being treated like fools.

I'm almost tempted to start a Fake New Zealand Herald Stylebook on…

]]> Sat, 21 May 2011 14:59:31 +1200 Andrew R2 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213913#post213913 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213913#post213913 Sat, 21 May 2011 12:36:28 +1200 Sacha https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213912#post213912 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213912#post213912 From behind the comfort blanket of his razor wired McMansion.

I don't get that impression, actually. Just misguided about what's been going on around him.

]]> Sat, 21 May 2011 12:21:40 +1200 Kumara Republic https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213910#post213910 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213910#post213910 And to complete the trifecta of Herald opining, duffer John Roughan rewrites history.

From behind the comfort blanket of his razor wired McMansion.

Bernard Hickey:“The question is, why is the Government giving tax breaks to professional rugby players and their administrators when mums and dads have just seen one of…

]]> Sat, 21 May 2011 12:15:31 +1200 Sacha https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213909#post213909 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213909#post213909 Don't you love Budget surprises. Apparently there is enough in the public kitty for a tax break just for rugby organisations and professional players (and that's on top of underwriting the NZRU's losses and funding much of the tournament's expenses).

Finance Minister Bill English confirmed the Crown would reimburse income tax…

]]> Sat, 21 May 2011 11:36:34 +1200 Sacha https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213908#post213908 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213908#post213908 And to complete the trifecta of Herald opining, duffer John Roughan rewrites history.

It's 20 years now since the "Mother of all Budgets".
...

Most who do remember probably recall only that it slashed social welfare, which is half true. It sliced basic benefit rates by up to a quarter and…

]]> Sat, 21 May 2011 11:21:49 +1200 Sacha https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213906#post213906 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213906#post213906 But John Armstrong is disillusioned (notable reversal in tone).

National's softening-up exercise was so unsubtle, voters felt they were being manipulated. They did not like being taken for a ride. They did not like being treated like fools.

...

In short, voters are not stupid. The changes to KiwiSaver will make…

]]> Sat, 21 May 2011 11:04:48 +1200 Sacha https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213904#post213904 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213904#post213904 Fran O'Sullivan on why relying on rosy forecasts might nonetheless play well for National.

Key emphasises the tax cuts are here to stay and delineates National's policies from Labour's by arguing "we're into the politics of aspiration – my opponents are into the politics of envy".

However..
Labour's strategists know they…

]]> Sat, 21 May 2011 10:40:08 +1200 Greville Whittle https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213901#post213901 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213901#post213901 Latest skype theoretically does multi-person video (but not on my Mac). There are other apps coming along. But audio and screen-sharing/web-casting/collaboration is actually more cost-effective and useful than multi-person video in my experience.

If you are on a Mac you can use iChat for multi person video. It uses the…

]]> Sat, 21 May 2011 10:19:03 +1200 bmk https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213887#post213887 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213887#post213887 You are right in that big companies definitely won't do that. But I think many small, medium sized ones will (which make up the majority of NZ businesses) and having found out that this is, in fact, legal the practice will I imagine be quite widespread.

If I were an…

]]> Fri, 20 May 2011 21:25:42 +1200 Kyle Matthews https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213884#post213884 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213884#post213884 So you’re advocating spending $1B at a time when the government is in the biggest financial hole it’s ever been in because you’re sure that something will be developed eventually. Why not wait until it has been developed? Or at least thought of? And again, why is this speed increase… ]]> Fri, 20 May 2011 21:06:49 +1200 Kyle Matthews https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213883#post213883 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213883#post213883 Except I know of two workplaces where staff not in Kiwisaver were given pay rises while those who were weren’t because their employer told them they had got their pay rise through Kiwi Saver. This may not be legal but I think will become increasingly common. So my advice would… ]]> Fri, 20 May 2011 21:03:15 +1200 nzlemming https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213880#post213880 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213880#post213880 Fri, 20 May 2011 20:14:30 +1200 Sacha https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213879#post213879 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213879#post213879 No, but other places have fibre and that new technology hasn't been invented yet.

Urban Wi-fi and fibre backbones are driving availability of location-based mobile services including social AR and payments integration. That's just one example – and mostly it's about new business opportunities or connections rather than 'technology' per…

]]> Fri, 20 May 2011 20:13:00 +1200 Sacha https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213877#post213877 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213877#post213877 The last generational speed increase didn't produce any unforeseen technology

Are you seriously claiming that the jump from dial-up to basic broadband didn't enable any new services or businesses to develop?

]]> Fri, 20 May 2011 20:08:41 +1200 Sacha https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213875#post213875 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213875#post213875 We don't need HD video-conferencing – Skype or gTalk is really sufficient, though not wonderful

Not much use for more than two people. I'm talking group conferencing for project teams, that sort of thing. Hi-res gives you the ability to read facial expressions around the 'table'.

]]> Fri, 20 May 2011 20:06:34 +1200 bmk https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213871#post213871 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213871#post213871 Fri, 20 May 2011 19:53:46 +1200 nzlemming https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213870#post213870 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213870#post213870 why haven’t we been shown the economic impacts from those countries?

Those would be the places doing so much better than we are with information-based industries? Like Silicon Valley, for example? I can remember chatting on Usenet with someone in SF 15 years ago about him having a T-1 line…

]]> Fri, 20 May 2011 19:51:38 +1200 SteveH https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213869#post213869 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213869#post213869 So you are completely confident that some new technology won’t emerge that will require fibre? In the same way that fax machines and the internet couldn’t even be conceived when laying the copper network.

No, but other places have fibre and that new technology hasn't been invented yet. And you're…

]]> Fri, 20 May 2011 19:46:52 +1200 SteveH https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213868#post213868 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213868#post213868 Much of the country can only dream of being able to connect at your ‘ridiculous’ 1Mbit. That’s the issue the broadband rollout is supposed to address.
The ridiculous comment refers to the allocation of 95% of ADSL2+ bandwidth to download, not to the speed itself. If it were 15Mbit/s down…

]]> Fri, 20 May 2011 19:36:10 +1200 bmk https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213866#post213866 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213866#post213866 Fri, 20 May 2011 19:21:59 +1200 nzlemming https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213865#post213865 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213865#post213865 All of my video-conferencing is domestic, bar a monthly to London. Enhanced capacity for telecommuting would be a huge boon to reducing emissions, as well as reducing personal costs for travel and business overheads of deskspace etc.

We don't need HD video-conferencing – Skype or gTalk is really sufficient, though…

]]> Fri, 20 May 2011 19:16:57 +1200 Sacha https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213864#post213864 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213864#post213864 Fibre is an incremental improvement, not an entirely new thing.

There are threshold effects where it behaves like a new thing. Ever try Youtube over dial-up?

]]> Fri, 20 May 2011 19:13:18 +1200 James Butler https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213862#post213862 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213862#post213862 Fri, 20 May 2011 19:09:07 +1200 nzlemming https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213861#post213861 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213861#post213861 For the Greens, Gareth Hughes seems to understand the matter but suffers from the party’s overall comms/engagement weakness (which media attitudes play a large part in, admittedly).

Gareth definitely gets it. Even Sue Kedgely gets it. I think the Greens are getting better at comms, but there's still a few…

]]> Fri, 20 May 2011 19:01:14 +1200 SteveH https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213859#post213859 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213859#post213859 This is a common problem with future technology. Standard cost-benefit analyses don’t work as for example when the copper phone network was put in New Zealand fax machines, dial-up internet, broadband didn’t even exist. And so these huge benefits wouldn’t have shown up in a cost-benefit analysis.
This is true,…

]]> Fri, 20 May 2011 18:53:33 +1200 nzlemming https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213845#post213845 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213845#post213845 Or the govt’s next great transport priority: a motorway from Cambridge to Taupo. No I am not joking.

I know you're not. I only wish you were.

]]> Fri, 20 May 2011 18:23:29 +1200 Sacha https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213844#post213844 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213844#post213844 Much of the country can only dream of being able to connect at your ‘ridiculous’ 1Mbit.

Services like the aforementioned hi-res videoconferencing require fast uploading as well as downloading. It's a measure of how crap our networks have been that most people keep thinking in terms of passively pulling data…

]]> Fri, 20 May 2011 18:20:57 +1200 Robert Urquhart https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213842#post213842 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213842#post213842 If there is a revolutionary application that requires massive bandwidth then why hasn’t it appeared already in the places which have massive bandwidth?

I realise you’re talking more about indirect benefits, which are harder to point to. But FTTH is already available in many countries, so why haven’t we been…

]]> Fri, 20 May 2011 17:56:33 +1200 Kumara Republic https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213837#post213837 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213837#post213837 And yes, having more than one pipe to the world would help.

PacFi have the right idea by circumventing the whole UFB mess – and they have Silicon Valley backing too.

]]> Fri, 20 May 2011 17:45:44 +1200 Kumara Republic https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213835#post213835 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213835#post213835 Policy capture. Federated Farmers, the Road Transport Forum, and the small number of people that those in the National Party come from and associate with (East Coast Bays types).*

I wonder if the romantic myth of the 'rugged individual' comes to mind? It still appeals to some, despite it having…

]]> Fri, 20 May 2011 17:39:17 +1200 Russell Brown https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213834#post213834 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213834#post213834 This is a common problem with future technology. Standard cost-benefit analyses don’t work as for example when the copper phone network was put in New Zealand fax machines, dial-up internet, broadband didn’t even exist. And so these huge benefits wouldn’t have shown up in a cost-benefit analysis.

Hells yes.

This…

]]> Fri, 20 May 2011 17:38:54 +1200 Gareth Ward https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213833#post213833 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213833#post213833 This may not be legal

It wasn't. Until National explicitly made it so (2009 I think?).
That is exactly why the "employer/employee" split is crap – it's all employee so long as it's voluntary and they can consider "their" contribution to be your payrise.

]]> Fri, 20 May 2011 17:28:32 +1200 bmk https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213832#post213832 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213832#post213832 Fri, 20 May 2011 17:22:52 +1200 bmk https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213830#post213830 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213830#post213830 All those people who sign up for kiwisaver are having the employer kick in. Those that aren’t get no kiwisaver benefit from their employer, but are going to get less pay rise as those employers spread the kiwisaver costs over their whole workforce.

The lesson: sign up to kiwisaver if…

]]> Fri, 20 May 2011 17:12:53 +1200 SteveH https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213825#post213825 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213825#post213825 "The person who invents a thing, is not necessarily the same person who discovers it’s use."

The internet (and services built on it), especially enabled by broadband, has proven to be one of those things in spades.
I see this sort argument a lot. "We don't know what use faster…

]]> Fri, 20 May 2011 16:45:45 +1200 George Darroch https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213823#post213823 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213823#post213823 Look at the infamous quote from a 60s-era CEO of IBM, who said that he didn’t think there’d be a need for more than maybe five or six computers in the whole world.

He was right.

]]> Fri, 20 May 2011 16:36:54 +1200 Sacha https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213821#post213821 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213821#post213821 Is high-resolution video conferencing really going to bring money into the economy?

More like the lack of it will keep money away – and thwart other forms of success like better connected communities and extended families, reduced social isolation, stronger civic participation, etc.

It's just one service example (and as…

]]> Fri, 20 May 2011 16:27:38 +1200 Matthew Poole https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213818#post213818 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213818#post213818 Much as I’d like faster Internet access, I’m still not sure there has been an economic case made for it

And if you go back a decade, for many businesses you could remove "faster" from that sentence and you'd be repeating statements/questions of the era.
Many world-changing technologies have no…

]]> Fri, 20 May 2011 16:20:17 +1200 Robert Urquhart https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213815#post213815 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213815#post213815 I saw a quote somewhere – maybe it was in a cartoon – a little while ago.
The person who invents a thing, is not necessarily the same person who discovers it's use.
Or something like that.
The internet (and services built on it), especially enabled by broadband, has proven…

]]> Fri, 20 May 2011 16:11:51 +1200 SteveH https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213811#post213811 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213811#post213811 It simply won’t be an optional part of any modern economy. High-resolution videoconferencing and suchlike will be a standard part of working with other countries and with one another, across all parts of our economy and society.
Much as I'd like faster Internet access, I'm still not sure there has…

]]> Fri, 20 May 2011 15:43:04 +1200 Sacha https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213807#post213807 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213807#post213807 If Steven Joyce absolutely insists on building unnecessary motorways then why doesn't he hand them over to the private sector to build them as toll roads?

Oh he will. That's on top of the public's $11b investment which, like his broadband boondoggle, will underwrite any private sector risk.

]]> Fri, 20 May 2011 15:20:01 +1200 Sacha https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213803#post213803 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213803#post213803 Similarly, morally conservative viewpoints are not generally celebrated, despite being held by a wide section of society

Good point – I'm recalling the handwringing surpise from the left when Bradford's anti-beating bill aroused such heavy dislike from many other New Zealanders (regardless of the politicking around it). Also people's tendency…

]]> Fri, 20 May 2011 15:12:59 +1200 George Darroch https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213802#post213802 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213802#post213802 My point is that New Zealand's boom was fuelled not only by speculative investment from abroad (as Alistair noted upthread or elsewhere), but the Yen carry trade and inflationary bank lending. It couldn't last, but both Labour and National were happy to see it continue.

I'm not as harsh on…

]]> Fri, 20 May 2011 15:09:15 +1200 Sacha https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213801#post213801 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213801#post213801 I'm constantly gobsmacked that a bigger deal isn't made of this. How can the government be selling off strategic infrastructure in energy at the same time as taking full ownership of luxury-length roading

For some reason the opposition parties have largely grasped this more slowly than smart folks like yourself.…

]]> Fri, 20 May 2011 15:07:56 +1200 George Darroch https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213800#post213800 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213800#post213800 Interestingly, among advanced economies*, only the PIIGS, Norway and the UK had higher growth rates 1990 – 2007 (pretty chart and graph). Nothing was sustainable.

We know what happened to Ireland et al. The UK had a boom in the city that is now slowly exhausting (and wreaking much pain…

]]> Fri, 20 May 2011 15:06:06 +1200 George Darroch https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213798#post213798 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213798#post213798


On transport, it is so weird that Joyce’s roads of national stupidity aren’t being used to ridicule the govt at every opportunity.

Every time the govt says it’s being prudent, where is the ridicule of the holiday highway or transmission gully: both of which have business cases that amount to…

]]> Fri, 20 May 2011 14:50:46 +1200 Kyle Matthews https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213786#post213786 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213786#post213786 Don't forget, this is the argument National ran against Kiwisaver when it first began, that employer contributions ultimately came out of employee's pockets.

I view it really as private benefit and socialised costs.

All those people who sign up for kiwisaver are having the employer kick in. Those that aren't…

]]> Fri, 20 May 2011 13:43:47 +1200 Joshua Arbury https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213777#post213777 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213777#post213777 On transport, it is so weird that Joyce's roads of national stupidity aren't being used to ridicule the govt at every opportunity.

Every time the govt says it's being prudent, where is the ridicule of the holiday highway or transmission gully: both of which have business cases that amount to…

]]> Fri, 20 May 2011 13:03:01 +1200 Rich of Observationz https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213773#post213773 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213773#post213773 National credit ratings are smoke and mirrors. It's very unlikely that a developed state run according to the capitalist-social-democratic model would ever actually default.

For a nation to repudiate debt, it would need to abandon that model in some sort of economic revolution. That's *more* likely to happen (or likely…

]]> Fri, 20 May 2011 12:42:29 +1200 David Haywood https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213764#post213764 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213764#post213764 The more obvious target is the loony ‘roads of National party significance’ motorway building programme. It’s an $11,000,000,000 taxpayer investment in last century’s networks that totally ignores even the current price of oil, let alone its future...

Putting on my energy engineer's hat, I'm constantly gobsmacked that a bigger deal…

]]> Fri, 20 May 2011 11:52:19 +1200 Steve Barnes https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213756#post213756 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213756#post213756 In another badly designed poll in te Herald "Has the Budget changed how you'll vote in November's election?" 31% say the budget has changed who they vote for.
Either there are heaps of Labour and Green voters who are so impressed with the fairy tale dreams of this budget or…

]]> Fri, 20 May 2011 11:24:41 +1200 Gareth Ward https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213751#post213751 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213751#post213751 Fri, 20 May 2011 10:11:48 +1200 BenWilson https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213750#post213750 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213750#post213750 Don't worry! Treasury confidently predict 4.0% annual wage growth for six years! Which, as far as I can tell, has not happened in New Zealand in at least the last hundred years!

I can distinctly remember Mike Moore, when he was the Prime Minister, basing his projections for NZ on…

]]> Fri, 20 May 2011 10:04:32 +1200 Sacha https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213748#post213748 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213748#post213748 but that hasn't stopped them cutting WFF or looking at asset sales.

The more obvious target is the loony 'roads of National party significance' motorway building programme. It's an $11,000,000,000 taxpayer investment in last century's networks that totally ignores even the current price of oil, let alone its future, and…

]]> Fri, 20 May 2011 09:36:34 +1200 uroskin https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213747#post213747 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213747#post213747 there must be a really huge benefit NZ will get from the ultrafast broadband, right?
My porn downloads will finally stop buffering.

]]> Fri, 20 May 2011 09:34:37 +1200 Sacha https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213746#post213746 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213746#post213746 there must be a really huge benefit NZ will get from the ultrafast broadband, right?

That one is the equivalent of deciding whether or not to build roads or a telephone network when you don't have one.

It simply won't be an optional part of any modern economy. High-resolution videoconferencing…

]]> Fri, 20 May 2011 09:33:14 +1200 Bart Janssen https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213745#post213745 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213745#post213745 4% wage rise (predicted)
Inflation 5% (real)

net earnings -1%

And that assumes the 4% is real. The result of that is lower spending and reduced tax take. I can't see how the numbers add up and my belief is they don't. National, if they are allowed back into power,…

]]> Fri, 20 May 2011 09:30:34 +1200 Lilith __ https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213743#post213743 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213743#post213743 will be spending money on, that one billion dollars for ultrafast broadband kind of leaps off the page. I know they promised, etc., but that hasn't stopped them… ]]> Fri, 20 May 2011 09:19:14 +1200 Kumara Republic https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213741#post213741 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213741#post213741 This is where you invest in a good pair of sensible shoes and start walking. :)

That, or just jump on a superbike (John Britten), a jetpack (Glenn Martin) or a Segway (Rod Drury, Sam Morgan, Richard Taylor, Selwyn Pellett). ;)

]]> Fri, 20 May 2011 02:34:35 +1200 Craig Ranapia https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213739#post213739 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213739#post213739 Fri, 20 May 2011 02:21:44 +1200 Kumara Republic https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213738#post213738 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213738#post213738 But I must admit to being somewhat amused at the way the road to Damascus has turned into an eight lane highway – blithe Keynesians have become rabid deficit hawks, and passed plenty of traffic going the other way.

Drawing on another automotive analogy, one camp wants to cut costs…

]]> Fri, 20 May 2011 02:06:52 +1200 Sacha https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213736#post213736 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213736#post213736 Is this same spending cap being applied to MP's (in comparison, extremely generous) superannuation funding ?

That would require principled leadership by folk with integrity. So, no.

And apparently Treasury have increased their departmental budget again while helping slash others.

]]> Thu, 19 May 2011 23:42:30 +1200 Mikaere Curtis https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213731#post213731 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213731#post213731

And at the same time, they're squashing public service salaries by requiring departments to fund superannuation out of their budgets with no increase.

Is this same spending cap being applied to MP's (in comparison, extremely generous) superannuation funding ?

]]> Thu, 19 May 2011 23:20:28 +1200 Sacha https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213727#post213727 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213727#post213727 So where are these wage rises meant to come from? Who is meant to get them?

Magic bean farmers?

]]> Thu, 19 May 2011 23:01:02 +1200 Sacha https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213726#post213726 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213726#post213726 A good rule of thumb is that if Pagani thinks you're on the right track, you should go out behind the barn and shoot yourself in the head.

That was my fear, yes..

]]> Thu, 19 May 2011 22:59:11 +1200 Idiot Savant https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213723#post213723 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213723#post213723 Don't worry! Treasury confidently predict 4.0% annual wage growth for six years! Which, as far as I can tell, has not happened in New Zealand in at least the last hundred years!

And at the same time, they're squashing public service salaries by requiring departments to fund superannuation out of…

]]> Thu, 19 May 2011 22:49:43 +1200 Craig Ranapia https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213721#post213721 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213721#post213721 That’s rather than removing the recent personal tax cuts from the wealthiest, or reversing massive ETS subsidies to farmers and truckies. All choices, no matter what English, Joyce and Key might want voters to believe.

Of course, anyone who says there is no alternatives is just lying 99.9% of the…

]]> Thu, 19 May 2011 22:46:19 +1200 Steve Barnes https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213718#post213718 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213718#post213718 Which may give rise to some interesting choices for our former currency trading PM in the relatively near future if it turns out that the above theory has any merit :)

The size of the New Zealand economy is small enough for an astute trader to "slip through" meaningful deals…

]]> Thu, 19 May 2011 22:34:04 +1200 Sacha https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213717#post213717 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213717#post213717 Really unambitious

Pagani agrees (though I'm not convinced that's a good thing).

There is nothing to grow us out of trouble.

Take out the quick 1.5 per cent stimulus to growth from the Christchurch rebuild, and a one-off 0.3 per cent pulse from the Rugby World Cup, and the underlying…

]]> Thu, 19 May 2011 22:28:48 +1200 Rob Stowell https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213716#post213716 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213716#post213716 The important thing is that the ratings agencies are buying them and the foreigners are buying our sovereign debt at record low yields

The cynic in me says that the rating agencies determining sovereign debt are as switched on as their colleagues who “rated” all those mortgages in the US.…

]]> Thu, 19 May 2011 22:28:03 +1200 Sacha https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213710#post213710 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213710#post213710 if the heroic forecasts turn out to be wrong ... then the cuts ought to be a lot deeper

Some might say that's the plan

]]> Thu, 19 May 2011 22:12:05 +1200 Terry Baucher https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213706#post213706 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213706#post213706 The important thing is that the ratings agencies are buying them and the foreigners are buying our sovereign debt at record low yields

The cynic in me says that the rating agencies determining sovereign debt are as switched on as their colleagues who "rated" all those mortgages in the US.…

]]> Thu, 19 May 2011 21:59:34 +1200 Alastair Thompson https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213705#post213705 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213705#post213705 Hadn't thought of that. But it is good that we seem to be having no difficulty borrowing money at nice cheap rates while we struggle to work out whats wrong with the economy.

My view (influenced greatly by Geoff Bertram's recent work) is that the problem is that we have…

]]> Thu, 19 May 2011 21:54:58 +1200 Joshua Arbury https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213704#post213704 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213704#post213704 One thing that's particularly interesting to look through is the estimations of taxation income over the next few years. Page 2 of this gives a good run down of this: http://www.treasury.govt.nz/budget/2011/estimates/est11sumtab.pdf

In 2007/2008 taxation income was $61b, but this declined to a low of $55b by 2009/2010, recovering to $58b…

]]> Thu, 19 May 2011 21:46:28 +1200 Steve Barnes https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213702#post213702 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213702#post213702 The important thing is that the ratings agencies are buying them and the foreigners are buying our sovereign debt at record low yields. So much so that we have borrowed roughly $7 billion this year that we arguably don’t need yet.

So, I suppose that means having a currency trader…

]]> Thu, 19 May 2011 21:36:38 +1200 Steve Barnes https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213701#post213701 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213701#post213701 Interestingly by defailt I.E.9 is not yet flash supported –

HTML5 kinda makes Flash redundant, if your browser supports HTML5 then you will only use flash for sites that have not updated their content to be compatible with the new standard. As far as I know, not being a user…

]]> Thu, 19 May 2011 21:32:23 +1200 Alastair Thompson https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213699#post213699 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213699#post213699 Regarding the heroic forecasts. The important thing is that the ratings agencies are buying them and the foreigners are buying our sovereign debt at record low yields. So much so that we have borrowed roughly $7 billion this year that we arguably don't need yet.

Its also worth considering that…

]]> Thu, 19 May 2011 21:23:37 +1200 Alastair Thompson https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213695#post213695 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213695#post213695 Radioactive Donut in Friggin’ Space,

I just installed I.E.9 and so it works in all my browsers. Firefox, Chrome, Safari and IE 9. Just stuck up a link on our Front Page....

Interestingly by defailt I.E.9 is not yet flash supported – you have to install some kind of beta…

]]> Thu, 19 May 2011 21:19:18 +1200 BlairMacca https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213690#post213690 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213690#post213690 Neoliberal magic beans ftw
"Homer, tell your child what you bought when I sent you to town to get some insurance.
Homer: Curse you, magic beans!"
Its not far from the truth here is it?

]]> Thu, 19 May 2011 21:09:04 +1200 Steve Barnes https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213688#post213688 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213688#post213688 Because inflation is going to go mental, as a result of GST plus the wallop of Christchurch spending.

As I Said Earlier That 4% wage rise is not adjusted for inflation, it's the reason for it and this lot are relying on that fact to introduce real cuts…

]]> Thu, 19 May 2011 21:02:34 +1200 Sacha https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213685#post213685 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213685#post213685 Treasury's heroic predictions

Te Standard has insight (humour)

]]> Thu, 19 May 2011 20:58:29 +1200 George Darroch https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213682#post213682 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213682#post213682 Bit of rugby in the meantime.

The one thing I don't blame the voters for.

]]> Thu, 19 May 2011 20:54:14 +1200 George Darroch https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213680#post213680 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213680#post213680 No no no. It is nominal – but inflation stays really low. For some reason. Also unemployment plunges for some reason. And productivity grows steadily, somehow.

The pull of gravity also weakens as celestial beings enter your body.

]]> Thu, 19 May 2011 20:52:01 +1200 Sacha https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213679#post213679 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213679#post213679 sounds like a rather poor show

Really unambitious, even on their own terms. And will come unstuck very quickly when Treasury's heroic predictions turn out to be as accurate as all their previous ones. Still, never mind, that won't be until after the election, eh. Bit of rugby in the…

]]> Thu, 19 May 2011 20:47:48 +1200 Keith Ng https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213677#post213677 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213677#post213677 http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/budget-2011/budget-multimedia) runs on IE7 & 8 as well, because it uses a library that converts SVG to VML. ]]> Thu, 19 May 2011 20:44:16 +1200 Steve Barnes https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213676#post213676 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213676#post213676 @ Sacha
Ahem – been over here for a lil while.
Oh, I see now. Still, did you like the song?

]]> Thu, 19 May 2011 20:40:32 +1200 Russell Brown https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213675#post213675 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213675#post213675 That’s rather than removing the recent personal tax cuts from the wealthiest, or reversing massive ETS subsidies to farmers and truckies. All choices, no matter what English, Joyce and Key might want voters to believe.

When you put it that way, it sounds like a rather poor show.

]]> Thu, 19 May 2011 20:39:42 +1200 Sacha https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213674#post213674 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213674#post213674 For some reason

Neoliberal magic beans ftw

]]> Thu, 19 May 2011 20:30:58 +1200 Paul Campbell https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213673#post213673 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213673#post213673 Thu, 19 May 2011 20:29:35 +1200 Danyl Mclauchlan https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213671#post213671 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213671#post213671 I should probably look this up, but is that a nominal figure? Because inflation is going to go mental, as a result of GST plus the wallop of Christchurch spending.

No no no. It is nominal – but inflation stays really low. For some reason. Also unemployment plunges for some…

]]> Thu, 19 May 2011 20:28:42 +1200 Alastair Thompson https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213666#post213666 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213666#post213666 Hi Keith,

Love the visualisation... is a fantastic research tool too. Is it flash or HTML5?

al

]]> Thu, 19 May 2011 20:09:58 +1200 Keith Ng https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213665#post213665 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213665#post213665

Don't worry! Treasury confidently predict 4.0% annual wage growth for six years! Which, as far as I can tell, has not happened in New Zealand in at least the last hundred years!

I should probably look this up, but is that a nominal figure? Because inflation is going to go…

]]> Thu, 19 May 2011 20:02:08 +1200 Che Tibby https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213664#post213664 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213664#post213664 That's rather than removing the recent personal tax cuts from the wealthiest, or reversing massive ETS subsidies to farmers and truckies.

it is kind of like an additional 1% tax on anyone who wants to save for their retirement. that's mean higher earners will be paying more than low earners.…

]]> Thu, 19 May 2011 20:00:49 +1200 Danyl Mclauchlan https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213661#post213661 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213661#post213661 For many, the increase in employer contribution to 3% and the sneaky imposition of tax on that will all end up coming out of worker's pockets in the form of smaller pay rises.

Don't worry! Treasury confidently predict 4.0% annual wage growth for six years! Which, as far as I…

]]> Thu, 19 May 2011 19:51:24 +1200 Sacha https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213659#post213659 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213659#post213659 Don't forget, this is the argument National ran against Kiwisaver when it first began, that employer contributions ultimately came out of employee's pockets.
Didn't they change the rules some time since 2008 to enable just that?

For many, the increase in employer contribution to 3% and the sneaky imposition of…

]]> Thu, 19 May 2011 19:36:48 +1200 Joshua Drummond https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213652#post213652 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213652#post213652 What do you rate this budget out of ten? ]]> Thu, 19 May 2011 19:08:19 +1200 Public Address https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213651#post213651 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-budget-2011-a-credible-path-to-a/?p=213651#post213651 Discussion from blog post.

]]> Thu, 19 May 2011 19:08:19 +1200