Posts by George Darroch
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Also, what uroskin said.
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The major problem with Australia's STV system is single member electorates in the lower house, and perverse preference allocation systems, which does effectively render it no better in most cases than FPP.
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Whats worse is when you read a feature article from an international outlet on the internet, and months later it turns up in the Herald, Dom or SST.
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And this is what the report actually says - NCDC Jan 08 report. January was significantly colder than the last few years, but it is still well above the long term average.
The graphs show what you'd expect from a La Nin~a. A lot of the earth much (3-5 degrees) warmer than usual, and a lot of the earth much cooler.
The report does not say that Jan 08 "wipes out a century of global warming".
As always, breathless reporting using particularly events as proof one way or the other of long term trends is misleading.
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Snowy, I don't think other PA users expect to be called upon to explain the lack of policy from their party. Please, keep your posts about the subject, not the commenters here.
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That preview function is there for a reason, I know...
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Thanks Simon G - I found out one useful thing from that debate.
Winston watches the Choncords.
<qoute>Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: I have seen it for every leader gone. There was Jenny—brave Jenny. She reminds me of the Flight of the Conchords’ song, actually. I ask members whether they have heard that song. She is very much like that Jenny. </quote>.
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Paul Williams is right people move to Australia, and don't move, for a number of reasons, and wages are only one of them.
Driving wages down isn't going to make Australia less attractive.
I'm here because I get a fully funded (free) degree at a university that attracts top professors. I have to work part time to survive, but I had to work part time in NZ too, so there's no real difference.
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Key -
"We would love to see wages drop," he says.
"The way we want to see wages increase is because productivity is greater. So people can afford more. Not just for inflationary reasons, otherwise it's a bit of a vicious circle as it comes back at you in higher interest rates."
"We really want to drive that out," he says.
Reducing wages, lowers the cost of labour relative to capital investment. That can actually reduce productivity by disincentivising investment in productivity increasing capital, and increasing the incentive to hire another cheap warm body.
You increase productivity by increasing the percentage in the workforce (which Labour has done significantly, not by reducing wages, but while they've increased), and through technology and investment.
We could a lot of the sting out of interest rates/inflation if we put controls on currency trading so higher interest rates fed directly back into the economy, rather than being exploited by traders. Then the Reserve Bank could do its job. (the NZD is the 16th most traded in the world). Not that it would ever enter Key's agenda.
And yes, Australia has the highest manufacturing wages in the world. And well funded universities. There's a reason people migrate there.
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I/O
FYI - before anyone accuses me of being a hypocrite: I was never a tagger, I did (as part of a crew) whole walls. As I've said before, tagging is just pissing on a lamp-post to mark your territory.
But that's not a distinction politicians or the general public make... for most, anything that comes from a spraycan is the same.