Posts by Rich of Observationz
Last ←Newer Page 1 2 3 4 5 Older→ First
-
Great Listener article (and by linking it here, one can find the interesting content in it without having to wade through the lifestyle / rightwing bullshit in the rest of the rag).
- isn't the Telecom/Vodafone 'hip" rivalry just a competition to be the biggest try-hard?
- is Apple's premium pricing a bit steep for NZ kids used to $300 no-brand handsets?
- can one do that sort of exclusive deal in NZ without falling foul of the Commerce Commission?
- according to El Reg, while VOIP will be allowed on Wifi in the new Apple 3G phones, it will be blocked on 3G. How "seamless" is that? And where will WiMax fit into this model?
-
-
And I don't think that's really an argument the government will want to have.
Exactly what I thought when I heard they were mooting sabotage charges.
Although if it's down to Senior Constable Plod, they might find themselves making that argument whether they like it or not.
-
Waihope is about as Kiwi as Holden, Speights or Russell Crowe.
-
Housing *is* GST-exempt. At least, rent and mortgages are.
-
As an IT consultant, I have no problem whatever with the above issues - it'll just send our rates up and I need a new car.
Plus, the Brits had multi-rate GST (VAT) in 1973, when computers were a lot more primitive than today.
The main problem with removing GST on food, as somebody mentioned above, is that it is an inefficient way to help poor people.
Taking GST off food will save somebody spending $100 a week on food $11 a week. But it will save a rich person spending $500 a week on food $55 a week.
A $5k personal allowance would give every earner $20 a week, so helping low earners more. A Universal Basic Income would be even better.
-
Brash is being a bit disingenuous, or just ignorant.
I filed VAT as a consultant in the UK when I lived there, and the multiple rates made little difference. I just took the VAT amounts from the invoices as my input tax (which allowed for things like mobile phone bills, where overseas roaming components were tax free).
Food in the UK isn't "exempt" it's "zero-rated" which means that the output tax is zero, but food manufacturers and suppliers can still claim all their inputs.
The only exempt supplies are things like financial services and education, which are typicall the only business of an organisation.
-
Or, since it's New Zealand's spy base and not under US control or anything, we could sell the data collected to the highest bidder, like China, or the Russian mafia.
-
I agree with Russell. And Craig.
And Sue.
GST isn't a luxury tax, it's a broad based consumption tax. It has the advantage of simplicity and of catching both those who live mainly off assets and those who leverage their lifestyle on credit cards and second mortgages.
However, I do think the RAM have chosen good political ground in appealing to people who don't care about economics and do feel they're being ripped off by "the system". I'd probably prefer they vote for the Socialist Workers (which RAM are, BTW) than for NZ First.
Though it wouldn't be good if they take votes from the Greens and wind up both getting 4.5%.
-
Digression is wonderful.
And Russell's piece on Homegrown was excellent, unlike the Dom Post review. But there isn't much more to say - "I'm bored with reggae" is an entirely personal attitude and not a good basis for discussion.
And what is modern depends on when you think the modern period started.
-
The various European states had been resolving their quarrels in frequent warfare since the tribes of Europe had coalesced into nation states. Britain had been to war in Europe twice in the 19th Century (as well as countless colonial conflicts).
It was the invention of railways (as rodgerd points out), trench warfare (chalk the blame down to NZ for that one) and modern artillery that turned war from a background activity into a slaughter that killed millions and destroyed empires.
So I think the answer to why the European leaders embarked on war has to be that it was simply what they always had done - and without both democracy and a realisation of the horrors of modern warfare, there was little to restrain them.