Posts by Paul Williams
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OnPoint: Election 2011: GO!, in reply to George Darroch,
Fair question George and thanks for the link to this new (to me) blog - it's excellent!
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OnPoint: Election 2011: GO!, in reply to Kumara Republic,
is the implied hypocrisy where the powers-that-be pontificate about "Family Values" being the silver bullet for crime and promiscuity, yet the lecturers practise anything but
Which entirely describes Brash who challenged the sincerity of Clark's relationship while sleeping around, but may not so apply to Key. Key just indulged in boorish bullshit blokiness with a fuckwit who hospitalised his former partner... maybe Key just finds it hard to disagree which is why Paul Henry's racism didn't offend him either?
Edit: was the "hot" comment on a show with Devlin or Vetich, I don't recall?
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OnPoint: Election 2011: GO!, in reply to Steve Barnes,
Now he's off for a bigger slice of pie…
...as in American Pie, cause man Alyson Hannigan's hot...
English also couldn't get elected. I mean, he even got rolled for Don Brash!
Brash, another one who loves the ladies...
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Who would succeed John Key I wonder? English? Surely not Brownlee. I reckon Joyce. Key's made a virture of having such a brief record, he can distance himself from the unpopular decisions of previous administrations. Joyce would only have to defend a single term's decisions. Moreover, English will have to carry the burden for every unpopular decision PM Key wouldn't make.
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OnPoint: Election 2011: GO!, in reply to nzlemming,
One lives in hope ;-)
Of Steven Joyce as PM or Phil?
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OnPoint: Election 2011: GO!, in reply to Matthew Poole,
and demolish the apprenticeship scheme.
Matthew, I know the point you're making and agree but "we" didn't abolish the apprenticeship scheme. That's a misleading shorthand. Industry training was reformed in the early 90s (by National but following a review commissioned by Labour, Phil Goff I believe) and, for a while, apprenticeship suffered but that was largely because, around the same time, many of the usual employers of apprentices were being restructured, privatised etc.
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OnPoint: Election 2011: GO!, in reply to BenWilson,
Edit: Oh, and foreigners won't like it. I didn't much like being forced into it in Oz. But...as I get older I hate it less, that there's 50g waiting for me over there.
Ben, you know that Cullen struck a deal prior to the last election which means you can repatriate your contributions now? I don't know the details however.
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OnPoint: Election 2011: GO!, in reply to Sacha,
Despite pretence of a hands-off approach, the current government is clearly pinning most of its economic hopes on the farming sector - with targeted research funding (replacing broader R&D proposals), massive ETS subsidies, resource consent and regional governance changes, and now the suggestion of publicly-funded irrigation schemes as advocated by Conor English and chums. Real champions of private enterprise.
Indeed. And if you replace the words "farming sector" with the words "resource sector" you could equally describe Australia's economic strategy too...
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OnPoint: Election 2011: GO!, in reply to BenWilson,
It could, however, pick broad classes of R&D that have synergy with some of our existing specializations.
Which was the logic of the 5th Labour government's growth and innovation strategy... I can't comment on the implementation...
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Jim said:
CGT exists in Australia and other Western countries. It hasn't prevented property bubbles.
This is most certainly true and, as Ben's said, simply introducing a CGT won't resolve NZ's private debt problem. A CGT and a better form of super might, particularly if, additionally, more strict prudential regulation limits banks lending practices.
Ben said:
Innovation is OK, but it's also way too much of a buzzword for my liking. You can have good solid growth doing something quite unoriginal, like raising sheep, or putting down railways, or growing trees. Innovative is usually synonymous with "risky".
Innovation is a buzz word agreed, but there's substance to the concept. I had some experience in the seafood industry before leaving NZ and there innovation is a real boost to productivity and export earnings. Simple stuff like training for process workers, filleting wet and dry fish, was critical to transforming some species from stock feed sold at a few $NZD per kilo to "meal solutions" sold at seven quid per 300 grams at M&S. The acquaculture industry is dependent on innovation too.
There's no magic bullet, but investing in labour and capital productivity, R&D etc can and has enabled firms to innovate and export... which brings us full circle to encouraging savings and discouraging debt-financed investments in tax credit generating rental properties.