This appeared on Facebook recently, written by Aindriú Macfehin Apart from the tragedy that is neoliberal capitalism itself, is the fact that Friedman was considered a fringe economist until stagflation in the 60s. Then neoliberalism was adopted as the form of capitalism (as opposed to previous … [Read more...]
Cookooland – Where the rich own the truth
A book which demonstrated to me the drivers of greed and the need for some to seek power: I read a fascinating book about corruption and how some of the high end of society in the UK functions. I recommend it to you all. It is called “Cookooland, Where the rich own the truth” by Tom Burgis. … [Read more...]
Garry’s thoughts – Mr Bates vs The Post Office
I seldom watch TV. However, I had been following the Mr Bates v The Post Office saga on various media outlets in the UK. The issue seemed to me to be a window on what neo-liberal economics has served up across the world. So, I sat down and watched the TV drama and the documentary which followed. The … [Read more...]
A helpful note from Geoff Butcher on infrastructure spending
I was at the Centenary of the opening of the Otira Rail Tunnel recently. The Construction cost was apparently £1.5 million. Using the reserve bank inflation calculator from around 1919 (centre date of the 10-year project) and taking it to today's prices gives us $180 million. That's an 8km … [Read more...]
Retirement Villages – Wealth Tax by Stealth?
No Happy Residents means no Industry - of course John Collyns as executive director of Retirement Villages would be expected to have such an answer to hand. Of course it is in their business interests to keep residents happy. Published letter in The Press 5 May 2023 My friend Patricia Allan … [Read more...]
The public and private sectors have different roles after disasters
When we had our hour of need after the earthquakes we received considerable assistance from other councils. Before central government drove everybody away and took over through agencies like Cera. I will forever mourn how Roger Sutton was treated by the Wellington brigade. When Roger “left” … [Read more...]
Last week Raf Manji
Can Raf Manji lead TOP into Parliament? | RNZ It was great to see our old mate Raf Manji in another role other than as a City Councillor. This role suits Raf’s huge knowledge in finance and macro-economics. We had a good turnout on Zoom and Facebook for his talk. Raf followed on from the … [Read more...]
A challenging article on bread and how we need to change what food we eat
Newsroom recently published an article on the energy needed to produce a loaf of bread. This got me thinking. I spend my time wondering how or what I need to do to reduce my carbon footprint. I found this article fascinating. Here’s a few parts of the article: More fossil fuel energy goes into … [Read more...]
Limits to Growth workshop
You are invited to join an important public workshop hosted by the School of Government, Victoria University: Are there biophysical limits to growth?If so, how should public policy respond?” Economic growth has become culturally, politically and institutionally engrained at a global scale. … [Read more...]
We’re importing coal as we lay off miners on the West Coast
I sat with two friends last week discussing issues about our economy and South Island politics in general. One said “why doesn’t the Government ban coal usage by a certain date, and, until that date continues to mine in New Zealand”. I hadn’t realised that we were importing coal. But here are some … [Read more...]
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