I was amused by the investment ignorance of some of the Councillors who wanted the shares sold to create a rainy day fund against a future catastrophe.
This sort of amateurish thinking reveals their lack of investment sophistication. Here’s why.
The mum and dad rainy day fund mentality is illogical. Why? Because if the rainy day arrives then you will no longer have the funds. On the other hand if it doesn’t then the fund was pointless.
A well-run Council with low debt etc will never have trouble raising money should a catastrophe hit the city.
This lack of financial sophistication unfortunately is characteristic of all democracies. That is they attract nobodies with time on their hands as candidates. Truly capable clever people are invariably far too busy to step forward.
Sir Bob Jones is a renowned author, columnist , property investor, and former politician, who blogs at No Punches Pulled HERE - where this article was sourced.
The mum and dad rainy day fund mentality is illogical. Why? Because if the rainy day arrives then you will no longer have the funds. On the other hand if it doesn’t then the fund was pointless.
A well-run Council with low debt etc will never have trouble raising money should a catastrophe hit the city.
This lack of financial sophistication unfortunately is characteristic of all democracies. That is they attract nobodies with time on their hands as candidates. Truly capable clever people are invariably far too busy to step forward.
Sir Bob Jones is a renowned author, columnist , property investor, and former politician, who blogs at No Punches Pulled HERE - where this article was sourced.
6 comments:
Not only too clever but too vulnerable to cancellation if thy express or act on many rational constructive but not PC attiudes.
Sir Bob you are probably, even provably, quite right. We are electing people into positions of authority, which they might continue to occupy completely ineffectively for many years. This is little short of community insanity.
How about we ballot likely competent people into the job for a defined period? Of course that would require careful planning and systems of unquestionable integrity. Those factors may be in short supply these days, but we are finished if we can’t resurrect them.
Sir Robert, one can not pass your well presented & direct opine with out raising the point, based on your comment -
[quote] - "The mum and dad rainy day fund mentality is illogical. Why? Because if the rainy day arrives then you will no longer have the funds. On the other hand if it doesn’t then the fund was pointless." [end quote] -
- that should Wellington have a rainy day, the current Council having a major inability to -
- work collectively
- determine projects of importance - example fixing water pipes > that "rainy day" will see more water chaos, that can and will lead to further undermining the soil beneath the reclaimed water front and elsewhere across the City.
Also can you tell me which Local Body Council across New Zealand is not in debit, to the point that their 5 and/or 10 year plans, are now basically a pointless exercise, created in Council meetings, by (as you rightly point out) incompetents.
Can I add to that, another incompetent, being the current Minister of LGNZ.
"I was amused by the investment ignorance of some of the Councillors who wanted the shares sold to create a rainy day fund against a future catastrophe."
It was the whole Council who presented this idea --it is how they originally tried to sell the idea of selling the shares.
As a Wellington rate payer I'm pleased they voted not to sell, simply because I could not trust the Council to not just fritter away the proceeds on a range of stupid ideologically driven projects.
We desperately need Council Officers and people on the Council who have some financial management skills because they are clearly not there at present.
There is a council that has $500m in a "fund"
They have had a rainy day but pretend they have nothing.
It belongs to ratepayers but they don't want ratepayers to benefit from the fund.
I would put forward the concept of the Royal NZ Navy making its Personnel and sea going ships available to assist the people of Wellington City, in the event of "that rainy day, bringing chaos to the streets of that City", but I am fearful, that "any seagoing ships, they still have", might end up on Barrett's reef / similar to The Wahine", or stranded on the beaches at Eastbourne!
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