This new Treasury report tells us what we all already knew about Labour's Covid response.
They went too far. Spent like a drunken sailor. Made it rain dollar bills.
When Treasury advised them to pull back, they didn't they kept going.
Covid was the most expensive economic to this country. The government spent $66-billion - which is 20% of our GDP.
Of that, just 18% was spent on specific pandemic healthcare costs.
Then they just kept spending.
Forget the Nigerian prince, this is the biggest scam to hit kiwi shores.
They also spent the Covid fund on things like school lunches and art therapy programmes.
The report tip toes around it but the clear inference of this report is Labour went too far pulling the fiscal leaver. The Reserve Bank should be using monetary policy to bulk of the heaving lifting in future events.
At the same time this report landed on Labour's lap like a tonne of bricks, Chris Hipkins was in Queenstown chatting about the policies they don't have but will probably have going into the election.
Guess what's on the menu? A capital gains tax. More government spending. And talk that the Treasury-imposed safe debt cap could be increased.
So debt, Tax. And spend.
People may not like Luxon's delivery of this message, it grates, but you can't hide from the fact those guys screwed the pooch.
And the pooch, if they were to get back into power, best be preparing for more screwing.
Ryan Bridge is a New Zealand broadcaster who has worked on many current affairs television and radio shows. He currently hosts Newstalk ZB's Early Edition - where this article was sourced.
12 comments:
Why is no-one asking why the Clark advised Ardern hierarchy bankrupted NZ over a disease they knew to be no worse than a bad flu and a covid jab medsafe told them was neither effective nor safe?
It certainly wasn't the obvious politician's motivator.. re-election.
Sorry to bang on about this but it should never be forgotten.....
Where did the Clark foundation money come from, how did Michael Clark go from politician to rich prick, and how has Ardern lived the high life for 2 years without an income?
Obamas mysterious riches are partly explained by recent allegations of his ties to a large Chinese and USAID money laundering operations.
Unacceptable. Only those left nutcases who voted labour should automatically have 10% of their pay deducted from their wages for the next 100 years to pay for the mess they created. Then they might actually engage their brain next election and understand what the left actually accomplish : nothing except create a big massive debt and crime ridden racist mess. Those that voted for the center parties should be given the monies from the now taxed left voters for having to put up with the far left lowlifes that were voted in.
Dear Ryan, why don't you study one hour of economics before you write more nonsense on this topic. National, in cahoots with Business NZ and the NZ Initiative, lobbied liked a rabid dog for lifting the cap of around $200k per business on the wage subsidy. Labour relented and the cost blew out by tens of billions. Fletcher's alone put its snout in the trough and claimed over $50 million the next day. The dumb dumbs at the NZ Treasury could easily have designed the scheme differently, with a claw back for businesses that ended up being unaffected, which I lobbied for at the time. It did not. I know of no commentator other than myself who, also at the time, spoke against printing money. National, Labour, Treasury and the RBNZ were all on for it. Don't be fooled, Ryan. NZ's stagnation is not caused by one political party or another. Its a chumocracy stitch-up of big business in bed with National, and special interest groups in bed with Labour, together with an inbred and dumbed down civil service. The citizens of our country were and are collateral damage. New Zealand needs disruptive change. Its gone rotten.
I agree with Robert.
Although I'm still optimistic Luxon's integrity will pervail and the NZ cartels will be disbanded.
Penk created conditions to unravel the building supply cartel.
Stanford has taken the first steps to defeat the MOD and Teachers Union cartel's disastrous influence on our kid's education.
But:
- we're still waiting for meaningful action from Willis to defeat the electricity and supermarket cartels:
- watching the nzdsos covid inquiry questioning, I'm not confident the covid inquiry is anything but a corruption cover up.
- no-one has explained why Willis retrospectively reversed the legislation requiring Aussie banks to repay the millions they stole off Kiwis.
Bold of you to assume that those who vote for a living have a pay packet.
The system is breaking and it’s no accident. The collapse we’re seeing is engineered. The 1% and 2% (ers) are bleeding the economy, and the middle class dry and they’re using financial manipulation/wizardry as a weapon.
The “Cantillon Effect” is the “engine” of the elite and the foundational system for what is now the greatest wealth transfer in history. The Elite are using this very “tool” to rape the economy and, We the People. The Cantillon Effect benefits those closest to the money printers, the 1% and 2% (ers) i.e. big banks, corporations, and political insiders. They benefit first, from newly created currency. They get full-value dollars before they trickle down to the people, by which time inflation has eaten the purchasing power to nearly gone. These elites buy hard assets (real estate, stocks, commodities) while prices are low, using fresh, cheap money. But by the time this money hits Main Street, the cost of living is already inflated and you get less for your dollar. This creates a wealth funnel, sucking prosperity upward (trickle up). The central banks keep rates artificially low creating the illusion of stability, making debt cheaper for corporations and government but deadly for savers. Artificially low rates inflate asset bubbles in stocks and housing which the elite cash out on while leaving the public holding the bag when these bubbles pop. (Real inflation is much higher than reported metrics like CPI. We are already living in a shadow inflation crisis, and it’s hidden in plain sight.)
Vast debt expansion devalues every existing dollar, robbing you of your purchasing power. The 1% and 2% (ers) buy tangible assets with leveraged, cheap dollars, while the average person’s wages are destroyed by inflation. Nothing is stopping the next inflation wave. Fiscal irresponsibility continues on a massive scale. No spending cuts, just bigger deficits. Just an accident, right?
When new “money” is pumped into the system, there is a lag effect from between the time “the new money” is created, and the time it makes its way through the economy. A key factor is Money Velocity, also known as the rate at which cash moves through an economy. Today the Money Velocity is near historic lows because the economy is barely functioning, and even certain sectors of the economy like manufacturing, are in contraction. To put up a “roadblock” to incoming inflation, (higher rates/stronger dollar) would slow the Cantillon Effect, but the 1% and 2% (ers) will not allow it. The greatest wealth transfer mechanism of all time must be kept going, as devaluation is the tool they use to siphon wealth quietly.
“New Zealand needs disruptive change. It’s gone rotten.”
Welcome back Professor. Your wisdom and unapologetic criticism of this Govt’s steady as she goes approach, has been badly missed. Luxon hasn’t even sold our story to the great disruptor himself to secure better trading terms.
I remember the covid period. Money printing as if we had a ' money tree'. Yes, many of us thought it unwise and said so(we are not economists). My recall is that no parliamentarian thought this through. No one, I mean no one, said the Ardern government was on the wrong track. I watched parliament during this time. Overseas countries were managing their economies much better during that period. I remember thinking, "surely oppositions are there to oppose bad policy.?" Even now, the opportunity to meet and engage with the US is considered secondary and totally not on the radar. Consequently we have 15% tariffs not 10%. Totally dumb. Do we want to be a well respected country or an atoll in the South Pacific?
Janine. So true. The opposition supported Ardern’s strategy to the hilt. They also cowered behind Govt building walls than face their protesting constituents that simply wanted to be heard.
During Covid, how dumb was it to print or borrow $1Bn , then distribute it evenly to every taxpayer ?
Hipkins shrugged his shoulders saying it didn't matter that about $15M went to the wrong people and wasn't worth chasing them.
Financially incompetent, and irresponsible.
Yeah, you Labour types, vote him back in !
Simon Bridges did try while he chaired the Epidemic Response Committee, but information and data was withheld for days even weeks, Treasury and Ministry of Health were two I can remember. When he questioned or opined, he was attacked by media and social media trolls. A very lonely job in my opinion. Only to be overthrown by the caucus a few days after lockup was over. That worked out well! It was down hill from there. Second lockup August 21 was when it all turned to custard and the National Party again imploded and became complicit. And Labour had free reign, free money, Auckland locked up for months. mandates, passports and no MP stood up for the average person in the street. If I never see this again in my lifetime it'll be too soon. We are in danger of becoming Haiti of the South Pacific.
Criminal acts of waste that should result in reversing gongs and charges being laid.
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