So far, yes.
We’ve gone nowhere in six months. Q2 basically wiped out Q1.
Should she resign?
No.
Why? Trump’s tariffs. Nobody saw them coming. Markets thought he was bluffing, a negotiation tactic. Until he wasn’t.
Businesses and Mums and Dads sat on their cash to wait it out. A reasonable response to an uncertain future.
Should she borrow and spend more? She can’t. It’d be political sacrilege for a party elected to do the opposite.
Besides, she’s already borrowing Robertson-level cash. The interest tab’s nearing 10 billion and ratings agencies are watching closely.
The RBNZ printed money like it was going out of fashion, governments here and abroad overcooked the COVID response with border controls. The world ground to a halt. We artificially concocted an inflationary wildfire so hot the ambers burn close to central limits to this day.
As for those the calls from Douglas and co. for Willis’ head on a stake, you’ve got to ask what exactly it is they want and what impact it would have had.
Had she gone full Ruth Richardson in budgets 1 and 2, getting the books in line sooner, that growth number we saw yesterday, the one that prompted the press release calling for a scalp, would have been a hell of a lot worse than 0.9.
So, the waiting game continues which is cold comfort to many.
But the medicine for such a nasty illness was always going to be hard to swallow.
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.
5 comments:
The medicine is the over bloated over the top public service- that could be HALF it’s current size and except for Wellington - the country wouldn’t miss a beat
The blame for the gdp slump lies with the Labour Party hierarchy's self enrichment program.
H Clark advised Ardern, Robertson, and Little, made the most of covid giving them the cover / opportunity to borrow billions for uncontrolled spending, leaving a $10b annual interest bill and $200b debt which needs to be paid back.
There are fixes available.
1. Identify who received the uncontrolled $74.4 covid spend, prosecute them, and recover the money.
2. Relieve NZs cost of living by prosecuting price collusion and reforming NZs wholesale food markets so new competitors can get unfettered access.
3. Capitalise Kiwibank and instruct them to make normal bank profits.
4. Hold the reserve bank board and governor responsible for their dismal forecasting / interest rate setting failure.
So why isn't the a4 reading Willis implementing the fixes.
Perhaps Willis likes the look of Arderns 3 years (and counting ) luxury USA holiday.
Does anybody know what Anon 7.20 is talking about? It's not the first time someone called Anon has banged on about this mysterious figure of $7.4 (presumably million, or is it billion) so there's clearly an entertaining conspiracy theory lurking in the wings. But without any context, all that angst is wasted.
And why does s/he think there's no large third player already in the grocery market? The answer's quite simple really. There's not enough money in that market to attract a new entrant. If there were, they would be here already.
Kiwibank was a political stunt from the getgo and should be sold (if the Government can find a buyer). It's a massive risk to the taxpayer as it currently operates. Good grief - the Government won't even trust it with its own banking business so they are certainly not going to boost its capital.
And finally, the RBNZ may not be perfect but it's doing a bloody sight better job than any politician would be capable of. Take a look at Turkey for a case study of how quickly things go pear shaped when monetary policy is captured by the pollys. There is also the not insignificant matter of the RBNZ's independence which is baked into its founding statute to protect it, and the nation, from people like Anon 7.20.
Dear Ryan,
Quit writing about things of which you know nothing. You say, "As for those the calls from Douglas & co. for Willis’ head on a stake, you’ve got to ask what exactly it is they want and what impact it would have had". I am the person who you smear with your glib "& co" jibe. I personally sent from my computer - and wrote with Sir Roger - the Press Release asking for Willis to resign.
What do we "exactly want"? We want policies to increase the welfare and prosperity of all New Zealanders. Not for just National's oligarchs or Labour's unions.
Our plan is "exactly" described in half a dozen articles we wrote and published together throughout the world - from the UK to Germany to Washington to NZ - over the past 12 years. Part of the plan involves moving NZ to an Australian-style compulsory savings scheme, as introduced by Paul Keating in the 1990s. It would have (and still can) fully secure NZ's prosperity. Aussies are now retiring with ten times the wealth of increasingly impoverished Kiwis because of that savings scheme. The savings can be used to build hospitals & infrastructure in NZ & avoid our public debt blow out.
Like Willis, you Ryan have never read the plan. You asked me onto your show once & casually cancelled me just before because you preferred to talk about rain in the South Island. I mean, what do you care? Some of us are actually trying to fix NZ. Meanwhile you're talking through a hole in your head.
Yours
Robert
If Ryan and Others had taken the time to understand the Douglas and MacCulloch report he would see that the basis of the wealth is derived from transferring the individual tax from earnings up to 55K to a savings scheme individually named and operated by IRD . The money is not lost to the nation or wasted, it is just on a different part of the IRD ledger . Yes the IRD will still get tax from higher earners and of course GST, Liquor tax , Fuel tax, ACC etc . Yes the scheme would initiate lower Government spending to fund the initial tax cashflow shortfall but that is certainly not a sin against taxpayers . After a short period the compounding effect on a large and growing fund would be enormous for all NZers . Well worth an intelligent discussion and not disparaging media remarks .
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