John MacDonald: My question to you about the economy

Do you feel better off than you did three years ago?

With it being election year, that’s the question politicians are going to be asking you. It’s the question I’m asking you too in light of the latest unemployment numbers - which are the highest in more than a decade.

Mike's Minute: The GDP number is the biggest win for the Government

If you accept that the Government are struggling in the polls, you may well accept the general notion that part of what is driving that is the lack of runs on the board.

Perhaps an impatience is frustrating some of us.

Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 17/12/24

Simply subtract ACC from ABEGAL and add an x for the Christmas miracle of a surplus (but not for a few more years)

Finance Minister Nicola Willis put a brave face on things – aided and abetted by the deft application of accounting cosmetics – after the publication of the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update this afternoon.

Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 30/8/24

Simon Court’s “biography” is blank on the Beehive website – but he has been busily buzzing about his PPP duties

Go googling for information about Simon Court, an ACT MP since 2020, and – among the first half dozen suggestions – you will find a steer to the government’s official website:

Point of Order: Mortgage rates at 10% anyone?

No – nothing about that in PM Luxon’s nine-point plan to improve the lives of New Zealanders.

But beyond our shores Jamie Dimon, the long-serving head of global bank J.P. Morgan Chase, reckons that the chances of a goldilocks soft landing for the economy are “a lot lower” than the 70% to 80% market consensus.

And he warned that global interest rates could top 8%

Point of Order: Opinion polls signal Labour stumbling to defeat

Tough times await a new Right-of-Centre coalition

Three different opinion polls in quick succession have signalled the Hipkins Labour-led government is crashing to defeat at next month’s election. As many as 34 of its members could lose their seats.

All three polls — the Post-Freshwater, Morgan, and Newshub-Reid— showed Labour below 30%.

Cam Slater: The Economy Is in the Dunny

Everyone, including Blind Freddy, knows that our economy is in the dunny. The only ones who think everything is grand are Grant Robertson and the other useless idiots in the governing parties. Even the IMF knows that we are in dire shape:

Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 5/7/23

Honeyed words about the govt’s finances flow from the Beehive – but there’s a souring when Nats’ nibble at the same numbers

From a Beehive perspective, the government’s books are in good shape, even though the Operating Balance before Gains and Losses (OBEGAL) recorded a deficit of $6.5 billion for the 11 months to the end of May. That was $2.1 billion higher than forecast at Budget 2023 but (look on the bright side, folk) $1 billion lower than for the same period a year ago.

Cam Slater: Reserve Bank Slams on the Brakes

The Reserve Bank yesterday announced a 50 basis points hike in the Official Cash Rate, moving it to 4.75%. Your mortgage, overdraft, equipment leases, and credit card costs just ballooned again. The Reserve Bank is trying to do two main things: stave off a recession, and defeat inflation. You can’t do both at the same time, but that is what they are trying to do.

Point of Order: Take that, Iran......

.......but what must countries do to be considered unfit for sitting on the UN Human Rights Council?

China is a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council, along with countries such as Eritrea, Somalia and Libya, despite their shabby records when it comes to political rights and civil liberties.

We can only conjecture on what they must do to rile our government – and others – and be kicked off the council.

Point of Order: More work on moa

Marsden Fund grants $870,000 for research into an extinct bird and Maori food gathering

More millions have been dished out by Ministers in the past 24 hours and/or we have been shown what has happened to funding previously distributed.

In the second category, the PM has officially opening a surf live saving centre in Tauranga. We can see what we got for our money.

In the first category, on the other hand, is the latest approval of grants from the Marsden Fund.