Counting up Labour’s borrow and spend
October 18th, 2008 at 11:04 am by David FarrarThe PREFU shows us Labour is leaving us with a decade of deficits. But despite forecasts showing the Government will need to borrow money fpor the next 12 years or so, they have gone on making huge spending promises.
The Herald has counted up the numbers and finds that Labour is planning to spend a net $3.65 billion more. Now this is simply not possible. They will have to increase taxes to do this, or break their promises.
Tags: government debt, government spending, Labour
October 18th, 2008 at 11:12 am
And they won’t say what they’re going to spend in the mini-budget in December. Yes, just sign the cheque please. Labour will fill in the amount later.
You can trust Labour alright – trust them to spend like a drunken failure.
Vote:October 18th, 2008 at 11:17 am
There is always the option of printing more money- although the Reserve Bank may thwart that for a while, the simple fact is that a government can beat a bank.
Vote:October 18th, 2008 at 11:18 am
Milo, think you may mean drunk on ‘absolute power’
We can indeed trust them to be CORRUPT.
Cullender can’t add up and is well out of his ‘Comfort Zone’.
He is just following orders fron ‘The One’
Vote:October 18th, 2008 at 11:18 am
Not that I advocate hyperinflation…
Vote:October 18th, 2008 at 11:20 am
I look at it this way.
21 DAY’S TO GO AND WE CAN VOTE THESE BUGGERS OUT!!!
Vote:October 18th, 2008 at 11:21 am
I don’t think it will be a case of how much they are going to spend, more like a case of how much they are going to be taking away and cutting back on.
Vote:October 18th, 2008 at 11:25 am
The Herald turns on Labour?
This is like Martin Borman shooting Hitler in the back.
Vote:October 18th, 2008 at 11:40 am
The PREFU shows us Labour is leaving us with a decade of deficits.
How many times will you repeat this lie?
The “decade of defecits” assumes that no action is taken over the next 10 years. If your lot are so hopeless that they cannot, or will not, take action to change this course, then what’s the use in electing them?
What did the last PREFU show compared with where we are now?
We used to call you lot the right wing, these days you’re just a bunch of Right Charlies!
Vote:October 18th, 2008 at 11:52 am
I guess you will promise the world when your head is on the chopping block. Liarbore are playing poker and are calling a huge bluff with all their chips on the table. The future of the country has been pawned. If ( God Forbid ) they manage to bullshit their way to another win then you can forget all their bloody promises. They will wheel that old deseased prick Sullen out with tales of woe and globle money meltdown and out will come that old excuse “it’s not time for a fucken tax cut, we can’t afford it, in fact we will need to raise taxes or the country will go belly up” or words to this effect.
Vote:October 18th, 2008 at 11:56 am
You forgot to mention the upgrade to the train tracks.
The upgrade of the train set.
By the time Labour have finnished we will be Billions in Debt.
Poor Taxpayer.
Vote:October 18th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
MNIJ: “The ‘decade of defecits’ (sic) assumes that no action is taken over the next 10 years.”
Sorry, Jack, that simply won’t wash. After publication of the PREFU Michael Cullen was asked by the media what changes he would make in policy settings. He indicated at that time that he had no changes in mind.
Since then, Labour has promised a mini-budget. That will not be delivered until November, despite Dr Cullen having all Government resources at his disposal to draw up Labour’s intentions for publication pre-Election. A case of deliberate political prevarication rather than facing his Government’s responsibilities to the country.
Vote:October 18th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
CG,my comment was aimed less at the current government than at those who support the alternatives.
Vote:October 18th, 2008 at 12:11 pm
And my other questions
1. What did the last PREFU show? It certainly didn’t predict this one.
2. Which economists predicted the current “melt down” and when?
3. Which economist(s) have the solution to the “banking crisis”?
Vote:October 18th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
MyNameIsJack
Read this and weep.
http://www.interest.co.nz/ratesblog/index.php/2008/10/17/opinion-the-12-steps-to-ending-nzs-foreign-debt-addiction/
Vote:October 18th, 2008 at 2:53 pm
MyNameIsJack, Owen McShane and Don Brash and Hugh Pavletich are 3 people I can think of who have every right to be saying “we told you so” right now.
On the international economics scene, the Ludwig Von Mises Institute economists like George Reisman, Lew Rockwell and Murray Rothbard, are the ones who have every right to be saying “we told you so”, and what is more frightening, they are telling us that the “bailouts” and so on, are still the WRONG things to be doing.
The crux of the argument, to my mind, is that the whole financial system needs reinvigorating with REAL savings that are the result of REAL EARNINGS. For governments to shuffle money out of the “EARNING” part of the economy to re-inflate the “paper bubble” part of the economy is WRONG, WRONG, WRONG. The point is, that all that all this is doing is setting the scene for the NEXT “bubble”; and it will be bigger each time and there will be MORE “State” stake in it each time. NEXT time, it will take whole sovereign States down, if it isn’t already going to do this this time, look at Iceland; and I believe that on all the essentials, NEW ZEALAND has set up its OWN HOME GROWN crisis with WORSE fundamentals than almost everyone else’s including the US itself (which incidentally is in the STRONGEST position of all the major nations). The respective movements of the currencies are a very good indicator. The financial sector people are not so stupid, they KNOW what is going on and they KNOW that the RIGHT thing to happen now, would be for THEM to be left carrying the can, NOT THE SUCKER TAXPAYERS of the world. THEY KNOW which countries are going down, it is no accident that the smart money is going OUT of NZ and certain other countries right now, and INTO the USA.
The most fundamental indicator, is the extent to which a country’s housing market inflated relative to people’s incomes. And NZ was the worst in the world along with Ireland and Spain. So NZ needs to face up to the worst now. We are not “being dragged down by international events” contrary to popular belief, we are being PROPPED UP by the overseas ownership of our finance sector in so far as it is owned overseas. The domestic sector is a GONER and you can bet that KIWIBANK is sitting on one HUGE black hole.
Vote:October 18th, 2008 at 2:59 pm
“….The domestic sector is a GONER and you can bet that KIWIBANK is sitting on one HUGE black hole….”. Sorry, meant to add to that, that is in line with the general principle, the greater the political involvement, the bigger the blowout – think “Fannie Mae” and “Freddie Mac”. GREATER Government involvement NOW will only make the NEXT blowout take the State itself down directly rather than the finance sector. And Labour was moving to address the “housing affordability” issue by TAKING EQUITY in first home buyers homes. I REST MY CASE.
Vote:October 18th, 2008 at 4:03 pm
MNIJack: “CG,my comment was aimed less at the current government than at those who support the alternatives.”
That’s pretty obvious. My comment was aimed directly at the current Government which is delaying announcement of its secret agenda mini-budget until after the Election.
Vote:October 18th, 2008 at 8:24 pm
I marvel at the blindness of the masses
But the masses have to be blind communists to listen to Liarbour.
Truly Kiwi’s are divided and ruled.
Vote:October 19th, 2008 at 8:43 am
Michael Cullen’s economic management of New Zealand doesn’t look so flash now.
It’s game over for Labour. Twenty days to go and they are out of office for a very long time.
Vote:October 19th, 2008 at 11:30 am
udontknowjack National looked at the train wreck that is our balance sheet and came up with a plan in 24 hours. Your boy Mickey has been at the helm of this titanicesque clusterfuck and has declared himself to be a fiscal mastermind and the “plan” is to carry on as before. Indeed labour is outspending National by a factor of four in election promises without telling us where the money is coming from.
What actually is your understanding of the word “plan”?
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