Comments on: When do you start attributing things to the new Government

By: wikiriwhis business

wikiriwhis business — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 04:15:51 +0000

““Is It Too Soon to Start Talking About the Failed Obama Presidency ”

I think it is. I in fact I think it will be more successful than the Bush presidency.

Bush was a moron, Nancy Polosi said so herself (conservatively) as speaker of the house and that is a very rare statement for a speaker to make.

I’m not saying Obama will dazzle the world or even America, but he will leave a good taste to savour in the mouths of US citizens instead of leaving a whole nation poorer off in a multitude of ways as did Bush, Rove, Cheney etc, etc, etc.

I just wish someone could tell me one area America has benefitted under the last administration. I have yet to hear it from an American. The ones I meet (from very unusual locations) were all fleeing America.

By: wikiriwhis business

wikiriwhis business — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 04:05:29 +0000

I see this thread got Kwiblog as blog of the week in HOS.

Blogging is a great form of communicating to the world, but when you have insight to details and on top of that know how to write, you just have to have a recipe for succes.

Being an extremely well known public figure and successful helps a hundred fold as well!

By: Grant Michael McKenna

Grant Michael McKenna — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 05:19:48 +0000

P. J. O’Rourke is apparently writing an article “Is It Too Soon to Start Talking About the Failed Obama Presidency Just Because He Isn’t President Yet?”

By: Ben Wilson

Ben Wilson — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 22:26:18 +0000

It’s a tricky question you ask DPF. Some actions by Government can be immediate, and have immediate effects, like floating the dollar, or similarly large changes in monetary policy. Also, any announcement of a major plan in any detail will tend to have immediate effects – like the announcement of LLU halving the stock price of Telecom, despite the actual action happening much, much later. But you’re talking in a very general economic sense, and on that score, of course the new Government will get a very long honeymoon, particularly as the turmoil is driven by international factors. But certainly the Government can do things today that will make or lose colossal amounts of money for NZ, and the market may price that very quickly.

By: a3catlady

a3catlady — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 20:39:00 +0000

“When do you start attributing things to the new government” – well some things straight away….. like the absence of Helen/Michael/Winnie et al, scrapping in public, making bitter comments for the media and telling us how to live our lives. AND the general level of optimism that change brings as we anticipate new things, AND what appears to be a commonsense approach to getting the job done – THANK YOU John Key and the NAtional government.
Other things – well we will just have to wait and see, some things they will be accountable for sooner than others. AND if they can move on from the juvenile approach of “any good thing is our credit, and any bad thing is the previous admins fault” then that too will be a VERY Good thing and I have to say, the signs are there that they are moving on from that approach and giving credit where credit is due etc.

By: Murray

Murray — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 20:07:24 +0000

Quick question for the hysteria driven left, if Key is responsible for people leaving NZ in October does that mean Obama is responsible for Bombay?

Not forget the league world cup Ross.

By: Ross Miller

Ross Miller — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 19:50:07 +0000

Well for me and since 8 November the sun has appeared on more days than not, the rain is sweeter, my leg doesn’t hurt so much, my golf handicap has come down and I won a Xmas ham in a free raffle …. all per courtesy of the John Key led Government.

By: Frank

Frank — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 18:57:14 +0000

Any Political Party in charge of the Countries government is part of the corrupt regime that has occupied the Halls of Power since the Muldoon years. They are all accountable.

By: clintheine

clintheine — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 13:42:42 +0000

I blame the Labour Party for all their talking of creating a wonderful booming economy under Cullens so called fiscal prudence and yet NOBODY got to see the benefits or enjoy the wealth that came from it.

Labour had the 2nd biggest surplus in the OECD (I think it was in the OECD) and they spent it all. Remind me when we are 10 years up the track and our growth is still 2% because of the lack of ability from people like Cullen to let us have our own money during the good times.

By: burt

burt — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 10:47:25 +0000

OECD rank 22 kiwi

The bunnies still believe that if we all earn a modest living we will all be happy. Wharrrrrp… thanks for playing – Human nature don’t work that way – even sheep have leaders and pecking orders, what complete muppets thought you could train it out of people.

By: OECD rank 22 kiwi

OECD rank 22 kiwi — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 10:25:19 +0000

It’s all about CREATING wealth, not REDISTRIBUTING it.

The stupid loser Left don’t understand that. Then again they don’t really understand much at all.

By: burt

burt — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 10:00:32 +0000

New Zealand wages will always be sticky if govt’s campaign on policies of envy and have very aggressive tax thresholds. NZ’s “proud” heritage of “Nobody earns too much and nobody earns too little” (complete socialist clap trap that should have been left with the period it sprang from) has a lot to answer for here.

Celebrating success, congratulating people who make a lot of money and aspire. If we all sit around saying “look at the rich prick – must have ripped someone off” then increasing wages fights a battle with company profits and societies values.

By: Paul Williams

Paul Williams — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 09:52:35 +0000

Productivity increased, but these gains were not passed on to workers.

Point well made George, NZ wages are notorioiusly sticky… salary and wages earners have not benefited proportionately to productivity increases compared with shareholders.

By: OECD rank 22 kiwi

OECD rank 22 kiwi — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 09:45:06 +0000

Plenty of sour grapes from the Left still. It’s good of them to provide the free entertainment.

By: burt

burt — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 09:39:58 +0000

The election was about trust – fire the spin puppet that thought that was a good approach. Reid nails it when he says “Blaming others was something the 5th Liarbore govt made into an art form”. The Labour govt will continue this theme with the current govt, all bad things that happen from here on in will be National’s fault. National’s fault from the 90’s or National’s fault from this term. It’s ridiculous their supporters agree with them but it’s true – they are really that partisan and stupid.

By: calendar girl

calendar girl — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 09:23:33 +0000

Spot on, Nomestradamus. The new Government should demand repeatedly that Labour produce its promised December mini-budget for the electorate to make its own judgment.

By: Nomestradamus

Nomestradamus — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 08:30:59 +0000

Burt:

The election was all about trust.

Labour promised to release its special budget in December. They should still do so. The only difference now, of course, is that they’re in opposition – but voters are entitled to compare Labour’s special budget against National’s tax cuts package (also due next month) – which Labour will no doubt oppose. That way voters can make up their own minds who they trust more: Labour’s vacuous “trust us” rhetoric, or National’s specific policy measure.

By: burt

burt — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 08:20:43 +0000

The pattern from the 90’s looks ready to be repeated. Labour get tossed out of office after years of spending like a drunken sailor. National get elected at a time when the economy is turning to shit. A decade from now the lefties will be crowing about how good it was under Labour (heading fast toward a brick wall) and how bad it was under National (crashing into a brick wall).

The voters will continue to think that politics is all about some simple left vs right divide assisted by [two ticks Labour]|[two ticks National] election campaigns.

Round we go again.

By: Redbaiter

Redbaiter — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 08:14:50 +0000

Mr Darroch, why don’t you start your own business. Then you can pay workers the wages you think they’re due.

By: georgedarroch

georgedarroch — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 07:57:27 +0000

“you also accept that the solution to wage levels is increased productivity growth, well it is a very long-term project to increase productivity growth.”

Not when productivity has been decoupled from wages.

The solution to higher wage levels is higher wages. Productivity growth increased significantly in the 1990s, but wages stagnated, as the minimum wage was held at $7 for most of the decade (yes, $7 per hour – how were we supposed to catch up to $16 Australia with that minimum wage?), Don Brash kept hiking interest rates to stop ‘wage inflation’ whenever we got to 6% unemployment (that was supposedly the floor, beneath which a stable economy was impossible), and effective bargaining and work rights were destroyed by the Employment Contracts Act.

Productivity increased, but these gains were not passed on to workers.

Under Labour the minimum wage was increased, wages increased in real terms, and the share of the economy in wages increased substantially.