Plus, how we feel about housing affordability and the state of the NZ economy compared to the world, in results from a new Stickybeak poll for The Spinoff. This week marks a year since New Zealand’s first confirmed case of Covid-19, and the support for the measures imposed at the border to throttle the inward … Read more
Plus, how we feel about housing affordability and the state of the NZ economy compared to the world, in results from a new Stickybeak poll for The Spinoff. This week marks a year since New Zealand’s first confirmed case of Covid-19, and the support for the measures imposed at the border to throttle the inward … Read more
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern today addressed the business community in her first policy speech since last month’s election. Here’s what she had to say. What’s all this then? Speaking amid the din of the US election and new lockdowns across Europe, Jacinda Ardern today outlined her government’s economic plans to New Zealand’s business community. Referencing … Read more
The self-proclaimed governors of transformation have not so far infused the ‘wellbeing’ idea they trumpeted into everyday speech. Do they dare do so now, asks Colin James. Jacinda Ardern claimed a “mandate” on election night to “accelerate our response [to Covid] and our recovery”. Does that portend the “government of transformation” she proclaimed three years … Read more
Labour says this will be the Covid election. National says it’s about the economy. There’s something big being missed in the middle, writes Justin Giovannetti. It was the week the economy took centre stage. The scene was set in the pre-election fiscal update, which on Wednesday offered a sobering snapshot of what’s happening under the … Read more
The tweak to the top tax rate was hardly a surprise given NZ voters’ continuing acceptance of a distortionary system that leaves capital gains largely exempt, writes Geof Nightingale. Labour tax policy, announced last week, was pretty brief: a new 39% marginal tax rate on income over $180,000 to raise $550m of new tax revenue. … Read more
Budget 2020: The centrepiece of the 2020 budget revealed today is a massive multibillion outlay for recovery from the pandemic. Here’s how it breaks down – and what the opposition makes of it. Fifty billion sounds like a lot. “This is the most significant financial commitment by a New Zealand government in modern history,” said … Read more
Expected to be the most significant in a generation, Thursday’s budget will reveal how the government will offset the monstrous cost of Covid-19. Terry Baucher explores the likelihood of tax changes. As usual, the finance minister is not lacking for advice in the run-up to this week’s budget. It ought to be something of a … Read more
The government’s extraordinary measures to halt Covid-19 and support the economy have had extraordinary public support. Tony Burton argues that the hard choices about who pays for it will be far less popular. I have lived with a skeleton since the lockdown. It’s white and shiny and takes up half the space in my living … Read more
Trying to directly assist individual firms is a fool’s errand. Monetary policy is approaching its limits. We need to look to bigger, aggressive action, writes former Reserve Bank economist Michael Reddell. The economic implications of the Covid-19 public health emergency are formidable, and are growing by the day. Most of what we’ve seen in New … Read more
An extraordinary week at the national broadcaster ends with a complete backdown on plans to downgrade RNZ Concert and make music staff redundant. Toby Manhire speaks to staff and Helen Clark, and asks: has RNZ’s embarrassment translated into RNZ getting a budget boost? Last Wednesday RNZ music staff were summoned to a meeting to hear … Read more
The government’s books are now expected to go into the red this financial year with a forecast deficit of $900 million, down from a budget forecast surplus of $1.3 billion. The government will borrow $12 billion to spend on transport, schools, hospitals and investment in the regions over the next five years, in a bid … Read more