“Another plunge into global recession in 2010 or 2011 is being tipped by expatriate New Zealand economist Robert Wade - unless governments tackle the underlying causes of the past year’s crisis.”
From The NZ Herald
The “Mr Nice Guys” like Prime Minister John Key - and US President Barack Obama - who have soared high on the basis of personal popularity and feel-good vibes - are now finding out the hard way that there is more to making a good political hamburger than mere sizzle.
If Key does not want to preside over a one-term Government, he must set about constructing a crucial point of difference by starting to act as his nation’s CEO instead of the prime political firefighter who repeatedly rides to the rescue to save his Government from fiascos caused by his own lax political management.
From The NZ Herald
“Bold tax reforms and changes to the mix of monetary and fiscal policy are needed if New Zealand is to rebalance its economy and close the gap with Australia, according to the Treasury’s head.”
From the NZ Herald
“Talk of a cross-party agreement offers the Government a chance to rebalance New Zealand’s tax system say the New Zealand Manufacturers and Exporters Association (NZMEA). The tax haven in land and buildings has fuelled non-tradeable inflation and this is too much for the tradeable sector to carry. The claim that a Capital Gains Tax, where the family home is exempt, is unpalatable has more to do with the self interest of a few than any general rejection.
NZMEA Chief Executive John Walley says, “Things like reducing Government spending and minimising compliance costs are necessary but we cannot expect a balanced economy while property tax havens exist. Phil Goff is to be congratulated for making an offer of a cross party agreement, adding his voice to those of the Treasury and the Reserve Bank. Now is the time to balance the tax code and close off this damaging tax haven.”
“Bill English has spelt out the problems with New Zealand’s economy; there is too much household consumption and insufficient investment in the traded economy. It is difficult to attract productive investment when investments in land and buildings are tax free and the return on tradable activity is so uncertain due to a massively overvalued currency. Real policy change is needed, not talk or wishful thinking.”
“Alan Bollard also spelt out the difficulties of managing inflation during a housing bubble in his last Monetary Policy Statement. The high interest rates aimed at stopping the housing bubble attract foreign money damaging the export sector via a substantially over-valued dollar.”
“If the Government is opposed to an asset tax we at least need to hear why – ‘I don’t like them’ does not convey why they are a bad idea for the country.”
“Most banks are only interested in making as much money as possible out of their current customers, Kiwibank chief executive Sam Knowles says.”
“New Zealand is “using the credit card to pay the mortgage” and if it continues we will lose our sovereignty to Australia, politicians were told today.”
“Technology exporter Rakon yesterday called for something to be done about the volatility of the New Zealand dollar.”
“Overseas traders profit from playing with our currency and they do so partly because as a nation we borrow so much offshore for non-export product assets, such as investment in housing,” chairman Bryan Mogridge said at the annual meeting.
“How on earth can we expect the government to rationally debate the need for a capital gains or land tax when they’re just as ruthlessly exploiting the tax laws to reduce their taxes. And they’re in charge of collecting taxes!”
“As the furore surrounding Ministers’ use of taxpayer money for housing allowances escalates, it has come to light that some Ministers are receiving rent from properties they own from fellow MP’s, and that the income is from taxpayer funded living allowances.”
“David Preston offered a good appraisal of our monetary policy in his presentation entitled Putting Credit Back into Monetary Policy. His argument was that if you measure the success of monetary policy only by the objectives set out in the Policy Targets Agreement then it has been fairly successful, but if you measure success according to wider economic objectives then it has failed.”