Archive for September, 2016
Thursday, September 29th, 2016
First published on Werewolf
Here’s a link to a brilliant piece by the Aussie economist John Quiggin - occasionally of this parish – about the failures of the market when it comes to the delivery of social programmes.
I particularly liked this introductory contrast between Thomas Edison and Tony Blair :
Thomas Edison ...
Posted in Articles | 4 Comments »
Tuesday, September 27th, 2016
First published on Werewolf
Obviously, anyone paying much attention in recent weeks has been serially appalled/amazed/cynically amused by The Great Fish Dumping Fiasco, and the evidence of top Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) officials being caught in email flagrante saying such stuff as… how they don't dare to enforce the official ...
Posted in Articles | 15 Comments »
Monday, September 26th, 2016
First published on Werewolf
Thousands of prisoners currently in prison may be entitled to an earlier release than expected – and compensation – because Corrections has incorrectly calculated their term of imprisonment. Thousands more who have been released (and who served longer terms than they should have) may also qualify for ...
Posted in Articles | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, September 21st, 2016
First published on Werewolf
Hey, how hard is to be John Key? Not very. Yesterday in New York for instance, Key basically took an old May 2 Washington Post article written by Barack Obama, recycled it back to the Americans, and still scored headlines here at home such as: “John Key ...
Posted in Articles | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, September 20th, 2016
First published on Werewolf
Our faith in the benign workings of the market – and of the light-handed regulation that goes with it – has had a body count. Back in 1992, the free market friendly Health Safety and Employment Act gutted the labour inspectorate and turned forestry, mining and other ...
Posted in Articles | 3 Comments »
Thursday, September 15th, 2016
First published on Werewolf
So, in order to chase up the fathers (and in a few rare cases, the mothers) who may be dodging their responsibility for paying child support… WINZ is evidently willing to blackmail the parent who is doing the actual caring, and thereby push the child concerned further ...
Posted in Articles | 9 Comments »
Tuesday, September 13th, 2016
First published on Werewolf
When it feels so inclined, the Key government can put its foot down hard on the accelerator. Time and again the period for public submissions (and the scrutiny of them by MPs) has been drastically shortened, supposedly so that a busy government can press onwards and get ...
Posted in Articles | 2 Comments »
Friday, September 9th, 2016
First published on Werewolf
Of late, we’ve all heard a lot of anxious media talk about how automation is poised to wipe out the white collar office jobs on which middle class incomes and lifestyles depend. The looming social upheaval forms a big part of the argument for the Universal Basic ...
Posted in Articles | 12 Comments »
Wednesday, September 7th, 2016
First published on Werewolf
So Auckland’s average house price has now topped a million dollars and in her usual role as flak catcher and diversion from such headlines, Social Housing Minister Paula Bennett has rushed out a puny funding boost for community housing.
The $24.4 million of funding will allow community housing ...
Posted in Articles | 3 Comments »
Thursday, September 1st, 2016
First published on Werewolf
Reportedly, Apple owes Ireland $US14 billion in unpaid taxes, plus interest. Not that Ireland seems to want the reputational risk involved in the terrifying role that the European Commission has just landed it with. Yikes. In the wake of Brexit, Dublin had been hoping to displace London ...
Posted in Articles | Comments Off on Gordon Campbell on Apple’s unpaid tax issues