Gordon Campbell on Labour’s cave-in to the business lobbies
At a time when New South Wales is in crisis over the Delta variant, it seems bizarre that our government is willing to risk heading […]
Economy
Gordon Campbell on the supermarket scam, and on Tunisia’s scrapping of democracy
Are we paying too much for our groceries? Hmm. Is the Pope a Catholic? Given that the two Australian supermarket chains that dominate our grocery […]
Gordon Campbell On Britain’s Pathetic Trade Deal With Australia
So much for those assurances that New Zealand would be the first cab off the rank for any post -Brexit trade deal with the United […]
Gordon Campbell on why it’s getting harder to walk the tightrope between China and the US
This morning, China announced it is changing its “two child” family limit to a “three child” policy. This looks like a desperate attempt to fix […]
On Budget 2021’s successes and failures
In some realms of the centre-right, Budget 2021 has been portrayed as a “peak Labour” exercise in which the government has veered sharply leftwards in […]
Gordon Campbell on why the public doesn’t always do what its told, even in 24 different languages
Today we were told that the Covid vaccines available to New Zealand are both halal and kosher. Good to know. And good to officially recognise […]
Gordon Campbell on why the Reserve Bank won’t be spooked by inflation making a comeback
One year into the pandemic, people are still getting sick and dying at different rates according to their age, gender, ethnic background and income level […]
Gordon Campbell on leaving women out of the job creation plans, plus the current vaccine blues
Women workers have taken an unequal impact of the job losses caused by the pandemic but so far almost all the government’s job creation efforts […]
Gordon Campbell on the case for investing in coastal shipping
The enduring damage done by the economic reforms of the 1980/1990s is still playing out in the communities that lost thousands of well-paid full time […]
Gordon Campbell on that $4 billion hit to National’s economic cred
National released its economic and tax policy last Friday. Weirdly, the plan was announced right at the end of the news week, when whatever impact […]
Gordon Campbell on tourism’s endless sense of grievance
Sad that a once in a century pandemic should have come along before the government had a clearly thought out plan for rescuing all the […]
Gordon Campbell on the transTasman tinkering with Covid-related poverty
On September 25, the government’s Covid-19 rent freeze will expire. A fortnight ago, the Commerce Commission (in response to a complaint) sent out a letter […]
Gordon Campbell on saving small firms, and disowning Peter Thiel
According to Business NZ, over 97^ of New Zealand firms employ only 20 or fewer staff. One of the political myths about such firms is […]
Gordon Campbell on Trump’s current chances of re-election
How likely is it that the world will wake up on November 4th facing the prospect of another four years of Donald Trump? Short answer: […]
Gordon Campbell on the sorry plight of the international education sector
Tourism and international education have been two of the sectors hardest hit by the pandemic. They’re both key export industries. Yet the government response to […]
Gordon Campbell on the problems the pandemic is causing for Big Oil
Chances are, climate change won’t kill you overnight, and that’s got to be significant. Yet while we were all in lockdown listening to the birdsong, […]
Gordon Campbell on using the Army to soak up the Covid unemployed
Once the government’s wage subsidies run out and the Covid job losses really kick in, there could – conceivably – be a role for the […]
Gordon Campbell on why high taxes and austerity shouldn’t ruin the Covid recovery
Even before you factor in the tendency of National’s caucus to self-implode, Judith Collins should have her work cut out. Somehow, she has to convince […]
Gordon Campbell on National’s Great Leap Backwards
It isn’t surprising that at the height of its disarray, National should have looked for certainty and picked the least introspective candidate on offer. With […]
Gordon Campbell on why we shouldn’t be pushed into re-opening our borders
I believe in yesterday as much as Paul McCartney, but it was bemusing to see the amount of media attention lavished last week on the […]
Gordon Campbell on why women with opinions can be SO annoying
Good grief. Well, we shouldn’t be all that surprised at National MP Paul Goldsmith and his “ stick to your knitting” comment yesterday. Sexism and […]
Gordon Campbell on Level One, and living with predatory markets
Welcome to Level One, earthlings. This is the new normality while the virus still roams beyond the border walls. Those borders will remain closed and […]
Gordon Campbell on why welfare reform has no champions in Parliament
Ever since Victorian times, the unemployed have been a problem for those more fortunate, wealthy and powerful. Down the ages, society has been torn between […]
Gordon Campbell on Budget 2020
Welcome to the breadline. Treasury’s best case scenario sees unemployment reaching 9.8% by September and yet… the coalition government seems to have decided it can […]
Gordon Campbell on Level Two, and Little Richard
Level Two will be life Jim, but not as we’ve known it. At 4pm today, PM Jacinda Ardern will announce the Cabinet decision on when […]
Gordon Campbell on one of the shadows over Level Two
For many New Zealanders, the imminent shift to Level Two is going to be a momentous occasion. Here’s another looming landmark likely to be just […]
Gordon Campbell on the trans-Tasman bubble, and the future of airlines
As the epidemiologists keep on saying, a trans-Tasman bubble will require having in place beforehand a robust form of contact tracing, of tourists and locals […]
Gordon Campbell on the dodgy politics of easing Level Three
As countries around the world tentatively emerge from lockdown, a lot of political noise is being generated by politically-driven arguments that (a) the safeguards need […]
Gordon Campbell on exceptions for tourism, and on the quest for a Covid-19 vaccine
As David Foster Wallace famously pointed out, each of us regard our own precious selves as the realest, most vivid and important persons in the […]
Gordon Campbell on living at Level Three with residual anxiety
Two weeks. That’s roughly the length of time the government has given itself between moving to Level Three, and making a decision on May 11 […]