Gordon Campbell on child poverty, and John Coltrane
John Key’s rationale for refusing to throw the state’s resources behind reducing child poverty is the lamest excuse since “The dog ate my homework.”
Statistics
Gordon Campbell on John Key trying to talk up our – and China’s – ailing economy
It wasn’t exactly Winston Churchill rallying the nation in 1940, but Prime Minister John Key chose to open his post-Cabinet press conference yesterday with a […]
Gordon Campbell on UE pass rates and university dropout rates
Houston, there is clearly a problem with (a) the plunge in pass rates for University Entrance qualifications, which has been especially steep among Maori students […]
Gordon Campbell on the America’s Cup, and Lee Marvin
Like the Commonwealth Games, the America’s Cup is one of those large sporting events that is struggling to find anyone foolish enough to want to […]
Gordon Campbell on Steven Joyce’s student loans debacle
Gordon Campbell on Steven Joyce’s student loans debacle By Gordon Campbell Of all the ways of trying to save “up to” $60-70 million – and […]
Lies, Damn Lies and Opinion Polls
Are journalists prone to being dazzled by numbers?
On evidence that New Zealand is a more socially just society than Australia
Illustration by Tim Denee – www.timdenee.com Before this election campaign began, there was a lot of angst about our income gap with Australia. We will […]
On the Government’s latest plans to Americanise the welfare system
What is it about National’s plans for welfare reform and natural disasters? On the same day in February that the Welfare Working Group released its […]
On the Welfare Working Group final report
Bureaucrats and academics tend to enjoy playing God with the lives of the vulnerable – but evidently, even the Welfare Working Group members couldn’t agree […]
on John Key’s hopes for trade progress at APEC (and the war on P)
Later this week, Prime Minister John Key heads off to the APEC conference in Yokohama, where his hosts seem to be living through some very […]
On the ideology behind state spending cuts, and the Bethune aftermath
Clearly, the cuts to government spending are being driven by ideology and not by the state of the economy. Yesterday’s figures revealed a government deficit […]
On why our business leaders continue to believe in the confidence fairy
(Also: On Vincent Ward) Given the poor economic data from the United States in June, the Reserve Bank obviously needs to halt the upward march […]
On CEO pay, and the calls to hike up interest rates
Lets get this straight. Paying schoolteachers is said to be a very very bad thing to do as we emerge from the recession – but […]
On fresh evidence about the gender pay gap
An appropriate newsflash yesterday for International Women’s Day. After analyzing Inland Revenue data, the Women’s Ministry has found that women almost immediately begin to be […]
On the problems in making the tax cuts equation stack up
Would scrapping the depreciation rules on rental residential property really deliver the $1.6 billion promised? That $1.6 billion sits on one side of the ledger […]
On the government’s clueless response to unemployment and why Mike Moore shouldn’t go to Washington
Well, we’re now seeing some of the fruits of small government, and having government butt out of our lives. Unemployment rose to 7.3 % during […]
The Treasury Update, And Calls for Austerity
Any future built on Treasury forecasts is on shaky ground, but lets assume the relative optimism expressed by Treasury in yesterday’s half yearly fiscal update […]
On Auckland’s Recession
Is the recession something that is mainly happening to Aucklanders? Last Thursday’s Household Labour Force Survey (HLFS) contained evidence to support that notion. Nationally, the […]
On Auckland's Recession
Is the recession something that is mainly happening to Aucklanders? Last Thursday’s Household Labour Force Survey (HLFS) contained evidence to support that notion. Nationally, the […]
The miserly funding of the 9 day fortnight, and Israel’s war on children
Plainly, workers are going to be the first people over the side of the lifeboat during this recession. The main policy idea to emerge from […]
The miserly funding of the 9 day fortnight, and Israel's war on children
Plainly, workers are going to be the first people over the side of the lifeboat during this recession. The main policy idea to emerge from […]