Gordon Campbell on why prescription fees are no way to fund cancer drugs
Who is this Christopher Luxon fellow, really? Over the past two years, we have had so many invitations to find the pearl in the oyster. […]
Economic Policy
Gordon Campbell on the centre-right’s credibility problems
Supposedly, people get the governments they deserve, but what on earth did we do in our past lives to deserve an Opposition as shambolic as […]
Gordon Campbell on the fictions about reckless government spending
Yesterday, the Treasury’s pre-election portrait was significantly out of whack with National’s repeated claims of rampant government mis-management of the economy. Instead, it seems that […]
Gordon Campbell on National’s tax cuts
Since tax cuts are never a free lunch, collecting the revenue to pay for them was always going to be the credibility test of National’s […]
Gordon Campbell on childcare as an election bribe
Down the years, centre-right parties have always found male voters to be receptive to a mix of hard-line economic politics and harsh stances on welfare. […]
Gordon Campbell on National’s selling of its “social investment” policy
There’s a 19th century flavour to National’s “social investment” strategy, in that it aims to seek capital from philanthropists and charitable organisations – some of […]
Gordon Campbell on student debt, policy turns and the Beths
It is an old point to make… But boomers did get a pretty good deal out of their free education and plentiful unionised vacation jobs. […]
Gordon Campbell on Luxon’s second-hand clothes
According to National’s leader Christopher Luxon and the fawning media coverage of the caucus gathering in Queenstown, its “game on!” Not a great metaphor, folks. […]
Gordon Campbell on the dubious wisdom of raising interest rates
During the last half of the 1990s, the first flickering signs of economic growth would cause then-Reserve Bank governor Don Brash to hike up interest […]
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 why raising benefits is a better option than spending on infrastructure
If New Zealand has a pressing need to stimulate its flagging economy, it seems very weird to meet this need with a $12 billion package of infrastructure spending…
Gordon Campbell on the likely role of PPPs in Labour’s infrastructural spending
The same argument that Robertson has made for these projects apply equally to why the government should borrow the money to build them itself
Gordon Campbell on British apologies and interest rate fiddling
In the 1990s, the awesome powers of central bankers would cause markets to tremble… Nowadays, central bankers can hack away at interest rates and nothing will happen.
Gordon Campbell on the Aussie banks’ latest excuse for jacking up bank fees
When the Reserve Bank sought feedback on requiring the country’s major banks to raise their capital reserves then you might have expected the banks to whine and complain.
Gordon Campbell on the usual grumbling about subsidising the Lord of the Rings TV series
We seem to have won this production largely because of the mature film industry infrastructure that NZ has built on the back of those previously subsidized productions.
Gordon Campbell on asking the banks to be nicer to farmers
Farm debt in New Zealand has exploded by 270% in the last 20 years, to around $63 billion.
Gordon Campbell on the fallacy of political moderation
The belief that it is the moderate middle who will decide the outcome of Election 2020 is a deeply ideological stance.
Gordon Campbell on Sir Michael Cullen’s timely and progressive final words on tax reform
To ordinary earners whose income is taxed via PAYE and who also pay GST, there’s something quite surreal about the centre-right’s anguish at the Tax Working Group’s final report.
Gordon Campbell on MP pay and the REAL p.c. danger zone
We’ve always had a dominant form of identity politics in this country, and it is one that’s based almost entirely on the ingrained beliefs of white men of means.
Gordon Campbell on the stereotypes about Jacinda Ardern
On Monday, Act MP David Seymour’s depiction of PM Jacinda Ardern as a clueless lightweight was yet another example of the double bind faced by […]
Gordon Campbell on why worrying about business confidence is a wasted effort
For reasons that amount to little more than a prolonged political sulk over last year’s election result, the corporate world is talking itself into a tantrum.
Gordon Campbell on Jim Bolger’s task force for workplace reform
The neo-liberal wing of the National Party has never really felt that Jim Bolger was one of them, and the feeling was entirely mutual.
Gordon Campbell on the Peters/Ardern triumph
On the Peters/Ardern triumph by Gordon Campbell There are a lot of good reasons to feel joyful about this outcome. It is what so many […]
From the Hood : The Campaign Strategist’s Lament
A National Party Spin Doctor Writes
Ten Reasons For Not Voting National
Three more years of business as usual is the real risk.
Gordon Campbell On The Myth Of Conservative Economic Competence
This myth of conservative competence is as widespread as it is unearned
Gordon Campbell on scrapping the legal rights of gang members
So, Police Minister Paula Bennett thinks some New Zealanders deserve “fewer human rights than others”
Gordon Campbell on Labour’s policy resurgence, and Alex Chilton
For much of this year, almost all the diversity in politics has been down at the retail end, where apparent differences reside in the tone, and in details.
Gordon Campbell on why tax cuts in 2017 would be a (proven) bad idea
The really compelling modern evidence that the magic potion doesn’t work is the state of Kansas under governor Sam Brownback
Gordon Campbell on yesterday’s Budget
Budgies, so their Wikipedia page says, are popular pets around the world due to their small size, low cost, and ability to mimic human speech. […]