Gordon Campbell on the endless spending on Defence
Defence is the one area of government spending where the politicians never, ever demand – but how on earth do we propose to pay for […]
Economy
Gordon Campbell on the politics of “greedflation”
Even though inflation has peaked – it fell to 6.7% last week – we are still being told to expect high interest rates to persist […]
Gordon Campbell on tax injustice, and on being prepped for war with China
The IRD’s significant research proves that the rich (on average) are taxed on their income at less than half the rate paid by ordinary wage […]
Gordon Campbell on the morning after Three Waters
Reportedly, local democracy has been saved from the brutal tyranny of centralised water reform. One would like to think that spirited debate is now breaking […]
Gordon Campbell on hiking up interest rates
Elsewhere in the world, some central bankers are showing signs of re-considering the wisdom of barrelling on with the crusade against inflation. For fear that […]
Gordon Campbell on using the trade weapon against China
Yikes. First Rob Campbell, now Steve Maharey. It seems we are going to fire – or expect public self-flagellation –from every chair of a Crown […]
Gordon Campbell on the sacking of Rob Campbell
Unfortunately, truth was not a defence available to Rob Campbell. He will now be replaced as chair of Te Whatu Ora, the organisation set up […]
Gordon Campbell on National’s “do nothing” alternative to Three Waters
There are sound economic reasons (and equally good reasons to do with social equality) why the Three Waters scheme would centralise water management into four […]
Gordon Campbell on the mauling of Maureen Pugh
National MP Maureen Pugh’s claim that the jury is still out on human-induced climate change – and her rapid conversion to the opposite POV – […]
Gordon Campbell on the cult of political boldness
The next recession is shaping up as the most predicted event since the Second Coming. While we have to take it on faith that it […]
Gordon Campbell on National’s clueless stance on National Super
National Party leader Christopher Luxon seems to be quite a big fan of the conservative mullet – long on populist posturing at the front, but […]
Gordon Campbell on nursing’s long road to residency
The reluctance to offer a direct pathway to residency to nurses never made any sense – whether that be politically, economically or in terms of […]
Gordon Campbell on the gaslighting about inflation
Reportedly, we’re going to need to have a recession next year in order to curb our wild spending habits and bring inflation under control. According […]
Gordon Campbell on the midterms, Adrian Orr and taxing the Banks
It used to be a joke, but it seems that a lot of Republicans really might have moved to Florida to escape from the gulag […]
Gordon Campbell on bank profits, and the US midterms
So far, the political response to excessive bank profits has held up a mirror to party identity. Labour thinks the level of bank profits is […]
Gordon Campbell on why wages and jobs shouldn’t be inflation cannon fodder
Hearing Don Brash being wheeled out on RNZ as an expert on taming inflation must have caused whiplash among some listeners. Contrary to myth, Brash‘s […]
Gordon Campbell On The Battle Over Emissions Pricing
According to the leader of the National Party, farmers are this country’s true conservationists, and tireless in their efforts to protect the environment on which […]
Gordon Campbell on why New Zealand isn’t heavily taxed
Allegedly, New Zealand is a highly taxed country with a government prone to big spending. Supposedly, that’s why we need to scrap the top tax […]
Gordon Campbell on why nothing succeeds like failure
As predicted in this column on Tuesday, the Bank of England has finally intervened to bail Britain out of its self-inflicted economic crisis. The Bank […]
Gordon Campbell on what Britain’s tax cutting spree means for us
Well, that didn’t take long. Briefly, the pageantry of the royal funeral had made Britain look like a world power again. But last Friday’s package […]
Gordon Campbell on ram-raids as a policy outcome, not a cause
New British PM Liz Truss is giving us a useful foretaste of what a change of government here next year would deliver: tax cuts, welfare […]
Gordon Campbell on Air New Zealand’s bumpy path to Covid recovery
Air New Zealand’s new non-stop service to JFK international airport in New York recently received a ton of free publicity, even though the airline’s mishandling […]
Gordon Campbell on King Coal’s comeback, plus a music playlist
Of late, the news bulletins have been carrying alarming images of extreme flooding in parts of Asia, and extreme drought across Europe. Pakistan has 7,000 […]
Gordon Campbell on Labour’s self-inflicted Kiwisaver disaster
In years to come, the Great Kiwisaver Fees Fiasco is going to be taught in schools as a lesson in political mis-management. To put it […]
Gordon Campbell on the centre-left’s reluctance to pursue radical options
The term “Overton Window” was coined by the US political scientist Joseph Overton, and it refers to the policies deemed to be politically acceptable at […]
Gordon Campbell on our paranoid policies on immigration
If only we could take one tenth of the energy we currently expend on worrying about what Ian Foster’s coaching policies are doing to the […]
Gordon Campbell on why the state buying Kiwibank is no big deal
So… The government itself has bought Kiwibank off its current trio of state-related owners (NZ Post, NZ Super Fund and the ACC) in a transaction […]
Gordon Campbell on why big spenders are not our tourism salvation
Covid and climate change have been changing the face of tourism. That’s why it seemed oddly premature last week for Tourism Minister Stuart to announce […]
Gordon Campbell on National’s incredible disappearing tax policy
During the years of the Key government one hardy perennial of political journalism was that whenever the Labour Opposition would suggest a policy alternative to […]
Gordon Campbell on why we should pay Kiwis living abroad
This morning, National’s deputy leader Nicola Willis managed to get top of the bulletin news coverage by pointing out that some Kiwis living abroad might […]