Gordon Campbell on Nicola Willis and her surplus fetish
So…. according to the Treasury, we’ll have to borrow $17.1 billion by June 2028, to help fund ( among other things) a nearly $10 billion […]
Inflation
Gordon Campbell on the attack of the tax cut zombies, and a music playlist
As long ago as 2007, New Zealanders were telling pollsters that while they wanted tax cuts, a majority of the public opposed tax cuts if […]
Gordon Campbell on Luxon’s landlord myths, and the needless nightmare of high interest rates
During the PM’s post-Cabinet press conference yesterday, Christopher Luxon claimed that renters will be feeling “grateful” for the way the government is putting “downward pressure“ […]
Gordon Campbell on the politics as a morality play
To a striking extent, the working class vote in Western societies has been going to right wing demagogues, not to left wing social democrats. Even […]
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 the recession engineered by the Reserve Bank
This week, we got official confirmation that the Reserve Bank has finally achieved the recession it has worked so hard to engineer. The Bank has […]
Gordon Campbell on the Budget
Heaven help us, but this year’s Budget is what a “targeted” and “no frills” response to the financial hardship facing hundreds of thousands of New […]
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 extending the fuel/public transport subsidies
As PM Chris Hipkins says, it’s a “no brainer” to extend the fuel tax cut, half price public subsidy and the cut to the road […]
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 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 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 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 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 Ukraine virtue signalling, and our inflation spike
Inflation at 6.9% is a bad sign of the rising cost of living, and hidden within the headline numbers are some even grislier figures. As […]
Gordon Campbell on our local responses to the global problems of inflation
In the United Kingdom, inflation is running at its highest rate in 30 years. In the US, inflation hit 7% during 2021. You wouldn’t want […]
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 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 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 scrapping the capital gains tax
With the wisdom of hindsight, the Labour/Greens combo never did have the numbers to get a meaningful capital gains tax (CGT) across the line…
Gordon Campbell on regressive taxes, and Frightened Rabbit
The headlines would have you believe that inflation is safely under control, but a Statistics NZ press release yesterday indicates that isn’t the reality being experienced by the poor.
Gordon Campbell on the hype about the Reserve Bank’s new governor
It is time for the ritual handover at the Reserve Bank. Sometime today, Adrian Orr will don the gubernatorial undergarments, drain the Goblet of Knowledge […]
Gordon Campbell on this week’s sharemarket panic
The Dow has precious little to do with the NZ sharemarket…
Chicken Broth For An Ailing Economy
An interview with NZIER chief economist Shamubeel Eaqub, about how to nurture this frail economy through its convalescence