Posts Tagged ‘inequality’

Inequality – Treasury report

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 7:22 am, June 29th, 2015 - 22 comments

Last week Treasury came out with a detailed and interesting report, Inequality in New Zealand 1983/84 to 2013/14. It is no surprise to find that the last Labour government acted to reduce inequality, the current National government has acted to increase it.

The death of trickle down economics and the mess we’re in

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 7:11 am, June 17th, 2015 - 139 comments

Trickle down economics is pronounced dead by the IMF. Housing, the working poor and the economy – the policy settings are wrong everywhere.

Poverty and the budget

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 10:37 am, May 18th, 2015 - 13 comments

The levels of poverty and inequality in NZ are a disgrace. Apparently the budget is to “arrest the decline”, but we have heard such promises again and again from Key.

Welcome to Wealth Gap Tower

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 3:52 pm, April 24th, 2015 - 452 comments

A great illustration of the gap between money-rich and money-poor in NZ.

On poverty, parenting, and Paula

Written By: Stephanie Rodgers - Date published: 1:00 pm, March 24th, 2015 - 67 comments

In times of trouble for the National Party, you can always rely on them to raise the rallying cry of “Personal responsibility!!!”

Locking in housing inequality

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 3:20 pm, February 9th, 2015 - 37 comments

We are in the process of locking in inequality through the intergenerational ownership of housing, thus squeezing more and more mobility out of society.

Espiner profile on Andrew Little

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 12:30 pm, January 20th, 2015 - 17 comments

Guyon Espiner has a paywalled profile of Andrew Little up at The Listener.

An interesting milestone

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 4:22 pm, January 19th, 2015 - 37 comments

An interesting milestone in inequality is about to be passed.

Inequality – two excellent pieces

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 8:55 am, December 14th, 2014 - 65 comments

Inequality has been very much in the news recently. Friday saw the publication of two really excellent pieces that between them provide a comprehensive, if depressing overview.

Christmas at the extremes

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 10:24 am, December 13th, 2014 - 65 comments

Two New Zealands will shortly celebrate Christmas, the poor and the rich. Here’s a crazy thought…

None so blind

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 7:50 am, December 12th, 2014 - 181 comments

Message to today’s anonymous Herald editorialist – competition doesn’t close the inequality gap, it widens it. In other news, black is black not white, and water is wet. How can you write such drivel?

Polity: OECD on inequality and growth

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 7:42 am, December 10th, 2014 - 33 comments

Rob Salmond notes the OECD report saying the West – and New Zealand more than any – have had their growth held back by income inequality. Do we have a government willing to do anything about it?

Cause of poverty and inequality found!

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 8:06 am, October 8th, 2014 - 36 comments

Good news citizens! The National government has revealed unto us today the cause of poverty and inequality.

Boots Theory: Numbers are meaningless when families are living in cars

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 10:59 am, October 5th, 2014 - 137 comments

There’s something obscene about the way the economic story gets framed: the figures on a page, the points on an index, the number of dollars someone can swap for a number of different-coloured dollars, when people are suffering.

NRT: Kiwis care about inequality

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 3:46 pm, August 29th, 2014 - 8 comments

Roy Morgan has a poll out today looking at the issues affecting New Zealanders and therefore this election. Social inequality is rising as an issue as the world economy has stopped getting worse.

Polity: MSD dumps on National’s “net tax” nonsense

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 3:33 pm, July 10th, 2014 - 47 comments

Rob Salmond has been looking through the newly released Ministry of Social Development’s Household Incomes Report. It really is invaluable.

Polity: What tax would Warren Buffet pay in New Zealand?

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 1:58 pm, June 26th, 2014 - 14 comments

With the ritual whining from the right about our tax rates in New Zealand now that Labour given aspects of their alternative budget, it pays to consider what the real tax rates for the wealthy here are. Because of our lack of a capital gains tax, we are in the strange position where we would tax a wealthy investor like Warren Buffet a lot less than he is in the USA. Thats outrageous.

Local Bodies: National’s Campaign Strategy Stinks

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 9:58 am, June 20th, 2014 - 25 comments

We all know from reading Nicky Hager’s The Hollow Men (or watching the documentary) that the National Party actually advocates for a small section of society. Their policies rarely support most New Zealanders and after each period of a National led Government we have costly messes like leaky buildings and dead miners as the aftermath. This isn’t to say that Labour shouldn’t take responsibility for not repealing dodgy legislation, but National has always stood for less regulation, fewer protections for workers and the environment and an upward flow of money to the already rich.

The Human Cost of Inequality

Written By: lprent - Date published: 2:10 pm, May 18th, 2014 - 131 comments

The Sir Douglas Robb Lectures for 2014 start tomorrow evening in Auckland. These three free lectures are being given by the authors of “The Spirit Level: Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better”, a book much hated by those amongst us who would prefer that societies either didn’t exist or were more unequal and tilted in their favour. Based on many of the trolls here on this topic, it’d appear that most Act supporters and many National supporters appear fall into this category.

An Easter message: greed is not good

Written By: karol - Date published: 9:15 am, April 21st, 2014 - 14 comments

Greed used to be regarded as a major sin. Now it is often seen as either trivial, or, in Gordon Gekko’s words, “Greed is good”. Greed has become a religion, focused on the sacred “economy” and its “market” of (allegedly) “invisible hands”. Greed fuels inequality and undermines democracy. Democracy needs a more critical public sphere and media.

Assuming justice and creating justice

Written By: Stephanie Rodgers - Date published: 10:00 am, March 23rd, 2014 - 35 comments

I’ve been thinking about politics, assumptions, and justice. I sat in on a recording of The Egonomist on Friday – thanks for having me there, guys! – and we discussed some of the issues and reactions to Sarah Wilson‘s articles on WINZ, specifically the backlash from people who insist that Sarah must be a liar, […]

NRT: Inequality is bad for growth

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 2:44 pm, March 4th, 2014 - 7 comments

No Right Turn succinctly points out the impact of the International Monetary Fund changing its mind on the adverse effects of inequality in the economic sphere. A case of an accumulation of facts overriding dumb ideology.

Socioecomonic status and educational outcomes (and the ignorance of DPF)

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 7:50 am, January 25th, 2014 - 49 comments

It would suit the right-wing of politics to ignore the profound impact of poverty on education. Nat blogger DPF ran the line just yesterday. His bombastic and ignorant conclusion is based on a trivially superficial reading of Hattie’s work.

Consumerism’s ‘desert of the real’

Written By: karol - Date published: 8:48 am, January 6th, 2014 - 47 comments

In The Matrix Neo discovers that his “reality”, is a virtual world that had kept him from seeing “the desert of the real”. George Monbiot cites research that shows how capitalism is eating itself and its consumers. The marketing con of “the good life” – desert of the real.

Must watch TV tonight

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 12:37 pm, August 29th, 2013 - 80 comments

Inside New Zealand: Mind the Gap: A Special Report on Inequality tonight on TV3, 7.30pm.

A king is born: Long Live Inequality!

Written By: karol - Date published: 10:54 am, July 25th, 2013 - 87 comments

UK children born on the same day as the new prince will get a silver penny: but their lives will be vastly different. Left foot Forward spells out the inequalities between these new born. John Key gushes over the new prince, while his government slashes, burns and fuels inequalities.

Inequality: Fallow vs Rashbrooke

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 7:44 am, July 20th, 2013 - 139 comments

Yesterday The Herald ran two pieces on the latest Ministry of Social Development’s report on household income. They have very different conclusions – Brian Fallow’s Rising inequality largely a myth and Max Rashbrooke’s Rich get richer. The poor? Have a guess. So who’s right?