Matt Nolan

All I want for budget day

/4 Comments/in /by
  • Is a clear plan regarding the medium term budget.
  • A clear plan around how we will fund long-term expenditure.
  • A movement towards treating asset classes the same way through the tax system.
  • The reintroduction of interest on student loans

I’m not being greedy, these four things will pretty much do me 😉

I’ve noticed that they are talking about building costs, and housing supply.  Fair enough.  I also noticed something about milk/food in schools, fair enough as well (wonder how it will compare with the Labour scheme, which I was favourable about – and note nice post over at Offsetting).  Will be good to see these points comes out.

What are you hoping will be in your Budget day stocking?

Update:  I see alternative budgets from Don Brash and Roger Douglas.  While I agree about the long-term budget concerns (due to things like healthcare spending and superannuation), and I can understand the worries about housing investment I broadly disagree with everything else in these pieces – it isn’t that I think they are being inaccurate (they are not), I’m just not persuaded that the arguments they are making reflect the full equity-efficiency trade-off society is willing to undertake.

4 replies
  1. PP
    PP says:

    Agree with your points 1 and 3, however on
    2) I would take the MMT angle that “funding” expenditure isn’t a concern (and neither is reaching surplus or running deficits per se) – it’s about whether that expenditure is risking an explosion in inflation (whatever that means precisely).
    4) wait until my student loan is repaid – not long now…

    • Matt Nolan
      Matt Nolan says:

      With point 2), my thought is very much around the rising cost of healthcare – we need to be honest about the trade-offs that exist given that.

      WIth point 4) hehehehehehe. My student loan still has a while to go, and given I’m going to start studying again it is going to go up further. Right now the lack of interest definitely helps me as an individual 😉

      • PP
        PP says:

        Yes let’s be made aware of the trade offs. But it should be: a clear plan around how best the government spend in order to provide health service, education and base services to ALL (as opposed to how to fund it – that part is easy)

        • Matt Nolan
          Matt Nolan says:

          That funding part is most definitely not easy – as it is incredibly difficult to figure out who bears the burden of any tax. Just because you place a tax on one place does not mean you know who is ultimately paying.

          Also what we mean by health, education and base services is socially debatable. My impression is that what we mean by these services is more than some would think, and less than some others would think 😉

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