We (the Phoenix) have a home “semi” today. Now the use of the word semi is strange – if we win, we play the Newcastle Jets. If we win that we play the loser of the two legged playoff between Sydney and Melbourne. If we win that, we play the winner of the two legged […]
David Farrar states that this is how Labour has framed the idea of tax cuts – a $150,000 pay increase for Jack Paul Reynolds, and only a few dollars for the rest of us. David states that we must look at the macroeconomic impact, and that we can’t focus on who gets what, specifically he […]
Nick Rowe has a great post on technology and labour. Fundamentally, it states that, one day, increases technology and improving capital will replace labour, destroying demand for labour. I was discussing a similar issue with Linuxlover on Twitter (and who blogs here). Both men seemed to imply that such a situation could be a bad […]
I have nothing against the idea of a “financial hub” per see. We can make an argument for “infant industries” or “positive spillovers” to justify government involvement. However, the burden of proof is on those making the claims. That is why the Herald story on this makes me suspicious. Making New Zealand an international finance […]
Further to our discussion of New Zealand doing a compensated shift of taxes from income to GST (see here, here, here, here, here, here, here) we come to the issue of economic imbalances in NZ. Ok, so the imbalance has something to do with tradable sector activity flatlining while non-tradable sector activity increased – meaning […]
There is talk that a lower income tax might, at the margin, reduce immigration. Now when the income tax cut is measured with an increase in consumption taxes, this argument becomes a lot weaker. By taxing consumption instead of income we increase the price of everything, and thereby lower incomes. If people HAD to consume […]