The main thing that saved us from a total economic meltdown in 2008 was a very robust banking system. Amid all the silliness going on in the rest of the world, our banks still insisted on 20% deposits for home buyers (smaller deposits were allowed but in restricted numbers), giving
Every time we go into recession, it is a bolt from the blue. Remember in 1987, and indeed in 2008, times were good, everyone was employed, the economy was strong… and then BANG – it all fell apart within weeks. And so it is again. At the end of last year,
Our favourite website during this crisis has become the Worldometer, or the Death-o-meter, as it is fondly known in our house. Every day, it shows the new numbers of cases of Covid-19, including deaths, in every country in the world. We have been watching New Zealand climbing up the leaderboard
I guess I had expected any apocalypse that I live through to be more about zombies and pestilence rather than all this… silence. Actually, we do have the pestilence, but as it is populated by those ‘invisible little beasties’ that invade your body and immune system, it doesn’t feel
OK, now for some boring stuff. Money is going to become very short over the next few weeks. Sure, businesses have had some assistance from the government to help to pay wages (and I commend the government on their assistance package) but as payments to businesses dry up, things will
You can get toilet paper, Dettol and tissues if you try hard enough, but one thing that is impossible to get hold of these days is hand sanitiser. And the advice to wash your hands often and well is good, but there are always times when you simply cannot wash
I have been working with a few local business people, helping them to put together an application for funds from the government from their stimulus package, announced last Tuesday. While I spent some time preparing figures to demonstrate the 30% downturn in income from last year, it seems it was
The government has announced a $12.1 billion package to assist with job losses and general economic stimulus as a result of Covid-19. Before we look at it in more detail, it is important to remember that it is the fiscal responsibility of the last 3 finance ministers (including Grant
People’s reactions to Covid-19 have been interesting, to say the least. There is my very good friend (a leftie, who is also a big fan of Jacinda) who says everyone is overreacting, and in the end, it is ‘only old people’. Tell that to Tom Hanks and his wife,
Editorial Note: At the time of writing and when this post was scheduled the service had not been cancelled. It is possible that by the time this publishes things may have changed. The Black Caps are playing their One Day series against Australia behind closed doors. The series will go
Jacinda is now tolerating racism within her own government. Yes. While I agree that most calls of racism these days are nothing of the sort, the attack by Shane Jones on the Indian community certainly has more reason to be called racism than any criticism of Meghan Markle’s behaviour
Well, here we are, with 3 confirmed cases of the virus in New Zealand. It seems that the answer to the question as to what 3 things you would take with you on a desert island is: toilet paper, bottled water and hand sanitiser. Dettol now seems to be joining
It doesn’t matter how much the government tries to beat up landlords, the landlords will always win. It is always the tenant that pays the price, no matter what. Sure, many landlords are affected by scumbag tenants who leave their property in a bad way, or damage it extensively,
When Helen Clark and Michael Cullen introduced Kiwisaver in 2007, the best thing about the scheme was that it was independent of government interference. Sure, contributions are collected by IRD, along with other payroll deductions if you are an employee, but the contributions are then transferred to your fund untouched.
The anniversary of the dreadful March 15 mosque attacks approaches, and we all expect this to be an opportunity for Jacinda to grandstand, don a headscarf, hug people and delight the international media with her kindness and fairy dust. She will also be hoping that it will help her flagging
The Coronavirus is rapidly turning into a pandemic. The really worrying thing about this virus is how incredibly easily it passes from human to human. It seems you only have to look at someone with the virus, and you’ve got it. Countries are trying desperately to bring the bug
