The National Party has been admonished for its election advert claiming that retirees would pay $140 per week if a wealth tax was introduced. Let’s take a look at that figure, shall we? If a little old lady lived in a house in Auckland worth $1,730,000, then
Mary History has a way of repeating. My strong gut feeling is that the present hysteria happening with the Auckland property market is a repeat of the hysteria of the late 80s, which led to a massive crash in both property and equities. The common denominator is that in neither
Simon Black Bahia Beach, Puerto Rico sovereignman.com In early 1948, a group of US Air Force officers were working on a secret research project in the California desert codenamed MX981. The purpose of MX981 was to test how extreme gravitational forces from fast-moving fighter jets would impact the human
Marcus Roberts mercatornet.com Marcus Roberts was two years out of law school when he decided that practising law was no longer for him. He therefore went back to university and did his LLM while tutoring. He now teaches contract and torts law. Aside from law, his passions include reading
Now that they are not an actual coalition partner in the new government, the Greens are using this opportunity to become unmuzzled. They have decided to go back to the idea of wealth taxes. Perhaps James Shaw is blowing his wealth tax horn because of his massive gaffe over the
Harry Scheule University of Technology Sydney There’s a row brewing in the corridors of financial power. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) recently advised the trading banks that the official cash rate might move from the barely positive into the negative. Right now the RBNZ is holding off
Simon Black Sovereign Valley Farm, Chile sovereignman.com On September 18 of the year 96 AD, a fairly obscure and elderly politician named Marcus Cocceius Nerva was proclaimed Emperor of Rome by the Senate. Rome was in chaos at the time; the empire had suffered from years of turmoil, economic
With a cheerleading media failing to ever hold our hopeless government to account it pays to read international media to get some critical reporting on serious matters. Our media are too focused on what Clarke Gayford tweeted or who Jacinda Ardern has hugged lately. Meanwhile, our government is splurging out
The Government’s income tax changes will be legislated before Christmas and will come into force on April 1 next year. Labour campaigned on creating a new tax bracket for income earned over $180,000. The party proposed to tax income earned above $180,000 at 39 per cent. Read
The Xi regime is bringing the iron fist down in no uncertain terms, both at home and abroad. At home, the Chinese Communist Party summarily squashed what would have been the world’s biggest stockmarket debut when it abruptly suspended the IPO of Jack Ma’s Ant Group Co. Abroad,
Lindsay Mitchell lindsaymitchell.blogspot.com Again the effects of welfarism are manifested in waste and frustration. New Zealand is heading into peak harvest season and there aren’t enough workers to get fruit off trees or vegetables from the ground. “This could be my last crop,” says Heap, who grows
Lest anyone doubt exactly what they are dealing with if they choose to hold their hand out for China’s gold, the Chinese regime periodically shows the world in no uncertain terms just who they are. Anyone who deludes themselves that China is “opening up” ought to have been rudely
Tasmania is famous for producing some of the world’s best seafood, wine and lamb. Not that Tasmanians ever get much chance of enjoying the bounty of their own state: even if we’re prepared to pay through the nose for certain local produce, we end up getting the leavings
At the end of April, the Reserve Bank removed mortgage loan-to-value ratios (LVRs) for 12 months. This decision was made to ensure LVR restrictions didn’t have an undue impact on borrowers or lenders as part of the mortgage deferral scheme implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now there
31st October 2020 I am sitting here waiting for the announcement of a new lockdown in England. It was scheduled for 4pm, then deferred to 5pm, then sometime after 5pm and then 6.30pm. As the contents of the speech due to be made by the Prime Minister have been
