The BFD Video: Australia’s Banks are Preparing to Bail-In Retail Bank Deposits
Aussie Banks. Surprised to hear about NZ Banking at 2.20 If you have a great Youtube or Vimeo video to share send it to videos@thebfd.co.nz
Economy
BFD Weekender: Q: Does Airbnb Cause Rents to Increase?
Shelterforce Staff shelterforce.org A: Yes! Since hosts can make 50 to 200 percent more on short-term rentals than on long-term rentals, Airbnb affects purchase prices as well. A: Yes. Despite its preferred image as a home-sharing platform, Airbnb actually involves tens of thousands of rental units
Will Labour Actually BUILD the Roads?
I get the feeling that Jacinda suddenly wants to be taken seriously. She has announced that there will be no wedding this year, thus presumably responding to the #Turnardern movement that said we want a prime minister who doesn’t spend all her time doing fluff pieces and photoshoots. She
Posturing on Child Poverty
I know that some children suffer because they have deadbeat parents. I know some kids are just plain neglected or abused, or worse. But the problem that so many families have these days is paying the rent. And it isn’t going to get better any time soon. This year
11 Kids in Socialist Utopia Burned to Death While Searching For Food
Much has been written about the endemic food shortages in Venezuela. It seems to be almost a goal for these Socialist Utopia to ensure there is no food for their people. If people are starving, of course, they are far easier to control. But with starvation comes desperation, and with
The BFD Video: Trump Gives Special Address at WEF 2020 in Davos
US President Donald Trump is giving a special address on the first day of the 50th World Economic Forum Annual meeting in Davos on Tuesday, January 21. The 2020 World Economic Forum Annual Meeting is convening world leaders to discuss the global, regional and industry agendas under the theme ‘Stakeholders
A Womble Who Is NOT Famous for Thrift and Economy
Apparently the last sighted, the thirty-first, Womble was from New Zealand: named Uncle Dunedin. Unknown even to close followers of the hugely popular time-lapse animation series, Uncle Dunedin has a close relative further north called Cousin Wigram. Here she is, spotted in the wild, buttoning up: something she
The Art of Dealing with Thieving Communists
Will Trump ever stop winning? The Dems are being slowly roasted by their own impeachment process, Iran is suddenly short its top-level terrorist, and the American economy is booming. It’s just got another, enormous shot in the arm, as the Chinese robber-barons are finally being called to
What Does the Trump Trade Deal Mean for Australia & New Zealand?
US president Donald Trump has stared down the mandarins of China and sealed a huge first win in his trade war with the communist state. The Chinese have blinked and handed the US an enormous range of concessions. But, while the deal is a yuge deal for America, it contains
Rents Continue Their Upward Spiral
What happens when you have a chronic housing shortage, too few state houses and a government that continually comes out with landlord unfriendly policies? I have watched landlord after landlord sell their rental properties over the last few years, citing various reasons, but just about all of them are to
The Renewables Scam Wants MORE of Your Money
Isn’t it odd that every proposed “solution” to climate change requires either massive overreach by governments, or mountains of taxpayer’s cash, or most often both? The biggest, most expensive climate boondoggle foisted on long-suffering taxpayers is without a doubt “renewable” energy. Renewables, their advocates insist, are just
The ‘Everyone is Better Off’ Mirage
Smoke & Mirrors So I have been reflecting on how the CoL (and the Media Party) do their propaganda campaigns in relation to tax in general; a real gem is when they call them ‘levies’ not taxes and do so with straight faces. The most recent example was when Jacinda
The ECONOMY: Politikiwi Election Promises Tracker
Over on the website Politikiwi they are tracking the government’s election promises. The website was launched eight months ago and its existence was announced on Reddit. It began as a personal project for 19-year-old software engineer Robert Calvert’s portfolio. Introducing Politikiwi – A polling aggregation and politician
Dickheads Cost Lives
Awareness and voices are raised in criticism of government officials who restricted firebreak cutting and exacerbated the loss of lives, property and animals in Australia’s ferocious bush fires. “We’ve lost two people in my family because you dickheads won’t cut trees down,” Warwick Spooner told Nillumbik Mayor
How to Be a Penniless Billionaire
As you may be aware, Vernon Unsworth (hero of the Philippines cave rescue) recently lost a defamation case against Elon Musk, who had called him a “pedo”. Such are the vagaries of American defamation law that, even though the accusation was completely false, and Musk admitted as much, Unsworth lost
Screw Practicalities, You’re Getting Barriers Whether You Like Em or Not
It has come to the attention of TheBFD that a few weeks ago there was a meeting between NZTA and farmers, farm contractors, trucking firms and other interested parties such as fire service volunteers. This took place near Christchurch and by all accounts, things got quite testy. The purpose of