StrypeyJun 17, 2024

I'd forgotten what a sociopath Roger Douglas is. Watching these old interviews in the Revolution documentary series;

https://www.nzonscreen.com/title/revolution-the-great-divide-1996

... reminds me that I've never heard him express a single shred of sympathy - in all the times I've seen or heard him interviewed - for the people who suffered as a result of his policies as Finance Minister in the 1980s, or his ideological twin Ruth Richardson's in the early 1990s. Not even in a 'sad but unavoidable' way.

#RogerDouglas #Rogernomics

Revolution - 3, The Great Divide | Television | NZ On Screen

Revolution - 3, The Great Divide - Four-part series Revolution examined sweeping changes in New Zealand society that began in the 1980s. This third episode looks at the lurch of the Kiwi stock market from boom to bust in 1987, and the growing philosophical divide between the “head boys”: PM David Lange and finance minister Roger 'Rogernomics' Douglas. Within two months of the October 1987 stock market crash, $21 billion was lost from the value of NZ shares. Lange and Douglas give accounts of how their differing views on steering the NZ economy eventually resulted in both their resignations.

Show threadStrypey

One point made in the 1996 Revolution documentary series is that the railways used to train a lot of the country's tradespeople. The same would be true, to a lesser extent, for other public organisations. So yes, from a purely financial POV, they became more "efficient" (ie could extract more profit) by firing 1/2 to 2/3 of their staff. But the current shortage of tradespeople, and the consequently huge cost of getting anything built or maintained, is a direct result of doing that.

#Rogernomics

Jun 25, 2024 at 8:28amWeb
Show threadStrypeyJun 25, 2024

Ruth Richardson's comments about MMP in the 1996 Revolution documentary series were typical of neoliberals. Democracy is all very well, she says, as long as it doesn't get in the way of "good government", ie the kind of anti-democratic coup she and Douglas pulled. Even supporters of ACT, who only exist because of MMP, campaigned against it last time there was a referendum.

#elections #NZElections #MMP #RuthRichardson

Show threadStrypeyJun 25, 2024

If I'm reading this chart right, NZ social spending from 2019-2022 was *lower* (as a percentage of GDP) than about half the countries in the OECD, including the US;

https://data.oecd.org/socialexp/social-spending.htm

Yet the NatACT First coalition continue to insist that it was ridiculously high under the last government.

#PoliticalGaslighting

Social protection - Social spending - OECD Data

Find, compare and share OECD data by indicator.

theOECD
Show threadspmatich vk3spm Jun 25, 2024
@strypey it’s going to be very interesting to see how much more NZ has to spend on replacing cook straight ferries. having cancelled the existing contract signed to purchase two from 2021, only to turn around a few months after cancelling, to need to procure two new ferries. The NZ taxpayer will have to carry the penalty for cancelling the contract, plus the (now 2024) cost of procuring two new ferries. All at the hands of Nicola Willis. Profligate stupidity, and hubristic waste. I really hope it does not leave NZ out of pocket, but it could end up being hundreds of millions for nothing.