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> part of the reason for high costs in NZ could be due to minimum wages being high Ouch! The minimum wage in Aotearoa was much lower not that long ago. The m

by worik 5y ago

> part of the reason for high costs in NZ could be due to minimum wages being high Ouch! The minimum wage in Aotearoa was much lower not that long ago. The main problem for living costs in New Zealand is that the economic climate is tuned to be good for investors and not labour. Even a Labour government has continued this trend. We have forgotten that the purpose of the economy is to serve the people not to serve business. The shortage of labour is making things better, slowly...

robocat 5y ago
> the economic climate is tuned to be good for investors and not labour LOL - have you have tried being a business investor in NZ? If you are talking about property investment, then perhaps, but that problem is a Gordian knot and we don’t have our Alexander.
- worik 5y ago
  > have you have tried being a business investor in NZ? Yes. Wages are artificially low. Employments rights low, often not enforced. The state has made it its business to keep it that way. For example a computer programmer working in the games industry, and all workers in the feature film industry, has no employment rights, at all. The lack of any capital gains tax is a particularly galling blow to labour as opposed to investors. Still the investors and business class whinge (as we see on Hacker News) constantly that the workers are given too many rights.
- worik 5y ago
  Yes and: https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2018828257/the-cost-of-the-pandemic-the-financial-winners-and-losers https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2... “The scale of it is enormous. We're talking a trillion dollars of wealth in less than two years landed in the hands of people who were already wealthy. At the same time as the government last Christmas refused to increase the benefits by $50 because they were worried that it would increase the government debt.”

by worik 5y ago

robocat 5y ago

> the economic climate is tuned to be good for investors and not labour LOL - have you have tried being a business investor in NZ? If you are talking about property investment, then perhaps, but that problem is a Gordian knot and we don’t have our Alexander.

worik 5y ago
> have you have tried being a business investor in NZ? Yes. Wages are artificially low. Employments rights low, often not enforced. The state has made it its business to keep it that way. For example a computer programmer working in the games industry, and all workers in the feature film industry, has no employment rights, at all. The lack of any capital gains tax is a particularly galling blow to labour as opposed to investors. Still the investors and business class whinge (as we see on Hacker News) constantly that the workers are given too many rights.
worik 5y ago
Yes and: https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2018828257/the-cost-of-the-pandemic-the-financial-winners-and-losers https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2... “The scale of it is enormous. We're talking a trillion dollars of wealth in less than two years landed in the hands of people who were already wealthy. At the same time as the government last Christmas refused to increase the benefits by $50 because they were worried that it would increase the government debt.”