884 days ago

Economics 101

Marie from Waikanae

The National party assures us that their proposed tax cuts are funded in a way that is not inflationary. But according to a number of economists, the income streams they are counting on to fund the tax cuts do not exist. National will have to cut core services.
Tax cuts are inherently inflationary. Once the tax cuts are realized, National has no control over how the money is spent. As the money supply increases, that is the amount of money in circulation, inflationary pressures arise. Not only do National not have the money to fund their proposed tax cuts, any gains to the taxpayer will be quickly given back by rising inflation. And cuts to core services may mean that things like access to health care are adversely affected. Whether the tax cuts are funded in a non-inflationary way or not is irrelevant. The real inflationary pressure occurs when the money is spent. National has no control over that.
Poor old Adrienne Orr must be tearing his hair out listening to Christopher Luxon and Nicola Willis. For all their right wing think tank expertise, they appear to have a scant understanding of monetary policy. As one former Secretary to the Treasury once commented to me;
"If only politicians understood the basics of Economics 101, we would be a lot better off". These tax cuts would not make the country better off.

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More messages from your neighbours
1 day ago

🧩😏 Riddle me this, Neighbours…

The Riddler from The Neighbourly Riddler

I am an odd number. Take away a letter and I become even. What number am I?

Do you think you know the answer?

Want to stop seeing these in your newsfeed? No worries! Simply head here and click once on the Following button.

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11 hours ago

Poll: Are you still heading to your local for your caffeine fix, or has the $$ changed your habits? ☕

The Team from Neighbourly.co.nz

Wellington’s identity is built on its cafe culture, but with costs climbing, that culture is under pressure. We’ve seen the headlines about recent closures, and it’s a tough pill to swallow along with a $6+ coffee.

We all want our favourite spots to stay open, but we also have to balance our own budgets ⚖️

We want to know: How are you handling the "coffee math" in 2026? Are you still heading to your local for a chat and a caffeine fix, or has the cost of living changed your habits?

Keen to read more about "coffee math"? The Post has you covered.

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Are you still heading to your local for your caffeine fix, or has the $$ changed your habits? ☕
  • 41.8% I avoid spending money on coffee
    41.8% Complete
  • 45.5% I still indulge at my local cafe
    45.5% Complete
  • 12.7% Irrelevant - coffee is not for me
    12.7% Complete
55 votes
2 days ago

Some Choice News!

Kia pai from Sharing the Good Stuff

DOC is rolling out a new tool to help figure out what to tackle first when it comes to protecting our threatened species and the things putting them at risk.

Why does this matter? As Nikki Macdonald from The Post points out, we’re a country with around 4,400 threatened species. With limited time and funding, conservation has always meant making tough calls about what gets attention first.

For the first time, DOC has put real numbers around what it would take to do everything needed to properly safeguard our unique natural environment. The new BioInvest tool shows the scale of the challenge: 310,177 actions across 28,007 sites.

Now that we can see the full picture, it brings the big question into focus: how much do we, as Kiwis, truly value protecting nature — and what are we prepared to invest to make it happen?

We hope this brings a smile!

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