Wednesday, July 08, 2015



"Something special"

In last year's election, John Key campaigned on the promise that New Zealand was "on the cusp of something special". But less than a year later the economy is cooling and we're heading for recession again. It turns out that Key's "something special" came and went without us even noticing. But instead of economic nirvana and prosperity for all, it just meant unaffordable houses, people dying of cold-related illnesses, and longer queues at foodbanks. That "something special" was only special for rich MPs with multiple properties in Auckland. For the rest of us, it was indistinguishable from recession.

The kicker: while the Household Labour Force Survey won't be out until next month, its unlikely to have droped much since March, if at all, so National's "something special" means unemployment of ~5.5%, a full 2% higher than under Labour. And that's as good as it gets under National: an extra 50,000 people out of work, just to keep wages low. And meanwhile, the rich laugh all the way to the foreign tax-haven. If that's Key's idea of "special", he can keep it.