If National wins ...

[iceman]

The average wealth per adult in NZ is around USD$200,000, and in Australia it is more like $350,000. From the shape of the charts, much of NZ's is driven by house and land prices (note strong growth up until 2008 also), and I suspect that many became wealthier on the back of their own living spaces, be it suburban homes or farms. This confirms that NZers who were able to get on the property ladder since 2000 and stay there, had a good period on average.

So true EZ. Imagine how wealthy our country would be if we had had a Government in place that was pro extraction of our mineral/natural resources during the recent mining boom, which is where Australia created most of their recent wealth ! Australia took full advantage of it while we had our heads in the sand and missed out !

[craic]

Last week I made $1,250 without working anything more than a couple of idle fingers in the breaks between my REAL work. Today I made a mere $550 the same way. Tell me elZorro, what am I doing wrong? Maybe I should be advising the Labour party on how to manage their finances? or possibly Maori on how turn a $1,000.000 handout into $15 a bit faster than the year or so it took them. You seem to be able to turn a silk purse into a sows ear in no time.

[Okebw]

Last week I made $1,250 without working anything more than a couple of idle fingers in the breaks between my REAL work. Today I made a mere $550 the same way. Tell me elZorro, what am I doing wrong? Maybe I should be advising the Labour party on how to manage their finances? or possibly Maori on how turn a $1,000.000 handout into $15 a bit faster than the year or so it took them. You seem to be able to turn a silk purse into a sows ear in no time.

Found the NZST party. You've got my vote Craic

[elZorro]

So true EZ. Imagine how wealthy our country would be if we had had a Government in place that was pro extraction of our mineral/natural resources during the recent mining boom, which is where Australia created most of their recent wealth ! Australia took full advantage of it while we had our heads in the sand and missed out !

True, but Australia also has the economy of scale that we don't have. Massive mines in otherwise relatively barren areas, less impact on waterways. The capital involved is also huge, and the margins are smallish on average. Recently a lot of the mining jobs have been retrenching over there, as commodities went off the boil.

NZ suits a more innovative, niche approach to manufacturing. Most of the local export success stories show that to be true.

Craic: yes, again, well done on your investing prowess. I fail to see how that means that what I'm saying is incorrect, after all, I was just quoting stats from a report.

[craic]

elz, both you and MTV quote stats. stats are by their very nature scratches on paper that can mean something or nothing in the real world. We' as a nation are very well off and there are opportunities here beyond the dreams of more than two thirds of the worlds population. The "innovative, niche approach to marketing" is available to anyone who wants to use it - or has the ideas to develop. It has nothing to do with the Government. If you have a better mousetrap it's up to you to develop, manufacture and protect your innovative idea. But the chinese will improve on it, manufacture it at half the cost and you will have to return to whatever you did before. Just as a matter of interest about "investing prowess" for some time now - much of last week, some buyer/buyers is coming onto the market in the last minutes before closing and buying up large amounts of SPK. I was sitting on the site at 4.59 yesterday, certain hat I had not achieved my price, then bang, depth shows the last minute purchases and my lot had gone. Maybe the Chinese? maybe Tainui?

[elZorro]

elz, both you and MTV quote stats. stats are by their very nature scratches on paper that can mean something or nothing in the real world. We' as a nation are very well off and there are opportunities here beyond the dreams of more than two thirds of the worlds population. The "innovative, niche approach to marketing" is available to anyone who wants to use it - or has the ideas to develop. It has nothing to do with the Government. If you have a better mousetrap it's up to you to develop, manufacture and protect your innovative idea. But the chinese will improve on it, manufacture it at half the cost and you will have to return to whatever you did before. Just as a matter of interest about "investing prowess" for some time now - much of last week, some buyer/buyers is coming onto the market in the last minutes before closing and buying up large amounts of SPK. I was sitting on the site at 4.59 yesterday, certain hat I had not achieved my price, then bang, depth shows the last minute purchases and my lot had gone. Maybe the Chinese? maybe Tainui?

I don't know anything about SPK, but as said elsewhere, it could be a competitor buying up a stake.

Stats don't lie, if they have been gathered correctly. But taking stats out of context can be misleading. That's why I always like to see the source document. You are correct about NZ being in the top third, or better, of the world for most stats relating to average income. The problem is, when top incomes are so much higher than median incomes, the spread in inequality will eventually affect all of us. Already the centre of major cities in NZ have more homeless people than before, and in Hamilton it's likely to be clamped down on by the council, but using bylaws instead of providing more social housing beds. The council will clamp down on it because it's affecting shopping traffic in the centre of the city. That and a few other things, like parking costs and high lease rates for store owners, who have simply moved elsewhere, or gone out of business.

Today in the Waikato Times, I see this editorial.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times...secrecy-appals

RadioNZ has been trying to get this information since May 2013. Held up in the OIA by the National Govt and Paula Bennett, yet they let other more contentious data out overnight to the likes of Cameron Slater. Rogues!

[craic]

Good Lord! Twenty-four-hours without a single post? John Key must be doing everything right.

[elZorro]

Good Lord! Twenty-four-hours without a single post? John Key must be doing everything right.

Some good news, some bad news I guess. Confirmation that most of NZ's wealth is tied up in unproductive assets.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/mone...-up-in-housing The figures not so good if a constant exchange rate is used, whatever that means.

NZ gains a temporary 2-year stint on the UN security council, a move started by Labour, but some are worried that the gutting of MFAT under National will leave us short of experienced helpers for the term.

On "The Nation", the RSA spokesman said that a new flag won't make NZ more productive, or solve any other economic and cultural woes by itself.

Our local national MP, who in his fourth term still holds no ministerial positions, thanks the electorate for supporting him, and mentions all the good works seen around the area, which boil down to roading works and a hospital upgrade, pending new schools, which surely are business as usual. Some of these works were also kickstarted by Labour.

[fungus pudding]

Good Lord! Twenty-four-hours without a single post? John Key must be doing everything right.

Not a chance in the world! Could be eZ has fried his computer or modem or some such thing.

[elZorro]

Not a chance in the world! Could be eZ has fried his computer or modem or some such thing.

Nope, but we now have fibre in the house, so I have more certain access to the interweb. Up until now, our modem would go offline at about 9pm and not be available until 9.30 pm, each evening. Too much traffic on the local server boxes I think. The guys putting in fibre said you can't see the traffic in the fibre, but it's there. I asked what frequencies it used, was it UV or IR? They didn't know. Turns out it's Infrared.