If National wins ...

[Daytr]

Another bad assumption MVT, I had already read the article and it was hardly ground breaking. If you didn't know those things already you would have to have been living in a cave. Perhaps if you read what I actually wrote, I never called Key a fool, I said his policy was irresponsible & I stand by that. So perhaps a fool, is someone who hasn't read something thoroughly before responding?
Keys is very smart as he is playing a populist game as Howard did & as long as property prices are going up, the populace won't complain. They are all sucking on the teat of the housing bubble that one day will burst. There were a lot of smart people on Wall St, however very few of them were thinking long term or for the greater good.
The RBNZ may be independent but it reacts to the financial environment including government policy. Rates might be historically low but they are the highest in the Western world & that is why the ccy is artificially high, yield. But that too will come crashing down just like the Aussie did once the dairy recession hits.

[fungus pudding]

I suggest that you read the article in todays Herald about Australians who have moved here to live and their reasons and then tell me why the NZ dollar is worth 99 Australian cents at the moment. The great Labour story is as much of a myth as the tale of Cinderella but not as entertaining and certainly not suitable for children. You don't know how lucky you are.

Australia's stuffed. Many of their problems can be put down to government. They need to sort out their tax system before they can possibly get anywhere - starting with their pathetic inefficient and complex GST system. Surely they'll sort it out in the next few years.

[slimwin]

And sort their unions out. They've nearly killed Qantas.

[gv1]

Aussie unions are holding their economy to ransom. Badly needs reform in this area.
High kiwi dollar will also lead NZ to same situation as US and Aussie. Auckland needs more freeing of land ASAP. I have been speaking to alot of Retail business...situation is very dire. Get ready for folding economy soon.

[Daytr]

Ha ha blame the unions! I don't think the collapse in iron ore, coal, copper, oil, gold and virtually every other commodity Australia produces has anything to do with unions and far more to do with the stupidity of BHP, RIO & the like as well as Federal & State Government allowing a ridiculous supply war to eventuate. There are plenty of other macro reasons as well, but none of them involve unions. I'm not saying there isn't a union issue in Australia, but its hardly the leading cause of what has recently happened to their economy.
Interesting comment re retail, what do they say is the main issue? Just lack of consumer demand or other factors?

[gv1]

Unions are responsible from high production costs to poor productions/outputs to increased costs to finished product. Increased govt dept costs, low productivity, hence money to be spent somewhere else are spent propping govt employees wages... also inefficiencies because dead ducks sitting in positions which can't be kicked out and hence can't compete with other co's or countries. Efficient labor laws can make a country prosper and not hinder its growth. you can say the high aussie $ was also the reason in collapse but if products are producted efficiently, high $ shouldn't be the deterent.

As to retail... high cost of doing business and people not spending.Very weak sales.

[Daytr]

Well those same people are also employed & spend those higher wages. It seems like unions are responsible for all ills in Australia and yet the Australian economy boomed for 20 years despite those same unionized conditions. As I said I'm not saying there doesn't need to be some balancing particularly in some industries, but its hardly been a major driver, otherwise how was Aussie the 'Goldilocks' economy for so long. We have the opposite issue here where wages are too low & there is too much use of foreign labour keeping wages suppressed. If people earned more the multiplier effect would be a massive boost for the economy as people on low wages spend the majority of their earnings. I worked in a large retail bank in Australia & there was the same situation as you describe, however unions had nothing to do with it.

[elZorro]

I agree, the unions in Aussie didn't cause any issues when commodity prices were high. They kept wages high, in turn attracting skilled NZers while everything was going well.

We had our opportunity too, the National government certainly seemed content to let the dairy industry do most of the heavy lifting in the export drive. In 2014, it worked. Exports hit $50bill for the first time. But as a share of GDP, we didn't hit the targets. In 2015, we certainly won't be, either. But that is not a problem, National can simply drop the bar.

http://www.interest.co.nz/currencies...y+7+April+2015

[fungus pudding]

I agree, the unions in Aussie didn't cause any issues when commodity prices were high. They kept wages high, in turn attracting skilled NZers while everything was going well.

And making sure that as many jobs as possible are lost to Asia. Take a wander around aussie for a few months. All you will see is countless mobs sitting in or outside cafes - eating and drinking coffee. If they stopped feeding each other the country would collapse. Perhaps the unions should drive the minimum wage to $100 per hour so they can all be better off. Life in Australia is no bed of roses.

[Sgt Pepper]

And making sure that as many jobs as possible are lost to Asia. Take a wander around aussie for a few months. All you will see is countless mobs sitting in or outside cafes - eating and drinking coffee. If they stopped feeding each other the country would collapse. Perhaps the unions should drive the minimum wage to $100 per hour so they can all be better off. Life in Australia is no bed of roses.

FP

I have no idea of what you do or have done, but I think you would be a great (and controversial) columnist!