You're fading in and out - Dear Panda .. are you sure you're okay ? :)
It is a very old version of vBulletin, way past its use by date. Current versions are cloud based mostly, so we're locked in a functional timewarp as there are no upgrades to it and new functionality is confined to the latest versions.
Quaint, but still effective, bascially just an old school bulletin board discussion group.
JAK, it looks like you have some support for re-running the poll closer to the election. I'll happily contribute my vote, though it will be the same.
As a snapshot of opinion here, I'd have to agree with BP, lets assume for a moment that members here have some money, more or less, and want to grow their wealth through investing and trading, so it's not surprising, to me at least, that the combined votes are +61% to NACT and a next to nothing for Labour. Even the minor parties, TOP, NZ First seem to get more attention from 'us' than Labour, who only want to take from us and give it to ... other people.
I like the site, I've been on other sites where the upgrades add too much stimuli and advertising and you have to view each post in isolation; here I can scroll up and down readily and the discussion flows better.
Back when I first started using the internet, and posting on forums, "top quoting" was the norm, so that is what I have always done. If it is done correctly, and quoted material is snipped as needed, and formatting correctly preserved) I don't see an issue with it.
Steven Joyce raises the question that I often ask myself which is where is the growth going to come from?
Or do we have to accept the truth that our expectations of growth are not sustainable.
I don’t have access to the article but the headline is enough.
Election 2023: Not so much a recession as an absence of growth - Steven Joyce
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/election-2023-not-so-much-a-recession-as-an-absence-growth-steven-joyce/YIO2L2AE75DEDOP3E6ANG2IJRI/
https://theportal.wiki/wiki/Embedded_Growth_Obligations
Embedded Growth Obligations (EGOs) are structures built into institutions in times of growth that assume growth will continue. An institution must therefore grow to meet its EGOs, or its leaders must lie about the presence of growth. This compromising of incentives causes institutions to tend towards exploitative or sociopathic behaviors, as their leaders face selective pressures to maintain the status quo.
Analysis: Forget the ‘squeezed middle’, what’s on offer for the squashed poor?
Every poll shows that the cost of living is front of voters’ minds.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/election-2023-fiery-small-leaders-debate-reveals-act-and-nz-first-could-work-together/ACNB4RHB3JCKBJVYOXUHUOJJGY/
It’s a cost of living election - you’re probably sick of hearing it, but it’s true.
The cost of living challenge affects every household differently. While parties are squabbling over the “squeezed middle” where marginal voters lurk, very little is being promised to people on lower incomes who are the ones most punished by the cost of living crisis. Neither major party is offering much to people on low incomes.
As was suggested - new poll for the next seven days is here:
https://www.sharetrader.co.nz/showthread.php?12751-POLL-Election-poll-3-weeks-till-election
MODS: is someone able to close this poll - leave it up, but disable any further posting? I can't see a way to do it.