If National wins ...

[POSSUM THE CAT]

Iceman you now mention wage rises yes large ones for the top end of town but minute for the bottom end and we all pay the same price increases.

[elZorro]

Rodney Hide on businesses. An ACT point of view. There are a few half-truths in there.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/n...ectid=10870282

I'm all for bigger businesses too, seen in the light of government grants applicants, as long as they keep employing in NZ at the same or better levels, keep paying their fair taxes, and this means they have to set the business up for ongoing profits. Not many do, they seem more interested in capital gain ideas. Smaller businesses are more likely to collectively take on new staff numbers and provide broad or flexible training.

Most of the public comments are a lot more on the mark than Rodney was.

[elZorro]

Looks like National now has an 'out' over the 2014-2015 budget surplus. It was only theoretically going to be a very small one, prone to major error margins. So even a billion dollar drought loss in farmer income would completely swamp it.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/indu...n-to-recession

That's the funny thing about manufacturing, it doesn't use up a lot of space, it's worker intensive, and generally it carries on in all weathers.

[elZorro]

More indications that the cost of energy and the performance of an economy are strongly linked.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/indu...energy-options

Electricity prices continue to move up here, the reason not being the raw costs (which have in some cases lowered -coal-) but future costs to upgrade the network apparently.

[POSSUM THE CAT]

elZorro The amount of money the electricity companies spend on marketing would probably be a bigger cost.

[slimwin]

Our company is paying triple at spot price at the moment. Drought not govt causing this.

[elZorro]

Our company is paying triple at spot price at the moment. Drought not govt causing this.

My firm just buys at standard rates, we're not energy intensive. But Genesis have just advised that my power costs are "changing". Read: going up again.. Once a year they go for a bit more cashflow. A bit like local body rates. Spot prices can be a lot lower when there is plenty of rain, so I guess your company does well most years.

A good point from PTC: when we just had the NZED and I think only one major electricity retailer? there wasn't much need for marketing. Who pays for that? The 'efficient, competitive' market model is flawed when it comes to a benevolent power supply for a small country, with its infrastructure built by the state originally.

Simon Power is trying to talk down electricity prices at the moment. I won't be holding out much hope he'll have any success, but it sure sounds good doesn't it.

[POSSUM THE CAT]

elZorro wait until the Maoris are charging for every Cubic Metre of water that flows out of lake Taupo. The Maoris were given Lake Taupo and the right to charge any commercial enterprise for use of its Water. By John Key's National Govt. So what is this going to do to power prices. There are far more court cases to come. Wise people said sort out the ownership and charging rights to water before floating these companies.

[elZorro]

Don't panic PTC, it'll probably never happen.

Here's an item every right-winger will be wishing away, a letter written to Solid Energy by Simon Power just a few months into office (May 2009), strongly suggesting they borrow heavily in line with their credit rating. Which they did, with gusto. Now they've had to close mines and shed jobs. If they'd been conservative, they could have ridden out a downturn in coal prices.

Even more telling is David Shearer reminding Bill English in Parliament that this policy was the EXACT OPPOSITE of what they've been telling the rest of NZ. You can't trust National, that's the take-home message.

http://tvnz.co.nz/politics-news/govt...e-debt-5368106

[elZorro]

Here's a bit more about the penny-pinching car-park taxes National proposed. David Cunliffe is also right on the money here, about there being more important things to sort out.

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA130...-brings-in.htm

“We know the Government’s books are in trouble but they won’t be fixed by penny-pinching or trying to get spare change from the back of the couch. We need bold reform such as a capital gains tax and research and development tax credits to help fix the books,” says David Cunliffe.

Although this link below shows that Labour thought of the new tax first, and that it was unpopular. Some sensible reasons behind it though. I notice the tax was only to be applied where there was serious traffic congestion, Auckland and Wellington.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/n...ectid=10870834