Category: imported_guest
Climate change has done more good than harm so far and is likely to continue doing so for most of this century. This is not some barmy, right-wing fantasy; it is the consensus of expert opinion. Yet almost nobody seems to know this.
Is it just me or do we face a real peril? As part of our survival genes we humans see threats everywhere. That is why we are suckers for charlatans peddling fears. But as MPs are fond of saying “just because I am paranoid does not mean they are not out to get me”. So should we worry about the prospect of a Labour/Green government?
A recent paper by the Productivity Commission has shone a lot of light on New Zealand’s productivity performance. After considering a variety of possible explanations, the Commission’s analysis shows that a long slow decline of New Zealand’s labour productivity is the main reason why growth of GDP per capita in New Zealand has not kept pace with other OECD countries.
The latest Treaty Transparency report shows that with a total of 60 treaty settlements more or less completed and at least 23 under negotiation, a total of $2.23-billion has been agreed upon and largely transferred. According to the OTS progress report, the settlement process is probably less than half way through.
A recent Child Poverty Action Group report about child abuse claimed that, " ...the Ministry of Social Development and its predecessors have been researching and writing about child abuse for almost quarter of a century."
The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) produces periodic reports on the science and policy relevant to dangerous anthropogenic global warming. These guide all UN members and the annual conferences of the parties which endlessly attempt to negotiate global binding treaties to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The recent clamour for capital gains tax, like so many cries from the mob throughout history, stems from envy and ignorance. But first, let me (totally wasting my time in doing so) say that as a permanent investor, I'm not talking my own book. These taxes don't affect me.
One knows all is not well within local government when a council makes national news for something as trivial as a road sign. Here’s some of the background. In 2005 a local business person placed a sign (no larger than an election hoarding) on an existing frame on private property set well into a paddock some 30 metres from a local road.
There’s been a bit of crowing over the last week or so about the fact that New Zealand has beaten Australia in the Global Competitive Index issued by the World Economic Forum. We were ranked 18th in the world in terms of competitiveness – out of the 148 countries ranked – whereas Australia ranked only 21st.
This paper is concerned solely with the question of whether or not there is anything in the Treaty of Waitangi that requires it to be incorporated into a written constitution, and having the effect of conferring sovereignty in and over New Zealand on twenty first century Maori.
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