large pubic fund

i have a serious question. if the cullen fund is invested overseas, and growing, isn't that a bit like drawing foreign money into the country? something we need?

Someone will doubtless know much more about this than me, but I think one of the drivers of our current account deficit?

NZ could do with better Ventral Capital funds too. It is the country that gave the world?

Ventral Capital funds

They grow out you stomach?

(Sorry)

Looks to me as though National are planning to borrow from the fund on order to have their tax cuts, sorry, infrastructure investments. I guess this?

Looks to me as though National are planning to borrow from the fund on order to have their tax cuts, sorry, infrastructure investments

I think that's a little rough. It won't change the accounting of them if the NZSF or SuperMegaChinaInvestmentFund are the ones buying the infrastructure bonds.
The risk?

i'll now be quiet on the matter, as this is a policy question...

How is it that book reviewers can report on weighty tomes in newspapers, but it is too much for a crime & justice reporter to read a 20 page essay of suggestions from Becroft J?

Mind you, shouldn't be too harsh. Still haven't got round to?

Then there's the venture capital side of it. Dragon's Den sponsored by the Cullen Fund could prove entertaining, enlightening and enriching all at once.

I'm seeing it now. An NZ On Air-funded game show on state TV that hands out tax money previously directed by the government to a public?

i have a serious question. if the cullen fund is invested overseas, and growing, isn't that a bit like drawing foreign money into the country? something we need?

I am far and away no expert on macro-economics, but surely only if the income drawn out of the overseas investments and?

Also "Ever since the Cullen Fund was established, I have had fears that as it grows larger, politicians would want to start directing where it is?

Of course, there must be a difference between capital and earnings. Capital is going out, earnings are coming back.

Another long bemoaned weakness in the NZ economy is the lack of investment in overseas markets from NZ. The ratio of incoming versus outgoing investments has been worrying folks like the?

Consumer NZ claim that the average return from the Super managed funds has been around 3.6% (not forgetting the recent $700 million loss).
Maybe investment in, say, broadband throughout the country may indirectly achieve a better return?

I don't think so, otherwise the Telco's would be in boots and all.?

I wouldn't take my eyes off Cullen and English if they got within arm's length of the cash box

I think not enough kudos is being given to our government for having left us in a situation where no mainstream banks have gone bust and the fundamental economy remains pretty?

large pubic fund

...and now turn to the right.

I'm seeing it now.

It's a user-generated Telethon! It's an Entrepreneurial Top Town! A Geek's Show (obscure pun on A Dog's Show, excellent family values show of old).

And I am a little stunned?..for all the blue ribbon bluster of the last 20 years for?

Smacks National:

There?s a pattern emerging here : raid the Kiwisaver savings scheme, intervene in the Super Fund earmarked for the needs of our ageing population, scrap the Fast Forward science fund, abolish the tax credit for research and development, dump the home insulation fund meant to?

I'm wondering if Nationals plan is just about balancing that out a little bit? Sounds vaguely reasonable...

Have economics circumstances changed in the last month that much? Fuck yes.

you see, i'd say no. they haven't changed. subprime was a nightmare just waiting to happen.

i head over the road to have a coffee went i need to do reading, and 18 months ago i eavesdropped on?

Forcing the fund to invest in NZ isn't about the current crises of course. It's a permanent decision for a very very long term fund to be investing in such a way.

Yes, as I noted above, it permanently changes the rationale of the fund, and in a potentially problematic?

To some projections, there's always a lot of projections on wall street .

The failure of that market has put huge pressure on every other market and while there's a reasoned economic way out of?

Yes, as I noted above, it permanently changes the rationale of the fund, and in a potentially problematic way.

Um, yes... but anyone who thinks the Cullen Fund wasn't a "political plaything" from it's inception is being a wee bit naive. Sorry, but bah humbug, plague on both your houses,?

the problem has been that no-one?

anyone who thinks the Cullen Fund wasn't a "political plaything" from it's inception is being a wee bit naive

Well it's certainly true that I'm a wee bit naive, but I'm not so sure. I will conceed that there may been some element of "good politics" in it's __initial creation__?

isn't it accepted that we need more funds for a wave of well deserved retirements coming up.

Um, yes... but anyone who thinks the Cullen Fund wasn't a "political plaything" from it's inception is being a wee bit naive.

That's rubbish Craig. NZ savings are low by international comparison and something needed doing. Since Muldoon scuppered Kirk's scheme, we've been stuck in political no-man's land. Winston's attempt?

that's loyalty for you. I agree with you that many of us were waiting for a thud especially after waking up to the rock n roll economic fantasy that was?

Forcing the fund to invest in NZ isn't about the current crises of course. It's a permanent decision for a very very long term fund to be investing in such a way.

From Stuff re the 40% plan: "Mr Key said it would help to ease recession"
OK,?

I'm no international financial guru so feel free to call me an idiot but did we have the rather large currency fluctuations that we have these days back in 1975?

No, we didn't, but that's nothing to do with market stability. Rather it's due to the fact that we didn't?

I can't see the 'average voter' giving the topic this much analysis so it is likely to come down to?

I'm not a poll-watcher like many on here but given the huge swings we've seen in recent ones, and the significant percentages of undecided/not-voting people that get removed?

Um, yes... but anyone who thinks the Cullen Fund wasn't a "political plaything" from it's inception is being a wee bit naive.

Anyone who thinks every government policy as a "political plaything" is being cynical in the extreme. That sort of cynicism belongs to the Herald's pork-o-meter...

===============

No matter?

the polls are out again with each other which is interesting because the science is pretty straightforward

There's large deviations between companies testing the same peolpe.

what we need to know from?

I think you've nailed it there,it's purpose at the moment is slow solid growth by backing "warren buffett like" solid investing.

It takes the super out of the super fund and puts it into a?

John Key is dead right when he suggests that something needs to be done to address the alarming current account deficit--the result of borrowed money funding a mindless property boom.

But I bet that doesn't include tightening up on LAQCs...

What I mean is that Key will hue and cry and then do... bugger all.

We've got an open economy, we've got parallel imports, we're a profligate bunch... it's all very well to complain about the deficit, but what to do?

I?

John Key is dead right when he suggests that something needs to be done to address the alarming current account deficit--the result of borrowed money funding a mindless property boom.

Then why doesn't he do that? The Cullen Fund generates foreign income through its investments overseas. Reduce investments overseas, reduce?

The alternative, since Key's going to play around with it, is to remove the tax incentives that make housing so appealing... How does the PAS crowd feel about that?

Do it. I'm all for simple, level tax fields...

Are we going to see changes every election time – in three years will we see the next leader of the opposition saying "Only 20% in NZ" – how then does the fund exit gracefully without distorting the market again?

I would presume that they'll be sensible enough to give?

This would be very good for people who own shares ATM. They get a bubble, and someone else to hold the bag when it pops. Just like 1987.

The alternative, since Key's going to play around with it, is to remove the tax incentives that make housing so appealing... How does the PAS crowd feel about that?

A capital gains tax on property speculators? Bring it on!

In due respect, where was Micheal Cullen warning NZers to tighten their belts when it was blindingly obvious that this was all coming to a head?

Really? I remember him commenting it on it a number of times, plus that whole setup the Cullen Fund, Kiwisaver and run big surpluses?

A capital gains tax on property speculators? Bring it on!

Do you mean an equally applied capital gains tax across all investment asset classes?

To my mind, the polls tell us bugger-all except that of a 'selected' portion of the electorate certain proportions favour one side against another. I can't have made?

If it was done over 3 years or something

That was part of my point (although probably not stated very well) – in 3 years there will be someone else legislating another change, so that the Fund Managers never really get to implement their long-term strategy, which goes against?

It's not about being "told?

It's just proping up the over inflated property market.

Property prices have sky rocketed and now they're going to level out a bit, not crash. This false market?

As you can see from my "Posts:" count I am a fresh-faced newbie here at PAS and not yet adept at reading the sub-text.

Personally, it struck me as a contest that told me a bit about where the respective candidates are at personally, but remarkably little about where they're going politically

I doubt even if they did say things of substance that I'd believe them. It boils down to this – vote for?

As you can see from my "Posts:" count I am a fresh-faced newbie here at PAS and not yet adept at reading the sub-text.

There's a subtext here? That's it, Im off :)

i agree. we just don't seem to have that dialogue happening , I don't know?

A capital gains tax on property speculators? Bring it on!

You mean like sCB6 of the Income Tax Act 2007, which says:
__Income
(1) An amount that a person derives from disposing of land is income of the person if they acquired the land?
(a) for 1 or more purposes?

people forget the beatlemania of the housing market. It was a frenzy and was fueled by numerous "you may never ever own a house if you don't buy now" stories and people read that and think the heralds?

Is he unaware that when the Bolger govt was elected, the likes of Jenny Shipley, Bill Birch, Simon Upton, etc, were?

Anyway, Matthew wrote:

...remember that it's the taxpayer's duty to prove that they didn't buy with the intention or purpose of resale,

I could be wrong – I can't think where I heard this – but don't?

It's not about being "told how to spend your money", it's being honest with your constituents that debt relative to GDP cannot improve when people continue to live beyond their means with funds borrowed offshore.

I think you're confusing Minister of Finance with Minister Responsible for the Economy, which we?

This was the first thing that sprung to mind:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9ZfLXN3c_I

Lyrics here if you can't be arsed listening to the whole song.

John Key's just said he'll form a "razor gang" to slash bureaucracy

i think he actually said, 'cabinet expenditure control committee' and the papers re-worded it.

Isn't that what we have the governor of the reserve bank for?

Nope, certainly not under our regime anyway. The Governor can only very indirectly affect the economy via interest rates, but regardless is actually legislated to ignore the economy and focus solely on inflation.
They're remaining responsibility is around?

In due respect, where was Micheal Cullen warning NZers to tighten their belts when it was blindingly obvious that this was all coming to a head?

Well, he was. Don't you remember all the "it's our money" calls that Cullen seemed deaf to for so long. Turns out maybe he?

Anyone who thinks every government policy as a "political plaything" is being cynical in the extreme.

Paul: I think the last week has given this fiscal conservative ample reason to be entirely cynical. Perhaps there is some sound reasoning and credible costings to come in the fullness of time, but?

It's already possible for the IRD to tax gains on property speculation

Yes, but the law's so vague it creates no certainty. How do you determine what someone's "purposes and intentions" were?

If they started to enforce it rigorously it would cause much wailing from people that (maybe reasonably) expected?

@Blake Monkley from Noosa (up the road a wee bit from my mate), did you get the same deal?

The hours of sunshine they get over there?

I think the last week has given this fiscal conservative ample reason to be entirely cynical.

Maybe, but I think your cynicism should be directed at human nature, rather than the politicians exploiting it.

It seems to me that fiscal conservatism is well out of fashion in NZ at the?

The gummint in Queensland gave my mate AU$1500 towards installing a solar hot water heater on the roof of his Sunshine Coast home.

Energywise will contribute towards the cost of solar water heating right here in New Zild. And depending on your income they'll help with other energy efficiency stuff?

what the hell are razor gangs ..weren't they like 1950 motorcycle gangs ? it's such an ugly image.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Razor_gang

Do you mean an equally applied capital gains tax across all investment asset classes?

I'd go for that mostly with a few provisos:
– a tax rebate for capital gains on anything held for some minimum time (3-5 years) so maybe 5-10% less than the top marginal rate (you register?

http://www.stuff.co.nz//blogs/showmethemoney/2008/10/16/clean-up-this-dogs-breakfast-of-a-scheme-before-it-putrifies/

The logic of diversifying investment by the NZ Super Fund internationally is intellectually impeccable. However New Zealands biggest problem is local equity investment. A policy of allocating say 50% of the funds to New Zealand?

Ventral Capital funds

They grow out you stomach?
(Sorry)

no need to apologise I cringed when I saw it. As a scientist who is strong on Anatomy can I say I was having a Cajal moment?

Our local ACT hoarding says :"ACT: Zero Tolerance for Grime"

Our one just changed to: "ACT: Change the Government"

We change the government every election, but sometimes not much.

I see Rodney's dropped the yellow jacket on the new billboards! And thrown in a few not-entirely-necessary exclamation marks!

Clearly not a well-read man on what a multiplicity of exclamation marks is said to indicate about the user.

Clearly not a well-read man on what a multiplicity of exclamation marks is said to indicate about the user.

And their billboards use ALL CAPS too. How rude.

Rodney was a University Lecturer at Lincoln (yes it is although I'm not sure that it should be a Uni) in economics.

You think a country dependent on agri-business can't justify a specialist agri-business University? Why not? If it's economies of scale, I can understand, but Lincoln's got some of?

Rodney was a University Lecturer at Lincoln (yes it is although I'm not sure that it should be a Uni) in economics.

I once had a lengthy debate over the correct use of it's and its with a lecturer at my university, in which the lecturer in question insisted that?

(In any case, I was mostly referring to a Terry Pratchett quote which asserts that multiple exclamation marks are "a sure sign of someone who wears his underpants on his head".)

Hah! I'd not heard this; good funny!

Apart from a brief job on an oilrig (how did he fit in the helicopters) and recent appearances as a light entertainer, Rodders has basically?

ACT still has its Tolerence Bill Board out on Pages Rd Christchurch.

Two with the correct spelling a one without, what was?

Re Lincoln: At least it wasn't AUT University – which I always think of as the Auckland University of Tautology.

Or, as we call it here at U.Auckland, "that other university". After all, it is just across the road. Clearly English is not a subject in which they offer degrees,?

One NZ University and direct the marketing budget to the Library.

One of the many things that I like about Lincoln is that it is (was?) the only university in New Zealand where the oldest and grandest building on campus wasn't the VC's office and admin, it is the Library.?

Or, as we call it here at U.Auckland, "that other university". After all, it is just across the road. Clearly English is not a subject in which they offer degrees, or if it is I would strongly advise against enrolling!

Nor would I advise doing stats at the U of?

Sadly they kept just the facade and slapped a tilt-slab construction onto the Library. Just how much tilt to slab is interesting. As I've said before – stand at the top of the spiral stairs with?