Posts by Angus Robertson
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Hard News: The Very Worst, in reply to Kumara Republic,
They get given a bail-out and when that doesn't "work", as they continue to be stupid greedy arseholes, then they'll be given another bail-out.
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Hard News: The Very Worst, in reply to Kumara Republic,
Another factor was the economic recovery around that time as well.
Economic circumstances don't seem to be so much a factor. US crime rates continued to decline in 2009 & 2010, even though unemployment soared.
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Hard News: The Huawei Question, in reply to Simon Grigg,
I also find the core assumption that China is the 'enemy' rather the same.
Ditto.
And even if we were an enemy I'd question the utility of China subsidising Huawei to set up a highly sophisticated (heretofore untraceable) spy system in New Zealand.
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Hard News: The Vision Thing, in reply to BenWilson,
It's more that we should move away from neoliberal capitalism. But given that we're actually rolling back our state in favour of more neoliberalism (is that a given? Do you dispute it?)...
If you are talking about the Western world, then I'd dispute that it is becoming more neo-liberal. The Western world is spending $trillions to socialise losses of too-big-to-fail enterprises that are seemingly perma-linked into their governments. That is not neo-liberal.
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Hard News: A storm in any port, in reply to andin,
Yeah that.
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Hard News: A storm in any port, in reply to David Hood,
Speaking as a Dunedin resident, and looking at the cost benefit to the city of our rugby purpose built stadium, they are most definitely political.
Apolitical in the sense that they will unbiasedly accept patronage from any and all governments / elected officials.
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Hard News: A storm in any port, in reply to Graham Dunster,
Maybe they're considered to be honorary CEOs?
Except not many people like CEOs who are generally known to be right wing political BS artists.
Professional sports unions are apolitical and respected for it.
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Hard News: Unwarranted risk, in reply to Steve Barnes,
As far as I know you can't make someone redundant if the job still exists. However you restructure the employment of stevedores they are still loading and unloading ships.
POAL aren't going to be unloading ships themselves, they are going to contract out that role.
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I might have to ask you to take it up – in a non-belligerent fashion – with the papers I cite in my article (which were two of many, but seemed the most lucidly argued).
Nah, I'll do so in a belligerant fashion and I'll do so here.
It they're Americans and economists they've only ever got one* gauranteed plan of action:
- make sure the banks are profitable.
The plan has lots of themes included buying bad debt, encouraging more loans, borrowing ever more, bailing banks out and so on. Just so long as the banks are happy everything will be okay. It's the American way, which is fine if you like that sort of thing. I don't like that sort of thing, it seems immoral somehow.
* the exceptions on the American political spectrum are socialist/OWS types and libertarian/Tea Party types who are both very minor groups.
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False binary, right there. There are a lot of other ways to do things.
That binary is based on the assumption is the Greeks want to borrow the money, which is the assumption Giovanni uses in his article. I'm pointing out that the Germans as the lender would have to be batshit crazy not to enforce conditions. The Germans understand that they are not like the banks or Greeks, no one is going to bail the Germans out.
The Greeks could default and no-one pays off their debts.
Personally I think the Greeks should default and stiff the bankers. It would work out better for everyone, except bankers (which to my way of thinking is a bonus). Any pain would be transient and new bankers would be found within days, if not hours, of it occuring.