Posts by Bart Janssen
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Why build new power generation capacity?
Because the old ones are old. Most of our hydroelectric generation is old and dams have a lifetime as do the generators inside them. Old things wear out, for example my knees. If you don't plan to replace them they break.
Also because new technology means that a new power generator is more efficient and more forgiving on the environment than the old one. This allows you to retire old equipment before it breaks.
Also new technology means that new power generation methods are possible that simply didn't exist 50 years ago. So you build new types of power generation. More efficient and better for the environment hopefully.
Also New Zealand has bugger all natural resources. But we do have water and renewable energy. Those resources are increasing in value all the time worldwide. Now I'm not sure about building more concrete dams and I certainly don't want more coal power stations but building wind farms and building tidal power generation could actually create a resource we could sell.
The last is obviously more speculative but it is worth thinking seriously about.
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Hard News: Unwarranted risk, in reply to BenWilson,
But I would never ever expect such a move by them.
Such opposition would require them to be vertebrates
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Hard News: Unwarranted risk, in reply to Sacha,
That the staggering financial illiteracy on display
I think you're wrong Sasha. It is not fiscal illiteracy. It is not even stupidity.
These guys are smart enough and knowledgable enough to know this shit and even if they weren't there are plenty of advisors who know this stuff coming and going.
They know this is bad for New Zealand, but they want to do it for other reasons, so they will. For three years they can do whatever the hell they like and will.
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The reason for selling a profitable business is if you believe you can make more profit by investing the cash in some new venture. That's what the richest of the rich do, buy businesses that are undervalued, fix them up (lay off unproductive staff) and sell them. Then buy a new business that will earn them more money.
It's not complicated except in the details which are very complex, hence so few are successful.
But the Nats aren't investing in anything more profitable. In fact everyone that looks at the math says it's a bad idea for New Zealand from the dollars perspective. So what other perspective is there.
The answer is ideology. It is a tenet of faith that the government is less efficient that the private sector. Hence if the government can make a profit from Mighty River then if Mighty River were privately owned the profit would be bigger. However, that profit would no longer go to the government.
They might even be right that Mighty River could be more efficient and profitable in private hands. But that doesn't help New Zealand because instead of getting all the profit we now only get the tax on the profit.
It is possible to argue that making Mighty River more efficient would lower power costs to New Zealand which would improve the economy and hence benefit New Zealand. Sadly this experiment has been done elsewhere (notably in the USA) and demonstrated that rather than reducing energy costs private ownership increases energy costs. This however is not evidence based policy.
So as far as I can tell the sale of publicly owned assets is being done as an act of ideological faith. That it harms New Zealand is beside the point, the point is that it supports the ideology that private is always more efficient (and hence better) that public ownership.
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A hole ... doh!
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Hard News: European Horror Stories, in reply to Danyl Mclauchlan,
Or you could look at the actual data and see that, yes, like I originally said, German workers are far more productive than Greek workers
Yeah I get that Danyl. But the way you phrased it implied that German workers work less because they are more productive. That isn’t proven and there is good data to suggest that working fewer hours makes you work more productively.
In fact it’s much more complicated than either scenario. Both the kinds of jobs Germans do and the fact they work reasonable hours contribute to their productivity.
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Hard News: European Horror Stories, in reply to BenWilson,
although that conclusion isn’t impossible
I know. And there is a lot of research that suggests working less is a very good thing for the economy.
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What I find sad about the situation in Greece is that there seems to be a lot of effort going into placing blame and insulting the Greek people and not nearly as much effort into getting a long term solution in place.
Understanding the causes of the crises is a good thing, running around shouting "it's your fault" doesn't help much at all.
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Hard News: European Horror Stories, in reply to Danyl Mclauchlan,
the average Greek worked 2,116 hours in 2008, while the average German worked 1,426 hours.”
That’s about labour productivity. German workers are much more productive than Greek workers, so they earn more, so they work less.
Silly stat. Cause and effect are not proven. You could argue equally from the data that working less causes you to earn more and be more productive.
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To play the old man card, one of the things I've learnt (slowly) over the years is that there is no right response or wrong one. There is only the response that you have.
Needing to talk about the quakes is as real and valid a response as another persons need to talk about something else, anything else.
Everyone in New zealand was affected by this event and many many people outside the country as well. What I have found most heartening about PAS is that for the most part we have all accepted the feelings and responses that we've had and shared them without demanding something else.
And it hasn't just been PAS. For the most part New Zealand has actually been really wonderful about how we've responded. Sure there have been the "get over it" people, but most times I've heard that I've seen people shake their heads and accept that the person saying "get over it" is just coping in their own way.
Maybe I'm just being sentimental and viewing things through a rose-tinted monitor but I've seen more real care and genuine sympathy and empathy than I hoped for - that at least is something good.