Posts by Rob Stowell
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Envirologue: What has Neoliberalism Done…, in reply to Tinakori,
Then, as now, the only way a high tax economy will raise the required revenue, is for the high taxes to cut in at relatively low levels of income.
Except we’re still raising about the same % of GDP, but with much flatter taxation? Cutting the top rate, eliminating estate duties, and adding GST at 15% for everything but accommodation, savings, or overseas holidays.
(While googling in an attempt to find a history of ‘stamp duty’ in NZ, this came up Why Invest in New Zealand Real Estate. World! We is for sale!) -
A quick look at German tax rates – income tax is progressive – from 0 – 45% (There’s also a ‘solidarity tax’ that rises to 5.5% – not quite sure what this is.) Plus VAT, capital gains tax of 25% (including on any property sold before being owned for 10 years) and (local) property sales tax (like stamp duty) on property sales which varies from 3.5% – 6.5%. Not a lot of property speculation – accommodation is quite cheap – and money pushed into productive economy.
All this under a conservative government. If higher taxes kill an economy, you’d expect Germany to be a basket-case, with low wages and a poor standard of living. -
People's Choice have outlined their alternative. Important to keep hammering: there is an alternative.
Throwing debt money into huge new infrastructure (convention centres, stadia) is 'good for the economy' in the same way sugar is good for a diabetic. My choice would be to spend the minimum on well-planned and coordinated essential infrastructure, and otherwise let the Christchurch re-build happen more slowly, driven by demand, and far more organically. (For a government that's supposed to believe in business savvy, they sure ain't listening to Chch businesspeople.)
Worth making a submission. -
Envirologue: What has Neoliberalism Done…, in reply to richard,
marginal tax rates over 60%
Not sure why this is considered so vile and impossible. To a great degree it's where the ability to pay for public services came from. Once people have 'plenty', why shouldn't 'even more' be shared around?
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Hard News: About Campbell Live, in reply to Ian Dalziel,
Damn, still the counter sits on 5466!
I’ll never amount to anything…
<sob>You were always an enigma - now a constant enigma :)
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That is very cool :)
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Ive got a metre or so of vinyl I need to let go of. We should have organized a stall!
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Bravo! Lovely words.
Our eperience has been a bit different. Oscar has Down syndrome; the word autism didn't crop up til he was almost 5.
The double diagnosis has meant we've not quite fitted into either the autism or Down Syndrome support networks -though both in their way have been great.
On the positive side, we didn't know what ORRS funding was until Oscar had it just like that.
Not easy. But I'm tapping this on the phone as we cruise past moturoa at about 3 knots on a balmy afternoon. Oscar is down below, awake now and beginning to negotiate for chips. Today is pretty sweet :) -
Sounds like you might need internet connected bar-code readers ... which some places might find too expensive for the volume of mail.
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Hard News: An unacceptable failure of care, in reply to Russell Brown,
let alone seek a warrant.
Would it have been hard or a shoo-in to get a warrant to seize the phones and computers of the youths accused? Because it seems so obvious, it's hard to comprehend that it wouldn't have happened.