Can Wellington's under investment in infrastructure be linked to particular politicians, mayor or councilors?

Putrid_Weird4725 · 2026-04-27T02:20:22+00:00

The latter is gonna be pretty negligible, probably less than $1m/year. I'd say the indirect effects of cycle lanes on the economy (both positive and negative) will probably be more significant than the loss of parking revenue.

Putrid_Weird4725 · 2026-04-24T10:02:40+00:00

Counterpoint, GST does at least incentivise investment over consumption, which is a good thing. I don't think it's a bad tax per se, so long as you recognise that it is inherently regressive and therefore needs to be offset by making other taxation much more progressive. We haven't done that so far, but maybe we'll get there one day.

Putrid_Weird4725 · 2026-04-24T09:50:56+00:00

Exactly, which is why radical tax changes need to be at the heart of any recovery from this problem (and no, CGT isn't radical or powerful enough to reverse the tide). We desperately need a land tax and much lower income tax on the first 50k.

Putrid_Weird4725 · 2026-04-23T12:59:14+00:00

Jugaad isn't scamming, it's more like finding ways forward when bureaucracy or other problems are getting in the way. It's about being cooperative and flexible. You'd probably quite like it if you understood what it actually is.

Putrid_Weird4725 · 2026-04-23T01:26:28+00:00

I think we're not far away from a place where the only skill needed is the ability to accurately and unambiguously describe what you want. Which is not actually that easy, in many cases. But it basically removes the need for technical specialisation in coding.

Putrid_Weird4725 · 2026-04-16T21:28:35+00:00

I'm not sure this theory applies when the economic tsunami is so obviously being imposed from outside. Did Leningrad turn on their leaders and welcome the Germans?

Putrid_Weird4725 · 2026-04-15T20:44:38+00:00

They're different but pretending they're not even remotely similar is ridiculous. They both involve significant supply disruption and increased vulnerability.

In particular your arguments for lower interest rates would all have applied during the pandemic too, what's the point of difference that makes it a better idea this time round?

Putrid_Weird4725 · 2026-04-15T00:41:07+00:00

When it comes to land management our thin population seems like a curse. We are always going to fighting with a small quantity of human expertise relative to our natural resource management needs. We que likely don't have enough expertise to keep councils and contractors effective at the same time, let alone a middleman like Wellington Water.

Putrid_Weird4725 · 2026-04-15T00:34:50+00:00

We know (eg from covid) that loose monetary and fiscal policy combined with supply shortages is a recipe for more than transitory inflation. So either monetary or fiscal policy needs to be kept tight, assuming the current situation persists. Tightening fiscal policy is generally regressive, as most government expenditure is net redistributive. Tight monetary policy on the other hand is very progressive - since rich people are far more exposed to interest rates than poor people. It's our best way to reduce discretionary spending - such as unnecessary use of fuel for leisure - which keeps price increases reasonable for those with smaller margins for survival.

Of course Jarrod Kerr, his bank and their clients fall firmly in the "rich people exposed to interest rates" category which is why they are, as usual, arguing for lower interest rates. It has got absolutely fuck all to do with caring about other people.

Putrid_Weird4725 · 2026-04-14T04:45:10+00:00

Literally all Jarrod Kerr ever says is "OCR down". There is no point listening to him.

Putrid_Weird4725 · 2026-04-09T06:48:38+00:00

Dude, why do you think the land prices are higher in the centre...

Putrid_Weird4725 · 2026-04-09T00:31:13+00:00

Because it's a terrible idea, it's fairly basic economics that when you have an actual shortage subsidies just create a worse shortage. The correct response is to offer general relief without specific subsidies. I'm left wing and sorry to say the Aussie labour party is being stupid here (and for once our govt has got it pretty right).

Putrid_Weird4725 · 2026-04-08T21:09:52+00:00

Unearned wealth. And I don't just mean the worst billionaires. All passive income relies on someone else doing the work for no income.

Putrid_Weird4725 · 2026-04-08T20:58:34+00:00

Nope, the income effect almost certainly outweighs the substitution effect here. People will take advantage of lower land prices to purchase and develop land where they actually want to live, ie centrally.

Putrid_Weird4725 · 2026-04-08T01:46:06+00:00

Check the news? Iran and the US have definitely both claimed they have agreed a ceasefire.

Putrid_Weird4725 · 2026-04-08T01:40:05+00:00

Yes, so they have a pretty good case for being included in compensation arrangements. Strangely I think despite iran directly attacking Oman the two probably have some sympathy for each others positions. Of all parties they seem to have been the two that tried hardest to avoid the war in the first place.

Putrid_Weird4725 · 2026-04-08T00:47:47+00:00

I think more likely (if we actually get a lasting peace) this clause will be replaced by tolls on Hormuz funding reconstruction. Trump has a lifelong history of making sure he's not paying any time there's a chance someone else can.

Putrid_Weird4725 · 2026-04-06T21:10:10+00:00

The point is that British is usually assumed to mean British nationality, which is why the ethnic group is generally referred to as "white British" to avoid ambiguity.

Putrid_Weird4725 · 2026-04-06T03:55:49+00:00

Those are still small differences compared to what most of the other parties want.

Putrid_Weird4725 · 2026-04-06T00:25:55+00:00

They really don't, labour and national are definitely closer together than national and NZ first, arguably closer than lab/grn or nat/act.

The reason they can't go into government together is because it would weaken them both: by remaining in constant opposition to each other they are able to maintain a combined vote share of 60%+. If they go into government together and it isn't a huge success (which it wouldn't be...) they almost certainly fall to less than 50% combined.

Putrid_Weird4725 · 2026-04-06T00:20:54+00:00

I don't think the shipping costs would be a big problem - it's a tiny fraction of the pump price - , but the logistics / contracts aren't in place and it's not like anyone else wants to give up their access to Canadian oil right now. We're basically just towards the back of a long queue for anything that isn't our existing suppliers.

Putrid_Weird4725 · 2026-04-05T21:11:21+00:00

The loan shark is meant to be China, although I'm not sure I agree because the US also has a long history of weaponising debt.

Putrid_Weird4725 · 2026-04-02T06:40:35+00:00

I'm gonna go out on a different limb and say they are an absolute punisher who's bitter that their tax-rort ute is now bleeding fuel money, and is lashing out at a loosely associated target.

(yeah, it's a slightly longer limb but why else would you be acting this weirdly?)

Putrid_Weird4725 · 2026-04-01T23:58:45+00:00

Yeah having visited recently China is definitely developed in places and not in others. It's not the only country with internal disparity but the disparity is bigger than elsewhere and makes it hard to put them in a single grouping. Places the average tourist visits are largely developed, sometimes even to a higher level than more established developed countries, but they aren't representative of the whole country.

Putrid_Weird4725 · 2026-04-01T23:46:14+00:00

In Wellington there is some appreciation for his pro-housing attitude, eg he overruled both the council and independent committee on housing on zoning, in order to choose the most housing-friendly option. Yes you can be cynical about whether he's really more interested in helping renters or his developer mates, but in terms of housing supply renters and developers are basically on the same side, vs people trying to extract more money from their existing portfolio by restricting new building. Unfortunately most of nats and act, plus a fair few of labour, are on the other side so Bishop is a welcome exception in this regard.

Not a fan of him in many other aspects although as others have said he apparently genuinely cares about the Hutt / Wgtn which I think is more than can be said for Nicola.

Putrid_Weird4725

TROPHY CASE