Comments on: Why ACC is Broke (Part 3)

By: Johnnieboy

Johnnieboy — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 03:51:02 +0000

I hear from the ‘Natural remedies that work’ blog that a study has shown that optimists live longer… so they can be subjected to more of the same I guess

What I want to know is, how long do people live who are on the cusp of complete hopelessness and yet they hang on like grim death anyway? They should do a study on that.

By: Johnnieboy

Johnnieboy — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:22:34 +0000

Thanks for this. I think a fair share of NZers are way ahead of you there- they don’t live in NZ any more. The Labour government knew a lot of people left to get away from the type of society they were trying to create, but shoved their heads firmly in the sand- utopia comes at a price after all.

There is some hope on the horizon for NZ business. Tax rate cuts and compliance reform in the form of a flat rate 15% tax for micro-businesses, and taxing small companies at the marginal tax rates of their owners rather than at the company tax rate are being discussed. If these things come to pass, they may make up for government mistakes in a number of areas.

The Labour govt didn’t understand that crushing businesses with tax made them and their owners leave the country, thus reducing the tax take (well maybe they did understand this but reducing income inequality was more important to them), while the National government does understand that less tax will in fact grow tax revenue. Just look at Hong Kong as an example.

Ah, a cynical optimist. It’s amazing how many of us there are…

By: Homepaddock

Homepaddock — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 19:34:53 +0000

Don Brash and the gap-closing committee he heads is asking for ideas on how we can catch up with Australia.

Following this prescription would help.
Homepaddock´s last blog ..Better buy flies