Bernard Hickey details the key news overnight in 90 seconds at 9 am in association with Bank of New Zealand, including news the Bank of England has resumed printing money earlier than expected as the Governor Mervyn King warned the global financial system faced its greatest crisis since the 1930s, if not ever.
The Bank of England announced overnight it would print 75 billion pounds and use the money to buy bonds, extending a quantitative easing programme that has already printed 200 billion pounds of cash to buy bonds.
King said inflation was likely to drop away from its relatively high levels currently, and that action was needed to offset the effects of a government austerity programme and the stresses in credit markets. See more here at The Guardian.
Meanwhile, the European Central Bank left its interest rates on hold, but also said it would offer European banks unlimited cash in 1 year loans until January 2013 to ease some of the funding pressures inside the European banking system. Some had hoped it would cut rates too.
It also announced plans to buy 40 billion euros of covered bonds, which are the basis of much housing lending in continental Europe. See more here on the European bank moves at Bloomberg.
Westpac and BNZ have also begun selling covered bonds over New Zealand mortgages into the European covered bond markets, while ASB and ANZ also have plans to do the same.
European politicians also talked more about a coordinated programme to recapitalise Europe's banks, responding to calls from the IMF and the United States to urgently address concerns that the losses in the European sovereign debt crisis would wipe much of the capital in some French and German banks. See more here at Reuters on the coordinated bank rescue talk.
Stocks and commodity prices rallied globally on hopes the fresh money printing and signs of European political action to deal with the European debt crisis might help avoid catastrophe inside Europe's banking system and stave off a global economic recession, or worse.
The Hang Seng, which is seen as one of the most volatile of the large markets, rose 5.7%. The FTSE 100 rose 3.7%, Germany's DAX rose 3.7% and the Dow was up 1.1% in the last hour of trade. See more here on the global markets rally at Bloomberg.
Apple's share price rose 1.7% in overnight trade after the news of the death of former CEO Steve Jobs. Its shares have risen 7% in the month after Jobs resignation.
Commodity prices have rebounded 5% in the last two days on hopes a global downturn may be avoided.
The New Zealand dollar also rose over 77 USc. It often rises and falls with hopes and fears for the global economy and commodity prices.
Finally, Go the All Blacks vs Argentina! Colin Slade is at first five, Piri Weepu is at halfback, Mils Muliaina is at fullback because Israel Dagg has a sore thigh and Sonny Bill Williams will play on the wing because Richard Kahui has an injured hamstring. See more here at NZHerald.
(Updated with key news on All Black selections)
77 Comments
Bernard, as a journalist I can respect you position in being balanced in posting news. However I think a journalist has a duty to exercise discretion about what to publish.
I believe that publishing the article by Olly Newland on Tuesday was irresponsible. The problem is it wasn’t news, but financial advice, advice that was in no way tempered by outlining the risks involved. Unbalanced advice at best, and could be considered criminal, given the greater economic principles involved.
Olly has for some reason managed to build a strong public profile, and as such there is a strong chance that people will act upon his advice.
If just one person loses their life savings by acting on the advice in that article, then some of the responsibility for that now lies with you. People lost following Olly’s advice in the post 87 fracas. There is accountability that comes with publishing advice. Have you really thought about how serious this debt crisis will become, and to what lengths people will go to those that did them wrong?
Good old Walter called it as he saw it, and I support his views.
The money supply is a confidence trick, and those that wilfully use it to their advantage become confidence men.
I ask you and your readers to further consider a principle I posted on here last week.
The history of civilisation lies in agriculture. With it a surplus of food was able to be accumulated for the first time. It was the surplus of food that freed up labour to engage in other previously impossible tasks that were non essential to survival. Historical examples of how that spare labour was utilised include building monumental structures and waging war.
Contrary to what lots of economists believe, the bottom line is that it all starts with a surplus, if you lose that then the wheels of fall off.
Scarfie,
Many thanks for your comments. We host a wide variety of views on the site, many of which challenge the views of others.
Our aim is to provide lots of useful news, information and opinion so people can make up their own minds.
We've had plenty of comments from people saying property investing is a bad idea (including from me sometimes). We all know where Olly comes from and we can take his views or leave them.
The problem comes when commenters are abusive or worse. No one has ever accused Olly of that.
cheers
Bernard
The price of free speech is to uphold that right to him who would yell at the top of his voice that very thing which you would lay down your life to oppose.
Those who shirk that cost shall have what freedom they had taken away.
The tag-line of interest.co.nz is "helping you make financial decisions" and Olly's premise that you should loan more when interest rates are low is exactly what the Reserve Bank wants us to do to stimulate spending. I totally disagree with Olly that the spending should be on residential housing but his view-point is one that unfortunately many seem to share. It's just an opinion and most readers here are savvy enough to make their own decisions. You can lose money by following the advice of lots of people :-)
Olly's piece did stir up debate, which is healthy. I think his taxation advice that by putting a property on TradeMe for rent and then retracting it is sufficient to pass the test that the original intention of a buyer was not to on-sell the property and therefore escape capital gains tax is incorrect. I would be interested in seeing a tax opinion from the IRD on that one.
I also am keen to hear IRD's opinion on that one.
Are you following it up, Bernard?
...its like pieces to a jigsaw. Advertising the property is just another piece you can use to demonstrate that your orginal intent was always to rent it. Same technique is used when the rental is not availble to rent due to renovations...continue to run add for rent so you can claim 12 months expenses, even though it was actually unavilable.. IRD investigate on case by case basis...the add is to thwart their alleagtions
I've emailed IRD and asked the following:
There is an article posted on interest.co.nz by Olly Newland;
http://www.interest.co.nz/property/55926/opinion-olly-newland-says-avoid-major-rebuilds-and-stick-once-over-lightly-makeovers-
The advice within the article text of particular interest is this:
"Also: remember paying off a mortgage has to be done with tax paid dollars. Increasing the value of a property is tax free in most cases. Which one, then, is the obvious choice?... Now is the time to increase your mortgage, not to buy ‘toys’, but to reinvest into the home or investment through improvements and ultimate tax free capital gain."
And then a case study example is given at the end of the article.
The question is, based on the advice regarding the potential for tax free capital gains - in your opinion, would the gain made on the sale transaction be taxable, assuming the purchasers claim not to have purchased with the intent of selling, but rather with the intent of renting?
Good for you Kate, be very interested in what they say. It seems as though Bernard isn't going to comment.........
:-).
Will post their response here.
Better yet it would be great if they logged in to the site as well and made a comment on the article.
I'm sorry but Kate you've ruined this website by inviting IRD bods to join it.. what a killjoy!
:-). Funny thing, last time I had contact with them was over a GST matter and they were extremely helpful - in fact they contacted the party that was supposed to have issued an invoice but didn't - and got them to issue it so I could make the claim. And boy, once they contacted the other party .... weeeee in the lick of a split I got my invoice - this after months and months of trying to prize it out of them.
Lesson: in my experience, the IRD was "working for me" and very efficiently, I might add.
:-)
Kate you do know about IRD "dobbed in mate" phone line?
Luckly that NZ isn't Northern Ireland, otherwise the heavies will come for a visit and say goodbye to the old kneecap ;o)
No worries Moa...there's nobody left at the IRD...they all got the boot to save some loot.
haha - dont you worry , they will be monitoring this website all right ! just as they do TradeM e .
hey Scarfie, the beauty of Interest.Co. is that unlike other sites, feedback from readers is instant. There are plenty of astute minds, yours included, who contribute with their postings. As a result I take as much out of the comments as i do the articles. I find it interestiing reading the likes of Olly, but even more interesting seeing the opposing posts that follow. A great way of gettng some balance, making one think and so on....
Looks like its printy printy time again - another short term sugar rush for equities then. However it seems the duration and strength of the rallies gets less and less.
You have to fancy that the Bernanke will be next to press the print button dont you?
By the way I agree with Scarfie point - it seemed to me that the oleaginous Olly came perilously close to offering financial advice - unless he is a qualified financial advisor (did he take those recent exams) doesnt he have to be a tad careful on that front?
Bernard just prints it, if anyone chooses to act on Olly's advice thats their own decision. I don't agree with the info and I think its wrong, but I don't know if its Benard's fault if someone lost their life savings because of it. Need way more due diligence than an article on interest.co.nz
Being wrong advice is one thing - but the promotion of a means to evade capital gains tax laws is another.
Just so Kate - it was that aspect in particular I was referring to.
I see you have asked Bernard a few times about that point - he is not rushing to answer you is he?
Yes Andyh it will be Ben's turn to join in the rort...probably early to mid next year as the sugar high would boost Obama's chances...timing is critical...media spin is certain...peasant idiocy set in cement.
The depression can be held off until 013. Keep digging that shelter.
Why do we not spell it ....Shugar?
Now that is a question worth asking! My guess is tradition. Or else we are all pronouncing it rong.
Great interview with Satyajit Das on Keiser report last night
http://rt.com/programs/keiser-report/episode-193-max-keiser/
(from 14 mins onwards)
Thanks for that, very good.
Having read Olly's column and the example he gave, it is clear that the whingers who have posted here have not read his column at all.
No where in the "Sue & Brian" example is there the slightest suggestion that the profit they made was taxable or not taxable. Nor does he anywhere suggest that realised profits should not be taxed. Nor is there the slightest hint of encouraging any tax evasion as suggested by some.
Indeed nowhere in the article does he give "financial advice" or "taxation advice" but merely his opinions on how in his view, borrowing prudently can bring rewards if invested wisely in improvements.
Olly should be encouraged to give his views, advice and theories even if they are not agreed by the great unwashed and their patently envious rantings .
BD, (as pointed out by another poster) in the article he says;
Also: remember paying off a mortgage has to be done with tax paid dollars. Increasing the value of a property is tax free in most cases. Which one, then, is the obvious choice?
Now is the time to increase your mortgage, not to buy ‘toys’, but to reinvest into the home or investment through improvements and ultimate tax free capital gain.
He seems to be advising that such investment is tax-free whereas the IRD states that if your intention when buying is to sell at a later date then profit or loss from selling the property is taxable .
See here;
http://www.ird.govt.nz/property/property-common-mistakes/mistake-dealing-with-investment/
And Olly notes the potential of the property for capital gains (comparing prices of other renovated properties in the neighbourhood) as a decision criteria prior o purchase. Then after the renovation, on Olly's advice they had it revalued and he states;
A new valuation was obtained suggesting $525,000 so it looked like around $100,000 equity or profit.
So to me it looks like the $100,000 or thereabouts "profit" is taxable income. Yet the article's overall tenor is about how to make tax free capital gains on property. It is important to point out that the example given was not a tax free gain in this case study.
I better say nothing, and be careful what I say about people and don’t call them names again – otherwise we all go crook.
On a slightly other subject – listen to that: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkuPg2cF8Ng
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkT8dFA1xNE&feature=related
Looking into current developments on many fronts – the world will never recover again, simply because among the powerful in societies ethic and moral requirements and standards don’t prevail
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<a href="http://dictionary.reference.com/audio.html/lunaWAV/A01/A0156900" target="_blank"><img src="http://sp.dictionary.com/dictstatic/g/d/speaker.gif" border="0" alt="advice pronunciation" /></a> /ædˈvaɪs/ Show Spelled[ad-vahys] noun
1. an opinion or recommendation offered as a guide to action, conduct, etc.: I shall act on your advice. 2. a communication, especially from a distance, containing information: Advice from abroad informs us that the government has fallen. Recent diplomatic advices have been ominous. 3. an official notification, especially one pertaining to a business agreement: an overdue advice.That looks wierd sorry.
Bank of England Governor Mervyn King warned the global financial system faced its greatest crisis since the 1930s, if not ever.
And you lot focus on the ramblings of poor old Olly.
Is Mervyn King right - or wrong? That is the topic.
Mervyn King finds the UK economy in the same place as a starving man. The options are: "Do I steal, and hope to live, or starve". King has chosen theft, for it is final...and only..choice.
Printing/inflation is the lesser evil to deflation/depression. If of course you cannot stop the latter from happening, I dont think he can....and no one else wnats to.
He has no choice now, IMHO. The Govn has chosen a severe diet for the public to the point the UK is about to collapse from malnutrition, while the fat cats and big corporations still gorge at the top of the table.. He's now acting to cause the minimum of damage to the maximum of ppl.....at least he not deserting the populace, unlike the Pollies.....
regards
Well I guess the printers will be busy then, the debt bubble is popping.
Oh we all know what King is up to Rudderless - desperately trying to get inflation going by printing madly so savers and the rest of the great UK unwashed get to pay the bill while debts get inflated away. Throw in a bit of attempted currency devaluation (though who he thinks the UK is going to export to is anyones guess) and that is pretty much King's plan summarised in a sentence or two. He is right that this is THE financial crisis (but surely we all knew that here) but wrong in that debt is only a part of the problem. Nothing much new there if you have been reading this site for a few years.
Now Olly on the other hand.........
I would suggest they are printing because they fear a depression and all that entails and not because they want to inflate the bills away....
Looking back at the 1930s there is quite a bit of contempt etc for how badly it was handled...today these ppl must be considering how they will look in 80 years when it will be obvious that they allowed a depression to occur....30 years of mis-management wrpped up with 3 years of doing diddly about it when the outcome was blindlingly obvious.
All I can say is, nice one guys.
regards
An argument for.
Countries have defaulted before, perhaps most notably Spain four times in one century. and financial crises have happened before like the Dutch tulip crisis or the south sea island bubble.
But it could be argued that whilst those singular instances might be individually greater the impact on wider economic activity was much less.
Where he might be right is that never before in history has the global economy been as interconnected as it is today. The idea that a single crisis could end in the large and systemic failure of huge parts of the world finance system is quite real right now.
It amazes me how an industry built upon nothing more then a faith based medium of exchange can have such a huge impact on reality.
skudiv - had. They're tense now, but it's the past tense you're looking for.
Had is the word.
And one suspects that reality carries right on being real, giving not a toss. Jesting aside, you've hit the nail on the head - and the question is where is the media? Even BH, who may claim to be a blogger here, can't carry that excuse when he fronts on The Panel. And he has seen more here than he ever lets out there.
You can see the problem - his income, and a few others here, are dependent on houses being sold, mortgages being issued, land being subdivided. No activity, no income. Newspapers need advertising income, so aren't going to publicise the imminent demise of same.
Thats a powerful disincentive to announcing that the whole shebang was a ponzi scheme - as every scheme ever based on exponential growth, is.
Agreed.
regards
Yep well said
" I have a dream" by Mervyn King
"I have a nightmare" I think you mean.
regards
I think it should be pointed out that banks don't really like what Mervyn King is saying about the financial system.
http://www.economist.com/node/17363435
He is not the only member of the Bank of England, Monetary Policy committee and is probably considered a bit dangerous by many commercial bankers. You don't usually get such candid opinions from insiders until they leave their jobs.
"Governor Mervyn King warned the global financial system faced its greatest crisis since the 1930s, if not ever."
So does he now see the risk? or has he been afraid to say for 3 years?
Like it isnt difficult to see if you dont have political or a particular economic theory (neo-classical) biased blinkers.
Saying this in public 3 years ago could have seen something being done to mitigate the worst effects, the Pollies would have been on notice....you couldnt stop it IMHO....but you sure could have less'ened it substantially.....now its too late...now its going to be full blown carnage. The Pollies will riggle out of it because no one "senior" put them on notice....
regards
Perhaps by 'saying it' now, King hopes to mitigate the 'worst effects' that he has always known... are yet to come...
3 years ago we were only close to the edge, but had some time to step back....today not only are we one the edge of the abyss but they have spent 3 years digging it deeper and making the slope steeper IMHO.
He's too late now....in mitigation, almost everyone can kicks....it takes a very strong person IMHO to stand up, not can kick and take the dirision of his "peers" as well as this short term "losses"...
regards
Here's one for you Wol:
An illegal alien, a Muslim and a Communist go into a bar. The bartender asks, "What can I get you, Mr. President?"
George Bush replies.....I'll have one of them soy, trim, caffine free, latte's please sweety....
regards
I heard a similar joke but Obama repied,'Hey I'm no alien or communist!"
hoho....though Im not aware that a muslim cant run the Whitehouse legally.....
regards
Mervyn King of the Bank of England may well be right that this is the worst financial crisis ever, but his attempts to avoid it by money-printing is a mistake. The only people who think that it will work is the dwindling number of die-hard Keynesians. He should try something different. Why not give economic collapse a chance? It will help purge the system of the accumulated institutions and mal-investments that have got us into this mess.
because of the suffering that will result.
Not that it matters.....its going to happen....and its a long haul....20 to 30 years of severe depression.
regards
I think there is enough history to see what collapse can does.
But if you subscribe to the Austrian economic school perhaps the word 'collapse' isn't quite what is meant.
From the few drools of libertarians Ive bothered even briefly reading (they alls seem to subscribe the the Austrian school) their vain hope seems to be that the coming depression will be so catestrophic that their "beliefs" could "rise like a phoenix from the ashes of socialism"...to take control.
or in other words they have absolutely no hope within the existing democratic process of ever achieveing thier mentally unstable fantasy of how the world should be, that they see it as nothing to lose, they really dont care about the suffering of others....
regards
"Ben Bernanke Fans Fires of Protectionist Legislation to Senate Joint Economic Committee; Expect Global Depression if Obama Signs On
The one and only thing former Fed chairman Alan Greenspan was consistently right about was free trade. In contrast, Fed chairman Ben Bernanke is fanning the fires of protectionism right where he can do the most damage, in front of the Senate Joint Economic Committee."
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2011/10/ben-bernanke-fans-fires-of.html
"scarfie | 07 Oct 11, 9:03am
Bernard, as a journalist I can respect you position in being balanced in posting news. However I think a journalist has a duty to exercise discretion about what to publish."
BH, perhaps you should put an age limit for people to access this website. From the sound of it, some people are not (financially) mature enough to make their own decisions... We often criticise media censorship from other governments (china came to mind). This suggestion is a step towards it. I am amazed!
Bank of England Governor Mervyn King has lost faith in European governments’ ability to resolve the region’s debt crisis. bloomberg
Join the common peasants Mervyn...they never had any faith in the European govts nor in the uk government and none what so ever in you and the BoE.
"French bank SocGen is once again the trailblazer in telling the truth, with its economics team being the first to make the bold (for a bank) claim that America now has not only a majority, but a two thirds chance of recession".
Let's not forget that SocGen had their eyes opened by being the first cab off the rank with the massive loss that they took on trading in 2008. Since then, they have been bruttaly honest; and that will probably see them go broke, but time will tell.
I would say 90%+.....2/3rds went by 12 months+ ago.
regards
Auckland ratepayers being screwed...harrrrrrrrrrrrrhahahahaaaahahaaa
* $54m Cost of new Super City system.
* $7m Extra needed to get it up to scratch.
* $2.2m Cost of using old system to do same job.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10757139
Well well well, I was working for a company with close association with that project.. no surprises there...
Who got the loot Moa....is it crap hardware or shoddy software or both with a bit of poor management tossed in?
They got several perfectly working systems but no some big wig listened and like the sales pitch of a BIG IT company and decided to go onto a new system without any deep understanding of the requirements (tendering process... nah forget it)
What a shame.. at the end of tha day, the consultants are all laughing all the way to the big (australian and german) banks
For those who have not the foggiest idea what hell I am blathering on about when I say grab your mates and buy a predator... http://kontiki.co.nz/kontiki-predator-longline-images-photos-gallery-users/
As usual Olly was right in his article, "Borrow More" when he said that borrowing into prudent investment was the only way to go. This is more or less the same thing as the Governor of the Bank of England has just stated with the UK's new quantitative easing in issuing billions of new pounds out of thin air.
The only way out of this recession crisis is for people to stop stressing and start spending. Saving and cutting back sounds warm and fuzzy but only leads to more job losses and more recession.
The risk is hyper inflation. But that is by far and away the more preferable side effect rather than the evils of recession, stagflation or depression.
"Quantitative easing
Central banks increase the supply of money by "printing" more. In practice, this may mean purchasing government bonds or other categories of assets, using the new money. Rather than physically printing more notes, the new money is typically issued in the form of a deposit at the central bank. The idea is to add more money into the system, which depresses the value of the currency, and to push up the value of the assets being bought and to lower longer-term interest rates, which encourages more borrowing and investment. Some economists fear that quantitative easing can lead to very high inflation in the long term
link
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15196078
The world in a vicious debt cycle.
BD - the trouble with you guys and your unethical way of thinking - you even don’t understand economics in correlation to society, but just to your greedy gains.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3ooK39JsLI
Borrowing more and spending may indeed help fire up the economy, but what you're advocating, borrowing and purchasing more investment property certainly won't help. It just ties up more capital and leaves us in the same go slow state. The capital needs to be invested in productive areas so it facilitates growth and job creation.
Exactly! Which is why neither BigDaddy not Olly Newland see that property' investment' is not headed for the knacker yard...it is already there! The Governments of the world will have noticed that what got us all into this mess was...property speculation, in one guise or another. Whatever means they use to extract us from it, and eventually they will...life goes on...property speculation will be clamped down on, in various ways, starting with taxation measures here and abroad, and the capital that went into the 'business' in the past, supported by taxation treatment and various interpretations of it, will seek out a better , more productive use. It's all downhill for those left without a chair, now that the music has stopped in the game of "Property always goes up!"
(PS: Note, BigDaddy, that even with a trillion dollars worth of QE, the States hasn't been able to halt the decline in property prices. What chance a piddlig Stg 75 bio is going to do much at all. Most of it, if not all, will go to recapitalise tha ailing banking system, so that the debst that are coming its way, can be further sociailsed. Whatever the final amount of any global QE is, it will have already bee earmarked for bank rescue not property speculation!)
Stocks and commodity prices rallied globally on hopes the fresh money printing and signs of European political action to deal with the European debt crisis might help avoid catastrophe inside Europe's banking system and stave off a global economic recession, or worse.
"The rally is basically a broke person cheering after being approved for an 8th credit card."
You're on the money there prosperopink
cheers
Bernard
A different take on the UK's QE, makes sense to me.
jonlivesey
I think this story misinterprets what is going on. This isn't QE to "stimulate the economy".What's going on is making sure that UK Banks can survive a full-scale Banking melt-down in the Euro-zone.
Notice what happened today. Belgium and France got together to rescue and break up Dexia. That's a case of nations getting together to deal with a Bank they jointly part-own. This is more of the gathering process of nations in the Euro-zone doing things separately rather than jointly.
In the coming few weeks, we'll see that the Euro-zone is basically paralyzed by a serious dispute between France and Germany. France wants to Euro-zone to act as an entity, with rescues funded by all the Euro-zone members who are not actually receiving bailouts.
Germany does not see things like that. Germany sees the prospect of the Euro-zone failing and Germany surviving better on its own than tied to the other Euro-zone members. France wants an unlimited commitment to bailout and Germany want to give no more than the amount that would leave Germany capable of saving its own Banks.
The next step in this crisis will be as nations attempt to insulate their national Banking systems from contagion. Bernanke fired the first shot lat week, when he described the US as the "innocent victim" in the Euro crisis. King is doing a similar thing by making sure he gives UK Banks liquidity proactively, so that they can gradually cut their remaining counter-party links to the Euro-zone.
IMF advisor says we face a Worldwide Banking Meltdown http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=6UGDTtqklSo#!
Andrew times are worrying - someting is brewing in secret.
Three weeks ago a Swisskiwi friend told me receiving a statement from a bank in Switzerland, saying monthly overseas bank account fees are increasing from CHF 5.- to CHF 30.- from October 2011. This is in Swiss terms not only a very short notice, but an unusual massive increase.
Gold 1'638.20 today
Ratepayers are to be fleeced...again
"UNISA will have a focus on specific development opportunities such as fish farming in the Hauraki Gulf, access to aggregate resources for roading and building, and cross-boundary resource management issues," he said.
Local Government Minister Rodney Hide welcomed the move.
He said central government's concern was that councils' rules, regulations and bureaucracies were getting in the way of homeowners and businesses.
"We think there is too much red tape and too many hurdles for New Zealanders to climb through."
He said the alliance could help remove red tape by adopting best practice and improving systems"....stuff.co
What has not been reported is the fact this grand alliance will create a whole new level of bureaucracy entailing dozens of bloated salaried positions and grand titles....leading to the duplication of work if any work is ever done...
Pollies wallowing in the effluent.....again!
"POliticians and perks are like pigs and muck: you can't keep them apart. Nothing is more sickening than the sight of MPs ganging together to protect their privileges. Nothing infuriates the voters more.
Yet despite scorn, ridicule, abuse and a series of official reports calling for change, the MPs have continued to wallow.
John Key's government now promises to clean up. Its new bill, introduced just before parliament rose, will take control of most travel and accommodation perks away from the MPs and give it to an independent body. Will this help? Yes, a bit. Will it solve the problem? No. MPs' perks will still be hidden in the murk."
http://www.stuff.co.nz/sunday-star-times/opinion/5753804/Perks-will-remain-in-the-murk
Well, looks like Dairy farms are well back in price, some more waste for the tax payer to make up.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/5754217/Transpower-risks-los…
Trans power being milked by the farmers..haha
The dangers of owning gold...and of being an American citizen...living anywhere on the planet!
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