Here's our summary of news from over the weekend.
The Green Party has signalled it's keen to get back to its grassroots, electing Marama Davidson as its female co-leader. The South Auckland-based lawmaker took 110 of the 144 votes cast in the contest, leaving Julie Anne Genter, a minister outside cabinet, with only 34. Davidson was considered the frontrunner throughout the race to fill the position previously held by Metiria Turei.
While Genter is perceived to be an urban liberal like Shaw, Davidson represents the more activist side of the party. She says not having a ministerial portfolio will enable her to connect with party members to avoid it losing its support-base as other minor parties have when in government. Davidson's election calls into question the likelihood of the Greens forging a relationship with National.
An underwhelming non-farm payrolls report shows the US job market grew less than expected in March. 103,000 jobs were added to the market, a drop from the 326,000 added in February. The unemployment rate stayed at 4.1% for the sixth month in a row, while the labour force participation rate was pretty much unchanged at 62.9%.
Nonetheless, delivering a speech before the release of these figures, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell painted a much more positive picture of the economy. Having raised interest rates earlier in the week, he talked up the strength of the US's post-GFC economic recovery.
Powell did not however discuss the market volatility caused by US/China trade war talk. Asked about this after delivering his speech, he said it was “too early to say” how tariffs might affect growth and inflation.
Markets were anything but soothed by Powell's comments, losing some of the gains they made in the second half of last week. Meanwhile the tit-for-tat between the US and China has continued. The US has also announced more sanctions against Russia.
Staying in the US, its consumer credit growth is falling away fast. Increasing by only 3.3% in the year to February, this is a substantial drop from the 4.9% growth experienced in the year to January and 6.0% in the year to December.
A vote of confidence for cryptocurrencies - having slagged them in January, George Soros is now planning to trade crypto. Bloomberg reports Soros Fund Management is eyeing the crypto market, but hasn't made a move yet.
In New York, the UST 10yr yield has dropped off since this time on Friday to 2.78%.
The US crude benchmark has fallen to US$62/bbl, while the Brent benchmark is down to US$67/bbl.
Gold is up to US$1,332/oz.
The New Zealand dollar has stayed fairly stable over the weekend. It's at 72.7 USc, 94.8 AUc and 59.4 euro cents. The TWI-5 is down to 74.1.
The price of bitcoin has increased, but remains in a slump at US$6,994.
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31 Comments
"The Green Party has signalled it's keen to get back to its grassroots, electing Marama Davidson as its female co-leader."
I had thought that the grassroots of the Green Party would have been environmental rather than social justice issues.
The overwhelming result 110 votes for a social justice focussed candidate vs 34 for an environmental focussed candidate seems to indicate that social justice rather than environmental issues are the party's new priority. A social justice focussed group has clearly hi-jacked the Green Party which was formerly clearly an environment focussed party.
This is not going to sit well with the largely middle class comfortable Forest and Bird membership.
My prediction; a formal split in the Green Party with a new more conservative environmental group leaning National's way prior to the next election. The loss of two strongly environmental focussed candidates prior to the last election over the Turei affair and the recent allocation of Green Party questions to National (in the absence of social justice leadership) are indications of this.
It's just that certain people will do what ever it takes to get into power, in NZ politics that means you need a party, and greens are a soft touch. That and certain people don't ever want the greens going with National, they want a labour party lapdog, important with MMP to keep a captive coalition party up your sleeve.
The Green Party are and still will be a social Democratic Party, as far as I'm aware there are no right leaning Green parties anywhere on the planet, modern day capitalism and the environment are not easy bedfellows.
Social inequality, poverty all play a part on the environment and its inhabitants- Indonesia, Brazil, Africa etc etc.. why would the farmers care for their environment when they are offered in comparative terms lots more money to turn rainforest into palm oil or cattle farms. When a market is willing to pay 500,000 Euros for 5 Rhino horns, in some homeopathic scam, why would I not poach that Rhino and secure a year's worth of money for my impoverished family, there's always more - until there isn't.
Why should Mobil/BP/Shell care about the environment when their shareholders are clamoring for more profit?
I'd doubt you could have a Green party that is also overtly capitalist. Environmentalism naturally has to be concerned about the tragedy of the commons and about preserving the condition of the environment for future generations, and this will often butt up against the necessarily amoral drive for immediate profit that companies must have (unless driven by their shareholders to have other motives - a rare thing).
But then, we don't really have any really right-wing parties in NZ, so the Greens here should potentially be able to work with either major party.
Maybe, but don't think Greens will allow any hijacking of their brand, a la Germany by economic conservatives. If that's where this prediction stems from.
"Our" Greens in nz are too smart, and close knit and bloshy to get into bed with National and or Bridges, after his Mining stances he's every "element" of the party's absolute enemy!!
My theory is that social justice and environmental issues are two sides of the same coin for Green vote. Hard to separate out the welfare of communities from the environmental integrity of the environment in which they live. In the end the Greens, I think, see the two amounting to the same thing. The economy never trumps the environment or people.
Besides, who the hell would vote for a Patsy Greens!? No voter base. Not before the next election anyway. LOL...
Can someone help me out? Andy Xie is talking about a city in China which has a land value more than all of the USA, its starts at around 10 mins in, what is the name of the city?
Well that's what Mr Xie tells us in the video. He's a well respected economist. He screwed up at least once
https://www.smh.com.au/articles/2006/10/05/1159641459494.html
300k flat in China, 5 tier 1 cities in China
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18ldit6nVUs&index=8&list=UU33DZIOL5BhWj…
The Marama Davidson vote clearly shows that they are going to be a socialist party and James Shaw is going to be dominated by this woman, it is clear to see.
Ms. Davidson could not see what wrong Turei had done by frauding the taxpayer thru her benefit fraud. However she thought the bigger wrong was how people couldn’t afford to live?
Maybe Ms. Davidson it has something to do with people not. Asking right choices and thinking that the country owes them a damn living!!!!
She is going to cause major friction in the Green Party and it is going to be extremely interesting as She has got very little interest in green issues bit more so-called social injustices
And give me one, just one, Socialist policy that the Greens are advocating, I'll wait....
Tax evasion vs benefit fraud's a good one to look up, you can do it yourself, and see what costs the country more.
I'm a Green, and we're never going to see eye to eye on politics, but I'll explain a little about why I am, it's not because I think I'm better than anyone else, it's not through sheer altruism, it is in part driven by self-interest.
My feeling is that if we can improve opportunity, health, education, the environment and I have to pay $50-100-200 more per week to do that, it's a better result for me than if I get burgled/mugged by poverty stricken, drug-addled individuals. Every country that has lower inequality has lower crime, so that seems like a worthy investment to me.
Labour are capturing the social justice voters and National the capitalists. Surely the Greens could cut into both parties votes by making the environment their core focus?
Greens should take a leaf out of Winstons play book and go into Govt with whatever party agrees to their policies rather than always being Labours Bridesmaid.
Rick, You make me laugh. That would make the CoL the almost-never capitalists. What are you trying to do with all of these comments? The demarcation between Left and Right is never static in NZ. Just because NZ is a socialist democracy doesn't make the COL's version palatable to all. FWIW: The lack of any positive words for National makes me sense you are a stalking horse for the Left. It's a well worn fundamental Christian tactic. I'm not buying whatever you're trying to sell. But that not telling you anything new, is it?
She had an solid as a rock interview with Guyon on Morning Report today. Worth a listen.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/354512/new-green-co-leader-tar…
If anything the Green's are just doing what they always seek - balance in leadership. I think it's easy to underestimate the consensus of values the Greens operate on. They're not a party of individuals who jump ship and swing Blue because it's a "sweet deal" for them. They're Greenies!!
Principles and values ≠ National party, from the commentary on here, the principles and values espoused by certain National voters on this forum are - win at all costs, 'get ahead', 'forget' to follow the law, evict old ladies from your rental just before Christmas.
Yes. The Greens and their policy's have been forcing the other two parties to come up with something similar for years now! Almost anything National, or especially Labour say about "doing right for the environment" is entirely a result of Green campaign and policy development over the years.
National and Labour are going Green, not Greens going the other way around! Gotta love the self interest of economic conservatives to say anything for power.
It does make me chuckle every time I hear someone suggesting the Green Party should coalesce with National.
You see, for that to happen it requires National to actually do some green policy - like you know, cleaning up rivers, regulating dairy, actually supporting public transport, doing something REAL about carbon emissions - not the stupid ETS that is a total croc.
Green party foot soldiers - the ones who actually knock on doors, pay subscriptions and get petitions signed - are not ever going to do that for a party that props up National in its current form. So you can kiss goodbye your unicorn hopes of a Green National coalition - unless of course National comes out with a genuine environmental agenda and is prepared to stand up to corporate interests.
Not that Labour is that fantastic either mind you. But that is another saga.
I do wonder how much Davidson knows about economics however. But that could be said for Grant Robertson. The Left needs some politicians with strong foundation in macro who can argue Keynesian case better. God knows, we're gonna need it in the next recession.
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