Brian Fallow: What about the workers, Grant?
13 May, 2021 05:00 PM
6 minutes to read
New Zealand should spend more on training and employment subsidies for the private sector, says the International Monetary Fund. Photo / Supplied
New Zealand should spend more on training and employment subsidies for the private sector, says the International Monetary Fund. Photo / Supplied
OPINION:
If ever there was a time for a Labour Finance Minister to deliver a Budget true to his party s roots, it is now.
Grant Robertson is unencumbered by a veto-wielding coalition partner. At the risk of tempting fate, the worst of the pandemic looks to be behind us.
Brian Fallow: How far will Grant Robertson move into Reserve Bank s territory?
29 Apr, 2021 07:00 AM
7 minutes to read
Finance Minister Grant Robertson looks on as Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr speaks to the media. Photo / Getty Images
Finance Minister Grant Robertson looks on as Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr speaks to the media. Photo / Getty Images
OPINION:
It is a bit much for Shadow Treasurer Andrew Bayly to raise the spectre of Robert Muldoon over the Government s planned overhaul of the Reserve Bank s prudential role. A return to the bad old days before 1989 s Reserve Bank Act and they were bad is not at hand.
Brian Fallow: Cutting farm emissions - without cutting farm output
4 Mar, 2021 04:00 PM
6 minutes to read
Last year pastoral farming contributed more than 40 per cent of New Zealand s export income. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Last year pastoral farming contributed more than 40 per cent of New Zealand s export income. Photo / Mark Mitchell
OPINION:
The Climate Change Commission s plan for reducing methane emissions from agriculture might be called the Ninotchka strategy. Ninotchka is the title of a movie from the late 1930s in which Greta Garbo plays an earnest Soviet official dispatched to Paris to recover some Romanov jewels which have surfaced there.
Before she finally succumbs to the charms of leading man Melvyn Douglas and the City of Lights, there is a memorable scene where she is discussing with a couple of colleagues the purges going on back home. Picture Garbo at her most impassive as she sums up Stalinism in a phrase: There are going to be fewer but be