Would it not be more important to debate causes of the asset sales syndrome, and how best to deal with, prevent, overcome and heal them, and prevent their recurrence?

That means, rather than just complain about the calamity, what about taking measures to eliminate the causes of it, and how to heal them, because just not selling the assets does not change the situation that created the assets sales motivation.

Higher power prices are to be expected anyhow because of more expensive additional and cleaner power generation, to be paid for by users or taxpayers - and fairly met by capital investment financed by domestic savings, rather than asset sales, possibly to foreigners.

We all could participate in the savings for investments needed through our NZSF, and improve our NZ Super sustainability with those investments.

Asset sales syndrome; an easy fix to get money in the treasury coffers to make the books look good to overseas interests. As in the credit rating agencies. This "fix" never takes into account the cost to everyone else and only looks good the next time the P.M etc meet their mates from over less endowed nations. The biggest problem with the "fix' is it never works and politicians can't seem to get this at all. Mind you if your on the earners they are on would you care!!!

Right, earthy - that's why we have to have a more serious and fundamental look at it than just moan over some possible price increases that at best can be held up only for a while anyhow!

But there is hope, earthy - because our own raised savings rates invested in wealth creation and ownership at home, will also raise wages and incomes and Govt. revenue based on earnings, before long - and that's what we really want - real wealth creation, not just widening poverty through more unemployment etc, which cannot be cured without more saving and investment, by only being "papered over" by assets sales and benefits.

Jens, I'm perplexed How does John Keys secret deal of 500 more SKYCITY pokies do anything for savings ? EXCEPT for wealth creation for Casinos Shareholders and the Haves once more! How much profit for SKYCITY was it.?

The following C&P from a poster on the Standard.

"The really sinister ‘thing’ you refer to was that Banks with a war chest to fight the Auckland Mayoralty of close to 1 million bucks was supposed to win that race at a canter,

The Ports of Auckland industrial dispute was then supposed to be escalated to such an extent that Mayor Banks was to throw up His hands in defeat and announce the sale of the asset,

A million dollars doesn’t get thrown into the Mayoral candidacy of an outright idiot like Banks by the Capitalists just to have one of their own sitting at the head of the table,

There was to be a grand payoff for those men and women of money, ownership of the Ports of Auckland…"

Wow!

Now that's an interesting twist in the tale isn't it? I wonder how close to true it is?

Ha, Dr Livingstone, I did not refer to the "casino savings", but to the amended NZ Super Fund savings resumption, where we all contribute systematically and predictably, and not leave it just to our poor "one arm bandit" operators or illegaly earned money "washers" and other..(?)..s.

I think this belongs in this thread. It's about what happens when foreign owned companies own our strategic assets.
From Stuff this morning - technology: Minister Amy Adams....

"Communications Minister Amy Adams says she plans to keep an eye on a parliamentary investigation ordered by her Australian counterpart Stephen Conroy into the high price of computer hardware, software and digital downloads in Australia, but she has no plans at present to order a similar inquiry here...."

"....Adding insult to injury, many technology multinationals have an agency structure in New Zealand that allows them to channel profits on local sales to tax havens such as Ireland and avoid paying significant amounts of local tax...."

I've Cut big time before Pasting because for me the money shot is in the last lines of the last para - '...avoid paying significant amounts of local tax...'

That.

We can never, ever, get out of debt if we don't have the means to make any money.

There will be oil wells even if we own only a percentage. How much are we making from giving the US Marines a holiday on our shores. Will they bring their own gas and oil do you think.?

Do we own a percentage of our oil wells, Joybel? I thought the oil cos, exploratory and production, only paid us royalties - low single digit royalties at that? Stand to be corrected as per; in fact, would love to be corrected.

No, I doubt it - they'll fuel up on our tab, I imagine. We're the hosts after all. And they have the best uniforms and they are so, so charming and polite. I met a bunch of them here at the RWC and a cuter bunch of trained military machines you never saw! Called me Ma'am in soft southern hush ma mout' drawls. They were the Marines Band supporting the US Team. Can they tootle up a storm! And march! Wow! Talk about Mom and apple pie. They have it all in spades.

So that's alright. Isn't it?

arandar; you are right about the oil I think. If it lands here they pay for the lot BUT if exported straight from oil-fields, very small royalty is paid. That's what stuff the U.K. Thatcher didn't think that through when allowing the oil companies into the North sea and they lost a gold mine. We'd stuff it up too! Just like coal, that gets sold a low prices just so they get sales.
Cute at tootling the Yanks but the fill the coffers up by any means. We are just the littlest fish in their big pond of things.

Again, I'm not sure if this belongs here but it doesn't seem to belong in the John Key thread either since both National and Labour appear to support Free Trade Agreements.

I don't - Fair Trade Agreements, yes please, but I don't believe in that mythical beast the FREE TA or free anything - there's always a price to pay.

So, in the Health pages of Stuff today, comes a report that NZs Health Spend is second lowest per person in the whole group of countries we compare ourselves to. Obviously, this is both a good and a bad thing depending on perspective. However the article says two reasons for it are that we have fewer elderly people than the other countries and we have Pharmac.

Yes. Pharmac. Which is under considerable threat from the TPPA.

This:

"The performance of Government drug buying agency Pharmac appears to get a big tick with this country paying less for the 30 most commonly prescribed drugs than any of the other countries covered.

New Zealand pays just a third of the price paid in the US, which pays the most. In Australia and Britain the cost was about half that in the US, while Germany and Canada paid about three-quarters of the US cost."

No wonder Big Pharmacy & Big US are targeting us, eh?

I see a Christchurch economist has told Parliament's finance and expenditure select committee that if New Zealand's Government were a business, it would have no case to sell stakes in its energy generation firms.
And it should not relinquish any control of such an important resource as energy, Sustento director and economist Raf Manji said. It was admirable for the Government to lower debt, but the numbers around selling stakes in energy firms to do so did not add up, he said.
New Zealand debt servicing was at record lows and the energy firms were trading well, returning between 5 and 11 per cent, he said. It looked like the nation was heading into a prolonged period of low interest rates, he said.

"It's never been so cheap for the Government to borrow money and the demand for Kiwi debt has never been higher. If the New Zealand Government was a business, there would be absolutely no reason why it would be selling."

How many times does the government need to be told or is a case of chasing dogma or keeping mates happy and rich?

Cheers