Comments on: Unemployment: Real people’s lives

By: Seti

Seti — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 01:23:05 +0000

Yet a staggering 80% are happy with the way the government is handling the recession.

By: Youth unemployment still climbing « Red Alert

Youth unemployment still climbing « Red Alert — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:04:22 +0000

[...] wanted to expand quickly on Grant’s post [...]

By: Sam

Sam — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 21:21:49 +0000

Thanks in no small part to a poorly timed drought that wiped out a few billion dollars of value.

By: MacDoctor

MacDoctor — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 10:14:24 +0000

New Zealand went into the recession with a lower unemployment rate than Australia.

Indeed we did – a full YEAR before Australia went into recession.

By: TopCat

TopCat — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 08:42:18 +0000

Tim,
It won’t matter what the govt books look like if your population has no skills, no productivity, low wages and underinvested businesses. All the skills, creativity and most valuable workers will be living elsewhere and NZ will be on the fast track to the third world. If you can show me what measures are being taken for us to avoid this fate (ie a re-run of 1990-1999) please detail them.

By: Luke

Luke — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 08:22:17 +0000

Tim, is your name actually Bill English? If not you sound scarily like him. You (both) seem to have a very naive view of employment (you probably prefer the dehumanising term ‘labour markets’).
You forget about things like loss of skills, such as the many apprentices that have been laid off from their trades, with many of them probably now being disillusioned with their former occupation in NZ. Things like lack of private sector skills training over along period was the real ‘handbrake on growth’ that was holding our economy back.
Similarly I’m sure all the skilled construction workers who have been laid off, despite there being a longer term skill shortage, will be looking to Australia for work on govt stimulus projects, as well as on the spinoff projects that this govt spending stimulates.

By: Doug

Doug — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 07:11:51 +0000

Rude and crude Iprent from the Standard

This comment is offensive and has nothing to do with Red Alert or this post. Balance deleted. Trevor

By: Tim Ellis

Tim Ellis — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:41:37 +0000

Interesting analysis Mr Robertson. The unemployment statistics are certainly nothing to cheer about and as you say these are real people who are bearing the brunt of the global recession.

If there is any silver lining it’s that unemployment is forecast now to be lower than the earlier forecasts and we’re now officially out of recession. It seems we’ve got to this point without piling too many billions more expenditure on the government credit card for next generations to pay.

I think that puts into perspective Labour’s promises to spend at least $6 billion more. It would have piled very large interest costs on future taxpayers, which means fewer services could have been afforded.

I think this government has tread a good balance between keeping the economy moving and not loading too much debt on future taxpayers. It seems like the Government does have a plan, and Labour doesn’t.

By: Spud

Spud — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:21:12 +0000

Aw man, don’t forget to mourn on Sunday (I’m going to wear black). I still can’t believe the election result
Yes, our economy isn’t looking good.