Tag Archives: profit

When Good Money Goes Bad

Posted on by nimda
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Debt is bad. Saving is good. Or so we are told. The government has been squirrelling taxpayers money away to invest via the Superannuation Fund. It has also been squirrelling away money from ACC levies to invest for the future.

To encourage us to save, most New Zealanders have had at least 3% of their weekly wages spirited away into a Kiwisaver fund. Employers have contributed another 3% per week.

It is doubtful whether anyone really knows what happens to all this money when it leaves our pockets / pay packets. The main goal is to accrue interest, use the money to make more money. This used to be called usury and was considered immoral in many religions, including Christianity. Continue reading →

Act Against Corporate Welfare, Rescue The Common Good

Posted on by nimda
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Corporate welfare exists in secret trusts and corporations that play one country’s tax laws off against another’s to avoid paying taxes whilst heavying governments for handouts. Corporate welfare exists in misnamed ‘trade’ treaties, like the TPP, that allow overseas corporations to dispute the decisions of elected governments and embed corporate money spinners like the extension of copyright and patent law worldwide.

Corporate welfare fuels the “relentless machine of corporate profit.” And corporate welfare subverts the common good. Continue reading →

The Corporate Con

Posted on by nimda
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Most of our elected officials want to do the right thing. They want everyone to have a reasonable standard of living. But they are being led astray. Corporate heads tell our politicians that they can help with this, and our politicians believe them.

These corporate heads have got national and local politicians of every stripe falling over themselves to assist their corporations to make money in New Zealand, in the mistaken belief that their corporations are going to make money for New Zealanders. Continue reading →

Social Bond(age)

Posted on by nimda
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Not-for-Profits providing social services are not working hard enough, or smart enough. The people they support are not trying hard enough. Both need a corporate investor, whose profit margin is at stake, wielding a big stick to chivvy them along to lift their game. Hence the need for social bonds. Or so it is implied.

There are so many reasons why social bonds are a bad idea, and downright insulting to both service provider and service users, it is hard to know where to start. Continue reading →

Company Tax Rates, Alliance Style

Posted on by nimda
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ACT has thrown company tax rates into the election circus. The reaction from other parties has been muted to say the least. No one seems to know how to respond.

The Alliance Party has never been afraid of controversy. Let’s look at company tax rates, and trust tax rates too for that matter. But let’s look at them from the viewpoint of reducing inequality and increasing the common good, as opposed to enabling companies to increase their profits per se. Continue reading →