Wednesday, May 01, 2019
Graph of the Day
Very informative piece in DomPost today by Justin Stevenson regarding the forthcoming Well-Being Budget argues we actually need to focus more on GDP and featured this graph:
Tuesday, April 30, 2019
Is it any wonder beneficiaries prioritise tobacco and alcohol
Stats NZ have provided interactive data that shows expenditures on 12 items in a variety of households.
Spending on alcohol and tobacco rates 4th highest in beneficiary households. No other household has a rating this high.
In absolute terms most other household types are spending more on alcohol and tobacco but it's lower down the list of items usually appearing 6th or 7th.
The other stand-out obviously is housing. All households bar the highest income/expenditure have housing as their number one cost - even Superannuitants, which is a worry. But the graph above has a pattern unlike any other in that all of the expenditures are close to the left (bar food) with housing hard to the right. Note the vast difference when compared to the highest income group:
Going back to the problem of housing making poor people poorer, look at the change for beneficiaries since 2008:
Spending on alcohol and tobacco rates 4th highest in beneficiary households. No other household has a rating this high.
In absolute terms most other household types are spending more on alcohol and tobacco but it's lower down the list of items usually appearing 6th or 7th.
The other stand-out obviously is housing. All households bar the highest income/expenditure have housing as their number one cost - even Superannuitants, which is a worry. But the graph above has a pattern unlike any other in that all of the expenditures are close to the left (bar food) with housing hard to the right. Note the vast difference when compared to the highest income group:
Going back to the problem of housing making poor people poorer, look at the change for beneficiaries since 2008:
If I was on a benefit under this scenario I'd be prioritizing alcohol and tobacco too (notwithstanding rising accommodation supplement is meeting some of the increased housing cost).
The housing market is in a real mess. And it happened under a National government. After Labour set up the stifling regulations.
Monday, April 29, 2019
Silly Simon
Simon Bridges is making himself sound silly over the slushy 'scandal'. How much time (taxpayer money) did his staff spend digging up this dirt to throw at Corrections' Minister, Kelvin Davis, who sounds like a man with gravitas for a change?
It just makes me question Bridge's judgement even more. What goes on in his head?
For instance the prison population is on the rise again, despite Labour's pledge to reduce it; despite the Justice Summit which did cost a truckload and seems to have delivered little. Corrections says a backlog of criminals due to be processed caused the rise. Why a backlog? Justice delayed is not justice. There are a myriad of serious questions the leader of the opposition could be asking but he picks the petty.
It just makes me question Bridge's judgement even more. What goes on in his head?
For instance the prison population is on the rise again, despite Labour's pledge to reduce it; despite the Justice Summit which did cost a truckload and seems to have delivered little. Corrections says a backlog of criminals due to be processed caused the rise. Why a backlog? Justice delayed is not justice. There are a myriad of serious questions the leader of the opposition could be asking but he picks the petty.
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