The cost of Bill's surplus still hurting.


Bill English is a clever man, through an economic sleight of hand he produced the holy grail, a budget surplus. This was celebrated as a worthwhile achievement since the tax cuts for the wealthy had reduced the Government's income considerably (tax revenue plummeted from $44 billion in 2008 to $33 billion a few years later). It needed budget trimming and austerity measures in many areas and increasing revenue from other sources (like SOE dividends, more speeding tickets and borrowing $50 billion) to ensure the rich could continue enjoying their windfall.

The cost of the budget surplus is being paid for in other ways:

Health
But Bill got a surplus!

Education
But Bill got a surplus!

Housing
But Bill got a surplus on the backs of the poor, the sick, the struggling and the homeless... 
and the rich get to keep their tax cuts. 


Comments

D'argent said…
So he managed to balance the books for a day by shifting EQC and other money from one side of the ledger to another. Not much different from making a car repayment with money borrowed from instant finance. Govt still has $120 billion owed overseas.
Dave Kennedy said…
Quite right D'argent, it was a sleight of hand performance supported by cuts, underfunding etc. English excels in creative accounting but delivers little to those who deserve support ;-)

Popular posts from this blog

The US is actually unique for not valuing life!

NZ, the Unethical Investor

ANZAC DAY REFLECTIONS