Efforts by the Government to buy back the railways have stalled as it prepares to take a tough line with owner Toll NZ. The Dominion Post understands that the Government, through state-owned network operator Ontrack, has offered up to $500 million for the Australian-owned Toll NZ assets, but talks stalled after the rail operator countered […]
Category Archives: Privatisation
Auckland airport has blown up into a big political row after National leader John Key suggested he would not stand in the way of a part-sale to foreign buyers. • Blog: Labour cock-a-hoop over airport move Share prices for Auckland airport tumbled yesterday after 11th-hour changes by the Government effectively blocked a 40 per cent shareholding […]
By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) – France, Japan and Australia rated best and the United States worst in new rankings focusing on preventable deaths due to treatable conditions in 19 leading industrialized nations, researchers said on Tuesday. If the U.S. health care system performed as well as those of those top three countries, there would […]
Trade group founded in 2000 now represents 10,000 private firefighters SAN DIEGO – After the Great Fire of London in 1666, insurance companies started issuing plaques to show private fire brigades which homes to save–and which to let burn. Insurers organized their own firefighting companies. Not having a plaque didn’t mean your home went totally […]
John Key stated that if elected National would promote privatised care for the elderly.(Travellerev) A health insurance company serving customers in a half-dozen states set out to drop hundreds of customers and paid lucrative bonuses to an executive in charge of eliminating coverage. One customer is suing the company, Health Net Inc., after a company salesman […]
A health insurance company serving customers in a half-dozen states set out to drop hundreds of customers and paid lucrative bonuses to an executive in charge of eliminating coverage. One customer is suing the company, Health Net Inc., after a company salesman pressured her to switch to a Health Net plan only for the company […]
According to John Key Doctors prices would level out and the market would determine the price doctors could charge for a consult when the consult fees would be up to the doctors. I wonder if this is what John Key had in mind? GPs’ salaries soar to £110,000 despite promises of more money for patients By […]
Would you like your parents to be taken care of by the Carlyle group? A caravan of over 200 healthcare workers organized by the SEIU arrived in Washington DC today to demonstrate outside the Carlyle Group headquarters. What does that have to do with Jeralyn Merritt’s mom? Jeralyn’s mom lives in a Manor Care facility. […]
The richest Americans’ share of national income has hit a postwar record, surpassing the highs reached in the 1990s bull market, and underlining the divergence of economic fortunes blamed for fueling anxiety among American workers. The wealthiest 1% of Americans earned 21.2% of all income in 2005, according to new data from the Internal Revenue […]
At what point does Canada become a toy country? In August, the last of the major Canadian steel makers was sold to United States Steel Corporation for $1.1 billion. Earlier, Dofasco was sold to a European company which has since been swallowed up by Mittal Steel Co. of India. This latest foreign takeover is just […]
The Meaning of OppositesBy Charles Sullivan 10/03/07 “ICH” — – -One can no longer understand US governmental policy on the basis of conventional language or traditional wisdom. Language itself and its long-established meanings were long ago twisted and distorted in order to deceive the people. Now war is peace and terror and occupation is liberation. […]
by Richard C. Cook Global Research, October 2, 2007 No term in the “dismal science” of economics is more misunderstood than “inflation.” The word means “rising prices,” but is used at different times by different people to describe totally different phenomena. The most predominant type of inflation is natural and occurs as raw materials are […]
The jobs are outsourced, the infrastructure is collapsing, every American family lives on their credit cards, and their mortgages, and still they are spurred on to buy, buy, buy. And now that the housing bubble is busting and the dollar is collapsing the vultures move in for the kill. America is on it way to a […]
In Australia, Macquarie Bank is known as the “millionaires factory” for good reason. In the past 10 years, it has come from nowhere to become one of the world’s most aggressive buyers of airports, toll roads, energy firms and utilities. If an asset has a reliable cash flow, Macquarie, it seems, has pounced. In so […]
A multinational company specialising in public-private partnerships (PPPs) could become a school landlord under National’s education plans. Yesterday, National unveiled more detail on its education policy after The Weekend Press revealed the party was planning to pump more money into private schools and allow the private sector to build and own state schools. The story […]
Vandana Shiva, The physicist, activist and author outlines the scope of the “triple threat” represented by the end of cheap oil, human-induced climate change, and resource scarcity. Tools Before I came here I was very fortunate to join the group of scientists and religious leaders who made a trip to the Arctic to witness the […]
Taxpayer-funded Kiwibank has invested around $6 million in troubled British lender Northern Rock, which was last week bailed out by the Bank of England. Spokesman Bruce Thompson confirmed the government-owned entity holds around $6 million in bonds issued by Northern Rock. Kiwibank was “very confident” its investment was safe, he said. “We’ve got a very […]
One in four New Zealand tenants suffer from “rent rage” – and the phenomenon is set to grow as more people are shut out of owning their own home. According to a national survey by property website allrealestate.co.nz more than half of the 170 online respondents expressed “anxiety” over their rental predicament, with rising rents […]
National Party leader John Key is considering using private developers to build and own new state schools. He said such private sector involvement was seriously under consideration for the party’s education policy. “I think it’s entirely possible the private sector could build, own and maintain a property which is operated by the public sector,” he […]
I wonder how much of John Key’s $50 mill. are invested in these companies. Or in Rio Tinto, or some of the other big Corporations currently vying for NZ resources (Exxon, Shell etc). And I also wonder if Kiwi’s want to elect a man who may not wish to defend NZ’s best interests but instead those […]
Labour has fought back to within 5.2 points of National in the latest Herald-DigiPoll opinion survey. The clawback comes in a month when National’s leader, John Key, has not been in the media spotlight nearly as much as Prime Minister Helen Clark. The poll rounds out a bad week for National, which fumbled the announcement […]
12:12PM Thursday September 27, 2007 Tony Ryall The National Party is being accused of running a secret agenda after confirming it will scrap controls on doctors’ fees. Health spokesman Tony Ryall and Party leader John Key launched a discussion document, which made no mention of doctor costs. Mr Ryall insisted he had previously announced that […]
Lots of promises, lower tax for the rich, privatazation of healthcare (like in America) yep John Key and nats are finally showing their true colors Public health groups are angry at National Party plans to remove caps on doctors’ fees if it wins next year’s election. National announced yesterday it would scrap the Government’s controls […]
by Eric Englund Inflation is an immoral tax that leads to immoral values ~ Anonymous South American banker Having been in the credit profession for the past 23 years, I have observed several cycles involving the loosening and then the inevitable tightening of credit-underwriting standards. Of course, the Federal Reserve stands at the epicenter of […]
By COLIN ESPINER – The Press | Tuesday, 25 September 2007 National is considering partial sales of state assets worth about $1.5 billion to fund projects such as roads and electricity transmission upgrades. Deputy leader Bill English yesterday gave more details of National’s plans to part-privatise state assets, despite a furious reaction by Labour to […]
By Ian Chua HONG KONG, Sept 18 (Reuters) – Credit fears flared in Asia on Tuesday prompting Australia’s central bank to quash speculation that one or more regional banks had asked for emergency funding, a day after savers rushed to withdraw deposits from a British lender. Japan’s finance minister provided soothing words to investors, saying […]
The United States is not the only nation confronting a household debt crisis. We, too, have a subprime lending market and it is managed by our collective bag of finance companies. The collective sum of savings at risk in this sector is reported to be $16 billion. Put another way, that’s nearly a third of […]
By Mike Whitney 09/17/07 “ICH” — – Alan Greenspan’s appearance on 60 Minutes was preceded with all the pomp and ceremony of a royal wedding. The public relations blitz dragged out for a whole week. What profound truisms would the elusive former-fed master divulge to the News Magazine’s withered-coquette, Leslie Stahl? Would he produce his […]
In the past 100 years, the rollercoaster ride that is the world of high finance has seen some spectacular lows. Sean O’Grady looks back at four episodes that not only came to define their times but also served as lessons for the future Published: 15 September 2007 1907: The Bankers’ Panic Sometimes, all that is necessary […]
Northern Rock forced to seek emergency funding · Savers are assured that their money is secure Ashley Seager Friday September 14, 2007 The Guardian The Bank of England was last night forced to hand emergency funding to one of Britain’s biggest mortgage providers – Northern Rock – as it became the first major financial institution […]
Aotearoa: A Wider Perspective 