Racist?

[Zardnaar]

Here the government introduced an emergency benefit with Covid. They also did a wage subsidy that was rushed through. Employers could access it with 2 days.

Lockdown put a lid on things. Unemployment is up but it hasn't reached the levels seen in the USA.

Alot of the extra help in offer also runs out just after the election in September.

The Numbers
https://interactives.stuff.co.nz/2020/06/unemployment-crisis-covid-economic-recovery/part-three/

However it's lead to the absurd situation where if you get laid off on March 1st you get a lot more than someone laid off the previous day in February.

Some of you have seen I was opposed to a UBI, our welfare rates are already above where Yang's UBI was. Still sucks being on welfare.

Anyway the main point is proportionally there were more brown people on welfare pre Covid than post Covid. Any Maori getting laid off in March will get the extra cash so it's not racist in terms of that.

People are claiming it's unfair due to what people get on welfare pre Covid.

Things happened fairly fast, left wing government basically thought to throw more money at Covid via deficit spending vs austerity. I agree with this approach.

A cynic also might notice it's election year. Support for Jacinda and the Greens is 59%.

After 12 weeks the money drops back down to $388 a week ($260 USD approx).

Note if they lose the election the other side wants to give employers $10 000 each to "hire more staff".

If they can keep the polling numbers high we can have a progressive government, right now they have 42% and coalitioned with a centrist party that signed off on emergency spending with h Covid but not tax increases pre Covid. At 42% a majority does not make.

Said centrist party can't be bullied as they can bring the government down or install the neo liberal right wingers.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

In the US, there is more than a bit of racism mixed in with the complaints that the unemployment enhancement is too generous. But for the most part, the complaints about unemployment being too generous are just direct attacks on the poor of all colors because it's perceived as a threat to the supply of cheap labor that megacorporations and mom-and-pop shops alike have come to rely on. There seems to be little consideration for that fact that if a modest boost to unemployment payments in the midst of a pandemic is such a threat to corporate interests that maybe we should rethink our labor system more generally.

 

[Zardnaar]

In the US, there is more than a bit of racism mixed in with the complaints that the unemployment enhancement is too generous. But for the most part, the complaints about unemployment being too generous are just direct attacks on the poor of all colors because it's perceived as a threat to the supply of cheap labor that megacorporations and mom-and-pop shops alike have come to rely on. There seems to be little consideration for that fact that if a modest boost to unemployment payments in the midst of a pandemic is such a threat to corporate interests that maybe we should rethink our labor system more generally.

Yeah they boosted benefits here $25 a week.

Benefits get adjusted for inflation but rent and mortages are not used in inflation adjustments.

 

[innonimatu]

It's nice to see things getting better somewhere for a change...

But what does this has to do with "Racist"? Or was it broken from other thread?

 

[Zardnaar]

It's nice to see things getting better somewhere for a change...

But what does this has to do with "Racist"? Or was it broken from other thread?

If you read the article it's claiming that the welfare thing is racist.

The extra money was in response to Covid. The arguement being when you have a crisis which effects Pakeha (whites) extra money is made available.

But in day to day life the welfare system isn't working so well.

The counter arguement is the extra money is colour blind (everyone gets it) and since the Maori are going to be disproportionately effected by Covid they get extra money that way.

No one day down and thought "let's screw the Maori over" and things happened very fast. We went into full lockdown on two days notice and the wage subsidy stimulus was available within 48 hours.

There wasn't much in the way of oversight, long term planning or studies done.

No one really knew what would happen so they just did it essentially.

I grew up on welfare myself but back then (80-90's) you could rent a 3 bedroom house for $60 USD a week and our rent only went up $7 1988-98.

 

[innonimatu]

Oh. I was lazy on this one, didn't follow the link! But don't know enough about NZ to judge.

 

[Zardnaar]

Oh. I was lazy on this one, didn't follow the link! But don't know enough about NZ to judge.

The big issue here was housing. Welfare system hasn't kept up with housing costs. 9 years of neo liberal underinvestment/immigration.

 

[innonimatu]

Same story all over the world, During the past decade wherever you look you can see the (economically stupid) theory of the "wealth effect" being deployed. In the US its took was mostly inflating stocks. In Europe and many other countries (NZ too?) it was mostly real estate. Economically stupid as in it leads to mismanagement of resources and hardships for the population... but effective for those who speculated on it to capture a bigger slice of society's wealth. And with it, power and influence. Landlording is perhaps less glamorous that lording around, but it is a kind of modern feudalism isn't it? The real power in wealth though is in corrupting policy makers.

Since the people who did these speculations and got richer were already dirty rich when the current wave stated, after the financial crisis, the only possible justification for their acts is that they're using wealth as a scoreboard for a psychopath's championship!

 

[Zardnaar]

Same story all over the world, During the past decade wherever you look you can see the (economically stupid) theory of the "wealth effect" being deployed. In the US its took was mostly inflating stocks. In Europe and many other countries (NZ too?) it was mostly real estate. Economically stupid as in it leads to mismanagement of resources and hardships for the population... but effective for those who speculated on it to capture a bigger slice of society's wealth. And with it, power and influence. Landlording is perhaps less glamorous that lording around, but it is a kind of modern feudalism isn't it? The real power in wealth though is in corrupting policy makers.

Since the people who did these speculations and got richer were already dirty rich when the current wave stated, after the financial crisis, the only possible justification for their acts is that they're using wealth as a scoreboard for a psychopath's championship!

Yeah we own our house by virtue of being born 10 years earlier. House has almost tripled in value, and our friends has almost doubled in 5 years.

 

[FriendlyFire]

Yeah we own our house by virtue of being born 10 years earlier. House has almost tripled in value, and our friends has almost doubled in 5 years.

The price of increased population and economic growth
Made worse by our government policy to encourage investments into real estate and an influx of easy capital from an industrializing China. We'll the long overdue correction is now hear, -10% decline is forcast for this year with up to -30% if the world enters into a depression.

 

[Zardnaar]

The price of increased population and economic growth
Made worse by our government policy to encourage investments into real estate and an influx of easy capital from an industrializing China. We'll the long overdue correction is now hear, -10% decline is forcast for this year with up to -30% if the world enters into a depression.

Something like that yeah.

Fake money anyway not selling up anytime soon.

 

[Old Hippy]

Here the government introduced an emergency benefit with Covid. They also did a wage subsidy that was rushed through. Employers could access it with 2 days.

Lockdown put a lid on things. Unemployment is up but it hasn't reached the levels seen in the USA.

Alot of the extra help in offer also runs out just after the election in September.

.

On our side of the the Tasman everybody got their Dole doubled till September... the fun starts when everyone has to live on the pittance that the Unemployment Bennifit is after September, as people have made the valid argument that the dole is at least $50 below what it should be per week/fortnight(?) for the last 15 years or so
It is so much easier to give money away than to take away the benifit later
I can hardly wait for the case to be made for increasing the Dole rates from a greatly increased voter segment

 

[Zardnaar]

On our side of the the Tasman everybody got their Dole doubled till September... the fun starts when everyone has to live on the pittance that the Unemployment Bennifit is after September, as people have made the valid argument that the dole is at least $50 below what it should be per week/fortnight(?) for the last 15 years or so
It is so much easier to give money away than to take away the benifit later
I can hardly wait for the case to be made for increasing the Dole rates from a greatly increased voter segment

Extra 5 billion a year is the cost here to bring the file up to where it's needed.

Your system seems better, doesn't matter when applied.