A retired High Court judge who donated $115,000 to Labour says the party’s principles reflect those of his religion. In Labour’s first large donation for some time, Robert Smellie, QC, gave $100,000 this month, on top of the $15,000 he gave in December. Smellie told the Herald one reason was his religion. “[Former PM] Michael Read more
Posts Tagged ‘capitalism’
Rising sea levels — only 160,000 people so who gives a damn?
Friday, March 11th, 2016
The Pacific Island nations often cited as the most likely to disappear because of rising sea levels include Kiribati, the Marshall Islands and Tuvalu. Kiribati has a population of just over 100,000. The Marshall Islands about 52,000. And Tuvalu close to 10,000. The problem for small Pacific Island nations is that on a world scale Read more
Why Pope Francis is not an anti-capitalist greenie
Friday, November 6th, 2015
I was visiting Canberra’s splendid Arboretum the other day and I ran into an historian who is not one of us. He greeted me: “That new pope of yours is doing quite well, isn’t he? I don’t know that he will show us the road to paradise but he has definitely opened a few doors Read more
Collectivist beliefs may hold back Maori success
Friday, October 2nd, 2015Collectivist beliefs may be holding back Maori economic success, three economists say. The trio have found that Maori are much more collectivist and non-materialistic and have stronger kinship ties than other New Zealanders. They say these values may explain why many Maori enterprises are built on a “stakeholder” model, where profits are shared with all Read more
What Donald Trump would tell Pope Francis face to face
Tuesday, August 25th, 2015
US presidential hopeful Donald Trump has said he would scare Pope Francis about an ISIS threat if the Pontiff told him about capitalism’s faults. Multi-billionaire Mr Trump, who is one of the contenders to be the Republican Party’s presidential candidate, said this during an interview on CNN last week. Presenter Chris Cuomo presented a hypothetical Read more
Pope admits he hasn’t thought about ‘middle class’ enough
Friday, July 17th, 2015
Pope Francis has acknowledged that he has neglected the middle class and its problems. On a plane on his return to Europe from a three-nation South American visit, Pope Francis was asked by a reporter why he had hardly ever spoken about the problems of the “working, tax-paying” middle class. Francis offered a rare papal Read more
Pope Francis likely to discomfort politicians in US visit
Tuesday, May 5th, 2015
Pope Francis is likely to touch on several topics that could well cause discomfort to US politicians when he speaks there later this year. In September, the Pope will address a joint session of the US Congress and Senate, being the first Roman pontiff to do so. What Francis might say on that occasion was Read more
The cold war, Catholicism and modern capitalism
Tuesday, November 4th, 2014
The financial crisis and its aftermath have revealed the dark side of the post-cold war model, but Catholic social teaching proposes correcting the way market forces work so that they serve the public interest. It was 25 years ago this month that communism ceased to be a threat to the west and to the free Read more
Capitalism in crisis
Friday, October 31st, 2014
A new buzzword is circulating in the world’s convention centres and auditoriums. It can be heard at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and at the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund. Bankers sprinkle it into the presentations; politicians use it leave an impression on discussion panels. The buzzword is “inclusion” and it Read more
Capitalism versus the climate
Friday, October 31st, 2014
Book Review: This Changes Everything, Capitalism vs the Climate by Naomi Klein. This is a comprehensive and timely book. Klein says in part one, “If there has ever been a moment to advance a plan to heal the planet that also heals our broken economies and our shattered communities, this is it.” In the introduction Read more