Charles Clark probably doesn’t win a lot of friends in his chosen profession when he says that most economists don’t really understand the economy. But even though he earns a living teaching economics at St. John’s University in New York, Clark believes that understanding how the economy really works requires more than just a classroom Read more
There are many children living in poverty in the Bay of Plenty. They are being fed by Tauranga’s foodbank, presenting at hospital with serious skin infections and living in sub-standard conditions, according to school principals in the area. In Merivale, one of Tauranga’s poorest suburbs, families are living in over-crowded houses and illness is rife Read more
The Government is rejecting opposition criticism of welfare reforms and says it’s on track to get 46,000 people off benefits over the next four years. Laws are going to be changed, requiring solo parents on a benefit to look for part-time work when their youngest child is five and fulltime work when that child turns Read more
Because I’m Catholic, and therefore have some expertise in guilt, I’d like to start with a confession: I was under the impression that I was asked to speak tonight on poverty and inequality. Andrew Bradstock persuaded me that these issues fitted with the paper on alcohol and advertising, which I read while drinking a glass Read more
Limitless Greed + Inequality + Market Volatility + Unemployment = An Occupied Wall Street. The small protest known as Occupy Wall Street has grown over the past 4 weeks. Occupy Wall St protests have spread across the United States and are now going world-wide. There is even a group planning a week-long protest at Civic Square in Read more