Freshly minted
The Government maintains that the level of inflation the country is undergoing presently is caused by external factors, namely, the global Covid pandemic, and more recently the Ukraine War.
However, by taking the politically easy way out to help pay for its programmes, i.e with quantitative easing, it is responsible
for a sizeable contribution itself. Printing more money immediately devalues that already in circulation - by dilution. The global value of the NZ $ ultimately is reduced. This leads to higher prices for imported goods, and lower real value for our exports.
It's time the Government took responsibility for its own actions and reviewed future expenditure so that it is not tempted to fire up the printing press again.
Colin Figgins, Taupō.
Crisis? What crisis?
Cost of living crisis – really? It is surprising how this phrase is being used ad nauseum by the Opposition.
A cost-of-living crisis is when a million dollars is what is needed to buy a loaf of bread, as happened in Zimbabwe. A cost-of-living crisis is when the petrol stations have run dry and even millionaires must ambush petrol tankers to get some fuel – as happened in Venezuela. A crisis is usually when there is a shortage and even the upper middle class cannot get hold of goods and services although they can afford the higher prices. What we are seeing is cost of living pressure. It is a long way from the crisis.
The housing crisis in the last decade showed thousands sleeping in cars while state housing stock was being gutted. That is a crisis.
R. Dawson, Highland Park.
UN impotence
The United Nations badly needs restructuring to give all nations equal voting rights plus withdrawing the "veto" power from the five permanent members; then perhaps their resolutions if carried by 75 per cent majority or more could be enforced.
The ability of Russia to start a war in Ukraine against UN mandates while presiding over this world body and also the ability to veto the majority decision to stop this war displays the UN's impotence. The inhumanity that Putin and the Kremlin are inflicting on fellow men in Ukraine is abominable. Sadly, what Putin is doing is not much different from what America has done in past wars or what Israel is regularly doing in the West Bank and Gaza Strip which they annexed and occupied after the six-day war in 1967. They still occupy these areas against all UN resolutions which were promptly vetoed by America.
After restructuring the UN, perhaps they can then start taking out the leaders of individual nations starting these wars rather than armies fighting armies while decimating innocent civilians.
David F Little, Whangārei.
Two market
I do not disagree with the measures the Commerce Commission has recommended in relation to the supermarket duopoly. These will promote some fairness and opportunity but will make little difference to prices to consumers or to the competition able to be offered by potential entrants.
The root cause of the problem is structural and none of the recommendations will make much difference to that. Why not split the two chains into four separate and independent groups and create a Lidl (a cut-price low service operator) from the remnants of both? I sense great joy among the supermarket groups at the recommendations. But we have had enough of super-profits.
The role of the Commerce Commission is expressly to promote competition (with the resultant benefit to consumers) - it seems to have been abandoned.
John Collinge, St Mary's Bay.
Fuelling ourselves
The war in Ukraine is causing a crisis for oil and gas supplies worldwide, and it will get worse as Europe relies on Russian gas for 30 per cent of its needs. Oil tankers cannot leave the port of Odessa to supply worldwide oil needs.
The Economist magazine has reported it will be about 30 years before there will be sufficient supplies of alternative power supplies such as wind and solar power. China already imports huge amounts of gas.
Here in New Zealand we possibly have significant oil and gas fields but this Government has banned exploration. It is likely we will run out of gas in under 10 years.
Coal mines have been closed, so we import dirty coal from Indonesia to turn into power.
Please, will the Government pull its head out of the sand, keep Marsden Point open, and allow exploration for gas and oil?
Rachel Lewis, Takapuna.
