No Rain
Silencing jesters and limiting views.
All I can say is that my life is pretty plain
You don't like my point of view, and I'm insane
It's not sane
It's not sane
Songwriters: Brad Smith / Thomas Stevens / Shannon Hoon / Glen Graham / Christopher Thorn.
“You’re fired!”
Over in America, the man of thin skin, citrus by the look, perhaps tangerine, has decided those who mock him by showing clips of things he has said are taking the pith.
“Enough,” he said. “I didn’t become sun king, above the law and answerable to no one, to have comedians laugh at my expense. It’s time for my favourite phrase - ‘you’re fired!’”
So Stephen Colbert was cancelled because he, who shall not be disagreed with, said the man had no talent, even though Colbert has since won an Emmy.
Jimmy Kimmel was taken off the air immediately after saying almost nothing. The President stated he was “failing”, despite Kimmel being #1 with adults 18-49, the key demographic for advertisers.
Here’s Colbert covering it:
The death of free speech advocate Charlie Kirk has caused hysteria in the US, where even quoting what the man himself said can get you sacked or threatened with deportation.
Amendment to the First Amendment:
“…as long as you don’t criticise President Trump.”
Over this side of the Pacific, we’re more subtle. No one tells a network to axe their star for saying too many things that the Prime Minister doesn’t like.
Well, not since Mark Weldon did so for John Key, claiming John Campbell was being removed because of ratings, rather than for criticising the government - yeah, right.
Here in Aotearoa, our cancellations are a more subtle affair, as are the threats made to the media. It’s best to avoid the whole thing if possible.
There’s no need for an unpleasant firing if you don’t invite guests who might say things the government won’t like. It’s so much easier for all involved if you choose an expert whose views are aligned with those in charge.
Q&A.
In a week marked by dismal economic news, Finance Minister Nicola Willis declined an invitation to appear on Q&A yesterday and explain why GDP has been so poor and what she plans to do about it.
So what did TVNZ do? Did they offer the slot to an opposition spokesperson, or risk hosting an expert who might offer a different opinion to the mantra, “it’s all due to external factors and the Reserve Bank”?
Nope, neither of those. TVNZ chose someone good at making the disastrous sound almost desirable. The surprise result sound as if it was all part of the plan. I posted:
Couldn’t Q&A have found an economist who didn’t think John Key ran a “Rockstar economy”?
He ran a deficit for seven years in a row.
TVNZ offered up Paul Bloxham, Chief Economist, Australia, New Zealand and Global Commodities at HSBC—the man who coined the “Rock Star” phrase.
Tame began by saying that the government has claimed the poor economic data was due to international volatility, but pointed out that our economic growth has been the worst among our trading partners.
While our result was a contraction of 0.9% in GDP, our Aussie mates across the ditch, who have faced similar tariffs, actually grew by 0.6%
While we've been going backwards, most comparable nations have been growing.
Bloxham said the banks were surprised by how weak the NZ economy has been. This was on the back of them also being overly optimistic in their predictions the previous year. This trend didn’t deter him from predicting better things in the year ahead.
Something about stopped clocks, I imagine, if you keep giving the same answer, eventually you’ll be right.
The guest sang a popular tune this week, in which the Reserve Bank saves the day by lowering the OCR. So not much independence for the new RBNZ governor, then.
Tame asked why, despite current uncertainties, other countries were doing so much better than we were. It didn’t look like a question Bloxham wanted, and he clearly had no more of an answer for it than Nicola Willis.
This rather begs the question of what both of them are doing in their roles.
Jack asked about fiscal policy. Our government’s taxation and expenditure, such as providing stimulus to a struggling market. Perhaps unsurprisingly, for a bank economist, Bloxham was a fan of the free market and said it was about “more openness to global capital” and a “pro-growth set of policies.”
It was like listening to Christopher Luxon giving a speech written by Roger Douglas. You can watch the full clip here:
There will be immense pressure on the RBNZ to lower interest rates, but as Tame pointed out, this government changed their remit to focus on inflation due to the cost-of-living crisis. With inflation at the upper range of its target, who’s going to get the blame if prices increase due to a cut that runs contrary to the RBNZ’s key objective?
My guess is it won’t be those demanding a drop, and it won’t be Mr Bloxham, who basically said, “Leave it to the market and forget any of that fiscal stuff, where the government invests instead of getting the books in order.”
Stuff.
A message you might expect from a government spin doctor, but not from an economist, like, for example, this guy...
Unlike Paul Bloxham, Shamubeel Eaqub thought there were things the government should consider, rather than just leaving it to the market.
Samantha Hayes began her interview by saying that Chris Hipkins had reacted to the drop in GDP by saying that Luxon and Willis had firmly derailed the economy, and asking what he had to say.
Shamubeel avoided the politics and said, “Well, it's very easy when you're in opposition to say this.”
He did acknowledge the role of the Reserve Bank’s interest rate decisions, but also said, “the government's spending cuts, particularly in infrastructure spending, have really worsened this economic recession. And I think that's where those accusations are probably most pressing.”
Bang on. People understand that certain things, like Trump’s tariffs or even the OCR, are out of the hands of the government, and sacking them for that would be as fair as some of Trump’s dismissals, but it is the things that they have/haven’t done that they should be accountable for.
Similarly, Shamubeel avoided questions about Luxon having expressed confidence in Nicola Willis and whether he should have. He replied:
“Look, I think it's more about going, what are you going to do differently? This recession is deeper and longer than the Global Financial Crisis. There is clearly a need for all the levers to be pulled.”
There was a discussion of Roger Douglas’ calls for Willis to resign. Shamubeel responded by saying, “During the Covid response, we had a very long reliance on one way of managing the economy. We've gone to this very opposite extreme in the last little while. We need to find a middle ground that's just a bit more constructive.”
Equab said that yes, there is global uncertainty, but really, what we’re seeing in the economy has to do with domestic pressures. “It's the fact that we're not creating jobs, that we're not investing, we're not building homes, we're not building infrastructure. That's where the weakness is at the moment. So, we really do need to see a more local, energetic response from our policymakers.”
Asked about the coalition’s usual tactic, Shamubeel felt that blaming the previous government for the state of the economy was wearing a bit thin.
He said, “The reality is this government has taken some actions, on austerity, particularly, around reducing infrastructure investment that has contributed to this.”
Watch the full clip here:
The message that Paul Bloxham offered was to hold the course; if we wait long enough, we’ll see the economy grow.
On the other hand, the message from Shamubeel Eaqub was that there are things the government should be doing right now to stimulate the economy.
Those watching Q&A, the premier political programme on our state broadcaster, heard views that essentially mirrored those of Christopher Luxon and Nicola Willis. Over on Stuff, where there are smaller viewing numbers, they got a balance of monetary and fiscal concerns, which is undoubtedly what the story merited.
It doesn’t seem good enough to me. What about you?
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To end, on this day in 1992, Blind Melon released their debut studio album. Here’s the second single from it, “No Rain”.
Ngā mihi,
Nick.
Great contrast between two of the mainest stream media. Bernard Hickey would have been a more informative interview for Q&A. Still not sure what drives Jack Tame, he undoubtedly has ability but too often deliberately avoids annoying those in power. Is it his bosses or him (don’t forget his day job is with ZB)?
Oops, "Atlantic" corrected to "Pacific"—sorry folks.