How to discourage wealth

How to discourage wealth
Simon Robertson has been considering French eating habits – here, a rare tartare burger earlier this week. (Image: Simon Robertson)
Simon Robertson
“Let them eat cake” was a quote attributed to Marie-Antoinette, the bride of France’s King Louis XVI.With that callous remark, the queen became a hated symbol of the decadent monarchy and fuelled the revolution that would cause her to (literally) lose her head several years later.However, there are times when allowing the populace to eat cake might make sense. The tax treatment of foreign investments is one such example.The damage caused by New Zealand’s Foreign Investment Fund (FIF) taxation regime.As it’s ta...

More Economy

Annual inflation at 2.2% in December quarter
Economy

Annual inflation at 2.2% in December quarter

The lift follows a 2.2% increase in the 12 months to the September quarter.

Card transaction data ‘much stronger than expected’:
Retail

Card transaction data ‘much stronger than expected’:

Stats NZ data shows retail spending has grown for five consecutive months.

Gregor Thompson 21 Jan 2025
NZ service sector underperforming globally
Economy

NZ service sector underperforming globally

New Zealand's Performance of Services Index is the only one in contraction among its key trading partners.The BNZ – BusinessNZ's performance index (PSI) fell to 47.9 in December from 49.1 in November.  “Our neighbour Australia is the closest comparison, but their equivale...

Staff reporters 21 Jan 2025
December inflation likely on target
Economy

December inflation likely on target

Annual inflation likely around 2.1%-2.2% in the December quarter.

Rebecca Howard 20 Jan 2025