OPINION
What a depressing place New Zealand has become.
In 2021 New Zealand was ranked 151st out of 156 nations on the annual misery index. This year we somehow managed to come up to 104th place out of 157. Stuff reports this as a success: “New Zealand has been a big climber in the Annual Misery Index, a poll which looks at the economic conditions of countries.”
Still, hardly the place of dreams; more half empty than half full. The lending rate was highlighted as a major factor for our placement. Two additional flies in the ointment were said to be fiscal pressures and the uncertain effect of migration on inflation.
The misery index is the unemployment rate plus inflation. A “very simple thing”, says ANZ economist Sharon Zollner.
Is the misery index really such a very simple thing as the doubtlessly well-off Zollner states?
Zollner was invited by the Financial Services Council (FSC) to help interpret its latest round of financial resilience research, which showed that one in two people worried about money daily or weekly, and that 300,000 more people were trapped in the worry bubble than this time last year. She went on to say, “Inflation, while being seriously annoying, and a serious issue for those with very little spare in their budget each week, it’s no reason not to spend all of your money, whereas the fear of unemployment is.”
stuff.co.nz/business/131939156/misery-index-explains-why-households-are-still-spending-says-economist-sharon-zollner
How very easy it is to dismiss 50% of people who are concerned about money. That’s what she said; one in two people is worried about money daily or weekly. She, no doubt, is not one of the half of the population who has to worry about money, paying the mortgage or the rent, or paying the power bill, or feeding the kids and buying their school uniforms and getting them to school. No, that’s the other 50%. The ones she cheerfully ignores.
And how can the 50% worried about money every day save, as the RBNZ has it that we can? The RBNZ website states, “By maintaining sound and efficient monetary and financial system, we give people, communities and businesses the confidence to spend, borrow and save money in their daily lives.” People, not just some people, not just well-off people: people.
So, there we have it – only half of us, by conflating the estimable Sharon Zollner’s comments with RBNZ advice, have the confidence to spend, borrow and save money in our daily lives.
And if the government is selling us $2.8 million of handy tips for being cold and miserable this winter then they are not convinced that we, their constituents, are feeling confident to spend, borrow and save money in our daily lives. So where does that leave the lofty words of the Reserve Bank?
And about savings – are we really able to save, given the financial constraints under which we now live? I asked the very helpful Bing if New Zealanders are saving enough. The response was:
“According to a recent ASB survey, 46% of New Zealanders know they should be saving 10% of their income for retirement. Still, less than half of that – 22% – are actually saving that much1.
One in four New Zealanders is unable to put aside anything.
Sharon Zollner is happy with that? The RBNZ is OK with that? The country is happy with that?
It’s not just that the cost of living, employment and inflation are making us miserable. Social factors also have a big impact on our social misery index. Violence for starters. The country has become violent without consequence, plagued by anarchistic behaviour that requires the victims to sort the mess out for themselves while the out-of-control perpetrators are treated with kid gloves – an unintentional pun.
Education: our educational standards have dropped to the point some schools are refusing to work with the so-called national framework.
Healthcare: if you can find it.
Dentistry: only if you are wealthy.
Mental health: an increasing misery index for many.
Poverty: increasing.
Homelessness: increasing. Along with hopelessness.
On and on the list goes for social concerns unaddressed by this Labour Government.
Labour is a swamp of lies, obfuscation, of so-called ‘promises’ that will, we know, turn out to be yet more lies. Millions of dollars are spent to tell us we should have cold showers, huddle underneath a blanket for winter warmth, eat beans on toast for sustenance and stop reading because the lights should be turned off to save power.
The only power that is involved here is that of a party, the governing party, who are so completely out of touch that they cannot even see the irony of this latest attack on personal well-being. Do they not have any idea that recent history could have saved the millions and the outrage? Take a look at Helen Clark’s bright ideas, Ms Woods and see where that same ploy went. Well done Ms Woods. Another outstanding result for you. Tick tock.
Waking every morning to read the latest policy announcement, the waters of numerical debate, the co-governance tribal rule that continues its stealthy march, the next pre-election bribe, the ever-increasing number of ‘reports’ with their multi-billion dollar price tags, takes courage and strength. Remaining abed under the scanty warmth of one regulation thin blanket (don’t laugh, that will be next, they won’t allow us as the river of filth to be comfortable and warm, as the latest spend-up on handy power-saving hints amply shows) seems more appealing than getting up and facing the next depressing and invariably wet day.
Our roads are in such a parlous state as to be impassable in many places. The Ministry of Potholes is likely the only ministry that can post impressive results and exponential increases in their outcomes: pothole total count, depth, danger quotient, vehicle damage, increased travel time counts calculated against increased emissions, increased accident potential as swerve factors come into play. And, overall, increased frustration levels by tired, fed-up drivers and passengers having to remove their teeth from where they have been embedded in the dashboard due to corrugations and rapidly sequential treacherously deep caverns in the shoddy road surface.
That everything that our current version of PM has touched turns into the proverbial seems to be lost on his ever-loyal coterie of voters – and they continue to support him no matter how incompetent he has shown himself in each and every portfolio he has held. He has never had a job that required annual performance reviews and measurable outcomes; if he had, he would have been fired for his lack of skill, ability, and complete failure to achieve any outcomes. He has failed at everything he has done.
New Zealand has completely lost its way. Our social misery index may put us even lower than the unemployment and inflation misery index.