Kevin Meehan helped to found Mainly Acoustic over 35 years ago, and despite many changes in the music industry over that time, it has trundled along with an active audience, membership and committee. As he prepares to retire as President, Kevin reflects on his 35 years of involvement with the club.
Author: Richard Christie
Richard Christie runs a small motel on the Kapiti Coast and also writes the Balance Transfers blog. He is interested in how businesses can play a role in improving environmental outcomes, and the challenges associated with doing so. Although this is a blog nominally about the topic of inflation, one of the key recurring questions this blog covers is 'what will be the financial cost and financial impact of climate change?' The blog covers micro economic and business-specific topics relating to the business landscape in New Zealand.
Alternative to the Kiwi Sausage Sizzle: Omelette Stands!
Lately I’ve been thinking about about land use. As we’ve covered in previous articles, NZ is set to fall short of its emissions trading targets by about 218 million tonnes of excess carbon by 2030.
Continue reading “Alternative to the Kiwi Sausage Sizzle: Omelette Stands!”
How Gareth Morgan’s Tax On Imputed Rent will Wreck the NZ Economy & Ruin Kiwi Baches
If you haven’t read The Opportunities Party tax policy yet, you are probably unaware that they are proposing a tax on imputed rent as a core part of their tax policy, to ‘fix’ the housing market.
Why the NZ Government is Virtually Certain to Purchase a Minimum of $1.7 Billion NZD of International Carbon Credits before 2030
The NZ Government’s decision to commit to the ETS and fulfil their obligations under the Paris Agreement will require the purchase of at least $1.7 billion NZD worth of international carbon credits by 2030. But is the Government’s commitment truly inescapable?
Making the Most of the Ōtaki Microclimate
Over the past few years, Lyndia Wood has quietly built a formerly abandoned milk factory in Ōtaki into a destination venue for weddings and events.
In part to suit the Italianate design style of the refurbished Milk Station, Lyndia cultivated figs and olives (which she now sells to restaurants and supermarkets), thanks in part to the superb microclimate in Ōtaki.
Continue reading “Making the Most of the Ōtaki Microclimate”
How to Get Organic Certification in New Zealand
Each year, the revenue for organic certified exporting companies increases. It seems almost that New Zealand is built for organic production – the methodologies tie in well with New Zealand’s clean green farming image and can offer a point of difference for exports. For those reasons, an understanding of organic certification is probably quite critical to contemporary primary producers (small just as much as large).
Continue reading “How to Get Organic Certification in New Zealand”
The Nature of Inflation
It always used to bug me as a kid when I’d go to the local dairy and spot the soft drink that had once costed $1.40 now gone up to $1.60. As a kid, on a fairly limited income (called “pocket money”), these not-too-subtle price changes could easily cut into my purchasing potential.
Does Inflation Provide An Incentive For People To Go Into Debt?
One of the hottest topics within left wing economics is the effect that capitalism has on wealth distribution. Put simply, the fact that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, and this so-called ‘wealth gap’ seems only to widen over time, and to put to death the lie that free market capitalism somehow creates the best allocation of resources for all concerned.
Continue reading “Does Inflation Provide An Incentive For People To Go Into Debt?”
10 Critical Factors to Consider When Investing in Forestry in New Zealand
Approximately 80% of NZ forestry grown for commercial use is managed by large scale commercial operations. The remainder is managed by an estimated ten to fourteen thousand individual growers. Individual growers are some of the more exposed parties in forestry, as they lack some of the information that can help them to mitigate their risks and avoid the common pitfalls associated with forestry investments.
Continue reading “10 Critical Factors to Consider When Investing in Forestry in New Zealand”
The Greener Neighbourhoods Competition
Greener Neighbourhoods is a competition that has been running through the Kāpiti Coast District Council for the past seven years. What is interesting about the programme is not only has it galvanised a large number of local neighbourhoods to reduce their environmental footprints, but it has also spiralled outwards into a wide range of unrelated ecological initiatives that have stood the test of time and appear to have gained a high level of community engagement.