Nats survive world’s wobbly feelgood factor
The rising tide has not lifted all boats.
TRICKLE DOWN or up, zombie economics, rock star economy, Pacific Tiger, have and have-nots, the squeezed middle.
Spout out all the slogans you like, the one people most want to hear is: ‘‘Show me the money.’’ The latest Fairfax Media-Ipsos poll, published today in the Sunday Star-Times, shows just over 45 per cent of workers received no salary increase in the past year.
The result is in line with recent Statistics NZ figures which show 46 per cent missed out.
By rights, they should be feeling a bit gloomy. Of course, the have-nots and the squeezed middle are central to Labour’s election year strategy.
Labour is appealing to the ‘‘human face of trickle-down economics’’.
Ed Miliband, leader of the British Labour Party, last week attacked the coalition government for its fiscal failings. ‘‘Far from feeling they have never had it so good, millions across Britain today fear they will never have it so good again . . . all I can see is year after year of this,’’ he said.
In the recent New York mayoral elections, Bill de Blasio built his campaign around a narrative of two cities: the Wall Street haves with their seven-figure bonuses, and the Struggle Street have-nots, stretching to make rent on minimum wage.
Both argue their economies cannot thrive by leaving ordinary workers and families behind, with echoes of Victorian-era prime minister Benjamin Disraeli.
Miliband is celebrating his party’s highest opinion poll lead in 12 years. De Blasio took a whopping 73 per cent of the vote.
The difference is that in Britain things are much more gloomy. Recent Ipsos/Mori polling showed more than a third believe there will be no growth by 2015 – 40 per cent think they will be worse off.
However, if New Zealand voters are looking for a new kind of progressive politics, it is not showing up in our poll. Almost two-thirds of respondents (63.7 per cent) believe the country is heading in the right direction.
That is up, significantly, from 52.2 per cent this time last year. As a result, three-quarters are confident they will get a pay rise or believe it is a possibility.
Labour is also zeroing in on rising interest rates and the damage they will inflict on those already struggling to pay for the increasing cost of housing. Of the respondents with a mortgage, 63 per cent said they could manage higher repayments.
Labour can, of course, make the argument that a return to headline growth does not automatically mean everyone gets to enjoy the spoils. National too recognises that gross domestic product (GDP) does not equal equity.
The stats show there is no question the rising tide has not lifted all boats – but our poll indicates they are not yet ready to give up on National.