Researcher Andrew Coleman found that in 2006 40-year-old Kiwi men were, on average, earning just 96 per cent of what men of the same age earned in 1981 in real dollar terms. By comparison, Australian 40-year-olds were earning 31 per cent more.
Although NZ men are averaging less than what a 40 year old earned in 1981, real housing and other living costs have not remained stagnant. Making ends meet has never been harder.
Meantime, in Brewerland:
Newmarket Business Association chief Cameron Brewer said the vacancy rate on Broadway was as bad as the early 1990s, when unemployment in New Zealand hit 11 per cent.
Wellington looks similar, with vacant shops and land through the gentrified suburb of Thorndon through Lambton Quay and up Willis St.
And finally, Johann Hari at the Independent looks at the voodoo of management consultancy:
He worked to a simple model, which is common in the industry. He had to watch how a workforce behaved for a week – and then tell the company's bosses, every time, that they had 30 percent too many staff and only his consultancy could figure out who should be culled.
So bring it on, Paula Benefit. I'll be waiting with a gun and a pack of sandwiches.
