Two Americans emigrate to New Zealand from Colorado,
USA.
We talk about
our life in Nelson, New Zealand.
May 2010 | Blog home | July 2010
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I saw this demonstration on our local news a few days ago and found this website so you can find out in your own part of the world what the damage would be if the gulf of Mexico oil spill was affecting you: http://www.beowulfe.com/oil/ Surely by now it's gotten even bigger <SIGH>.
The recently released budget has many changes (at a glance and a bit more in depth) but the GST increase and income tax cuts are the points getting most of the focus. I know Angela mentioned the upcoming increase to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) in a recent blog so, for those interested, here's a few more details.
As of 1 October, the GST will be increasing from 12.5% to 15%. The last increase was in 1989 when it went from 10% to the current 12.5%. A quick side note: To get this approved the National Government proposed it in their budget a couple of months ago. Shortly thereafter it was voted on and approved, and will take effect in October. Yes it is a bit simplified but still amazing how quickly things move when your party (or coalition) has a majority in the government. And you live in a small country.
This GST increase is being countered by a decrease in income tax rates that are said to more than offset it. Of course many opponents point out that GST isn't the only thing that's increased lately. There has also been an announcement that electricity prices will be rising due to the implementation of the ETS (Emissions Trading Scheme) and high car registration charges to cover larger than expected ACC deficits. I've read one report that will all this considered, inflation is expected to be over 5% next year.
So the National Government is being seen as taking from the poor and giving to the rich. Their take is that they are attempting to encourage savings over spending and the rich-poor gap will remain about the same. Here are a couple examples of the impact on various levels of income earners.
In theory the changes actually sound ok. Change the tax to discourage consumption and focus it more on discretionary items, cut the income rates and some of the rates for various investments to encourage savings. Provided the income cuts offset the GST increase, what's the problem?
One problem I see is that people don't like to save. If they get more money, they want to spend more money. There's always something more you need or want. If you spend the money you are getting via the tax cut, you pay more GST and are therefore worse off. I don't think the additional service or product is considered. I could also see poorer families impacted if they need to purchase expensive items like a car right after the increase as they won't have realised their income tax savings. This will impact the poor more as they tend to fit into the needing more rather than just wanting more.
I'm all for a consumption tax as the need to consume leads to a deterioration of the planet and, when paired with overuse of debt, a collapse of the financial system (can't argue with the empirical evidence). I don't like the increase on general household necessities like food and heating/electricity because it is overly disadvantageous to the poor, but I can imagine the administration of that might be a bit difficult. The Labour Party even proposed a tax cut on fruits and vegetables to encourage more consumption of healthy alternatives. I think there is something set up in the US that has different rates for food but I don't recall the details. Good concept in my mind.
Now I know there are several other interconnected tax adjustments included in the budget that, without spending some time looking at, I'm not able to speak to and include for consideration here but one of interest is the corporate tax cut from 30% to 28% which takes effect 1 April 2011. If I wasn't so skeptical I would think this would allow businesses to cut their prices a bit to become more competitive and thus help stimulate the economy. Well, we all know that's going to be 2% of added income to businesses rather than being passed on to consumers but maybe it will at least stave off short term price increases. More important is the need for a balanced kiwi dollar so importing goods doesn't become more expensive (the value of the kiwi $ balance is a fine line here as we also rely heavily on exporting). I think this cut was to make NZ corporate tax more attractive than Australia's - ensuring balance with Aus is something NZ has to constantly consider so companies and people don't jump the ditch (Tasman sea) for better opportunities.
As you might expect, many are expecting a slight increase in some household spending leading up to the increase as people buy things prior to the price increase. I've done my part by ordering a new set of pedals for my bike and have a few other purchases planned.
A couple of months ago we saw the commercials on our DVR (fast forwarding, of course) and looked at each other with jaws agape: Doritos are now in New Zealand!! YAYAYAYAY.
I can't recall when we ever ate Doritos in Colorado, apart from a random bag of chips for a road trip or on vacation. We knew that New Zealand didn't have Doritos and we were fine with giving them up since we weren't much into them in the first place.
But now that we actually have them, we can't eat enough!! There's cheese supreme Doritos and nacho cheese Doritos - I think we both prefer the nacho cheese - and then minor other flavours like salt and something else and then BBQ. Kiwis love their BBQ flavouring. But we're pretty set on the cheese-based Doritos.
I am hopeful one day that the novelty will wear off and I won't want them so much because, unlike Don, I cannot afford to get a Doritos fetish. It helps to go back to the old reliable method of deterrence: what the hell are Doritos made of?? Surely that will put me off.
In New Zealand, these are the Doritos ingredients, "Made in New Zealand from local and imported ingredients":
Corn, vegetable oil, cheese supreme flavour [(cheese powder (milk, soy), salt, buttermilk powder (milk), wheat flour (gluten), whey protein concentrate (milk), tomato powder, flavour enhancers (621, 627, 631), onion powder, whey powder (milk), garlic powder, dextrose, sugar, mineral salt (339), food acids (270, 330), natural flavour, spice (white pepper), colours (I5OD, 110)]
How exciting to compare them to the US ingredients below, notice any difference?
Whole corn, vegetable oil (contains one or more of the following: corn, soybean and/or sunflower oil), salt, cheddar cheese {milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes}, maltodextrin, wheat flour, whey, monosodium glutamate, buttermilk solids, romano cheese from cow's milk {part-skim cow's milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes}, whey protein concentrate, onion powder, partially hydrogenated soybean and cottonseed oil, corn flour, disodium phosphate, lactose, natural and artificial flavor, dextrose, tomato powder, spices, lactic acid, artificial colour {including yellow 6, yellow 8, red 40}, citric acid, sugar, garlic powder, red and green bell pepper powder, sodium casenate, disodium inosinate, disodium guanylate, nonfat milk solids, whey protein isolate, and corn syrup solids.
The Doritos American website presented the ingredients lists so small that I could not read them all very well, (see pic for full information), I might have misspelled a couple near the end.
As a sideways comparison, I kept a Frito Lay bag that Don and I got when in Hawaii last year (they don't have Fritos here either and Don loves them). Here are the ingredients from an American bag of Fritos:
Enriched corn meal (corn meal, ferrous sulfate, niacin, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin and folic acid), vegetable oil (contains one or more of the following: corn, soybean or sunflower oil), cheese seasoning (whey, cheddar cheese [milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes] and less than 2% of the following: partially hydrogenated soybean oil, salt, maltodextrin, disodium phosphate, sour cream [cultured cream, nonfat milk], artificial flavor, monosodium glutamate, lactic acid, artificial color [including yellow 6], citric acid), and salt.
Yum, I'm getting hungry, gonna crack into my bag of Doritos for lunch, later!
Every four years the FIFA World Cup comes around and before moving to NZ, I never really paid it any attention. I guess that is because in the US, soccer is only really popular with those under 12 year old. I'm guessing Americans will start to take a bit of notice if the US team gets past the first round. Well, maybe not even then, it might just take the US winning the cup for most Americans to really care for a few brief moments.
In the US, following the team really just means reading a recap online or in the local paper or catching an update in the sports portion of the nightly news. I doubt many people that aren't die hard soccer fans will put in the effort to actually watch a game. Some say soccer is boring with very little action - well baseball is like watching paint dry but it is widely watched and considered America's pastime. At least the soccer players are athletes. I thought it might be the same in NZ but with a team in for the first time since 1982, the whole country has gotten behind them. People have been staying up until 2am to watch the games and the evening news spends a lot of time on the All Whites (NZ team nickname).
Angela and I have been spending our evenings watching the matches. Typically it has been a match a night but on special occasions - when the USA or NZ play - we've got up a bit early and watched before going into work. Soccer is a fairly easy sport to understand and the rules are relatively self explanatory. Nothing as complicated as football, rugby or cricket (i've given up).
Here's some observations that might help you understand the game. 1) Score by kicking or heading the ball in the goal then proceed to run to the corner of the field where you slide and let your team jump all over you. 2) Players that get touched by an opponent fall to the ground and pretend they were repeatedly hit by a hammer. 3) If the referee believe the histrionics, they will let the wronged team kick the ball from that point and the ultimate Oscar performance gets the opponent a yellow card (bad) or red card (worse). 4) A tie in the match really is a win for the underdog. 5) The keeper likes to wear bright single coloured outfits that don't match the team's colours. 6) Really good players only have one name.
I can see why people might shy away from the sport, it is a bit slow at times which is why I limit my watching to the World Cup when something significant is on the line. It certainly doesn't offer as many scoring opportunities as some might like but that just increases the suspense. The low scoring does allow lesser teams a chance by allowing them to focus on defense and hopefully score on one of their limited opportunities (NZ did this in their matches). Plus the the constant drone of the vuvuzela is so soothing.
The more I've watched this past week, the more I've enjoyed it. I guess like any sport, the more you understand it and can identify with a team or player, the better it gets. I can see the varying level of skill in passing and dribbling between teams and the set plays and strategy teams employ. I still don't understand how some of these guys don't get concussions from all the headers they take - it seems like that would be a problem over time. Angela on the other hand is more interested in the attractiveness of the players on each team - we must watch the close ups of each while national anthems are being played.
The US team (ranked 14th in the world) has been in some fantastic games. It was great when we "beat" England (technically a tie but you'd never know it) because their keeper flubbed a save - I heard he was vilified in England for that. The US was robbed of what would have been they game winning goal in their match against Slovenia. The US came back from 2 goals down and scored a pretty goal and the end of the game, a shame the referee disallowed it - still no explanation as to why. No bother - US is on to the next round. USA, USA, USA!
The All Whites (ranked 78th) matches have been a bit slower and more defensively oriented. They aren't as highly skilled as the teams they've played and most of the time in each game has been controlled by the opposition yet they've found a way to stay competitive. The All Whites did have a couple fantastic results that are highly notable. The first was their tie against Slovakia in their first game - they scored in the extra time at the end of the game (basically with 30 seconds left in the match). The second was their tie against the reigning world champion Italy (5th rated) - arguably the upset of the tournament. The All Whites are only one of five teams ever to have gone through the World Cup without being beaten and not ended up with the cup. As a side note, the opposition party in NZ (Labour) was going to propose a bill to Parliament that would declare Friday a national holiday if the All Whites won that morning. Neither happened but funny in any case.
It seems the winner of the cup will come from a few select teams but you never really know. I've yet to see two of the favourite (Brazil or Argentina) but of the rest I think the US can compete with any of them.
I'm getting my vuvuzela warmed up...
UPDATE post US vs Ghana match. Well I was going to post this blog prior to the game and didn't exactly make it so here's a bit of an amendment. The dream is now over for the US team. It was a really good game that paired two evenly matched squads. Ghana just had a bit more. Their goaltender was really good and made a few key saves. So those in the US can now go back to not paying any attention to soccer and forget about the rest of the World Cup. We will continue to watch, however, all the way to the end - the only question now is who to pull for. Germany? Ghana? Spain?
