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As schools return, let\\u2019s begin the term with a little Economics 101.
\\nWhen you artificially inject yourself into an economy with the view to helping people out financially, what do you do?
\\nDo you:
\\nSo, we got the extension of the petrol subsidy last Sunday.
\\nWe got it last Sunday out of the blue because the Government knew on Monday the inflation figures were coming out, and they would be ugly, and they would yet again be faced with the quite accurate charge that they are economically incompetent.
\\nSo what better way to appease a growing number of angry people than to give us all some free stuff?
\\nYou might remember after the budget, Grant Robertson gleefully told us that by the time we added the petrol subsidy and all the other largesse they had tossed at the country, 81% of us were receiving some sort of Government help.
\\nThe fact he saw that as good, and not an embarassment, tells you all you need to know about their approach to life.
\\nBut he also said that come August the petrol deal was over - until of course it wasn\'t.
\\nSo it\\u2019s now a billion dollar proposition and goes until January.
\\nOr does it?
\\nJanuary is election year so do they pull the plug in election year? When exactly and how exactly do they pull the plug without the ensuing fury?
\\nWhat are the criteria to pull the plug? Does oil need to be at 50 bucks a barrel? Does the war in Ukraine need to be over? Does inflation need to be trending down?
\\nJust what is the scenario?
\\nThey don\\u2019t have one of course, and in that is the danger of free stuff. Once you give it, you can\\u2019t take it away without a fight - or in their case a drop in the polls.
\\nAll of this is paid for, as always, with money we don\\u2019t have.
\\nThat is the cost of:
\\nThey have dug themselves a gargantuan hole without the slightest of clues as to how to extract themselves.
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