John Key Resigns

[Travellerev]

Supporting a party

Do you support any political party, Travellerev?

I am not a member of a party, I do not get paid by a political party and I am very cynical at the best of times about anybody who wants power over other people. If I were to vote at all I would vote either for the Greens if I voted ideals or Labour because of what I learned about John Key and National and not out of political preference.

I am of Dutch decent and only arrived here three years ago with my Kiwi husband of 21 years and I saw it as my responsibility to learn about the leaders of my new country and this is what I learned.

I don't have the same history as the Kiwi's and think I look a little more detached at the Kiwi politicians than most of you I quess.

By the way the Dutch political system is the same as here. Two big parties who have to work together with others to form a majority Government.

I hope that answers your question.

[AnnetteS]

Key did not work in CDO's.
Merrill Lynch did not start trading their own Sub Prime CDO's until 2003.And it was run by New York not London.

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2007/11/26/101232838/index.htm

[Travellerev]

Hi Annette,

I'm glad to have met in you an intelligent woman on this site and I appreciate your input and the fact that you are willing to do research. So many people won't.


According to John Key in a speech on September 2007 lived on and off in NY, had an apartment, office and staff he hired himself. In fact he is on record as stating that he lost two employees he had hired himself in the attacks of 911.

Which begs another question; if John Key lived in New York than why was this not mentioned in the biography. It is after all an important part of his career. As the global head for foreign exchange he even was one of only four upon invitation only advisers to the Federal Reserve of New york from 1999 until march 2001 when he returned to NZ.

In the NZH article only London, Singapore and Sidney are mentioned. Could this be because an association with Wall street would be undesirable?

The article you dug up is an article which I have read and it is a damage control article. You have to realise that if the punters find out who developed these destructive products they are going to get sued and investigated. In fact Merrill Lynch is already the subject of investigations with regards to some fraudulent shenanigans. So it is prudent for them to paint themselves as victims who got into the game late rather than perpetrators who actively developed these financial products.

I have dug up some articles clearly stating that Merrill Lynch as well as Bankers Trust were some of the forerunners in the Bonds and Derivatives product development but I hope you don't mind if I don't reveal them here but on my own site in the third instalment of my response to the NZH article.

Actually reading the article again something quite remarkable is stated.
It states;
After O'Neal became co-head of the institutional business in March 1997, things began to change. There was a shift from trading for customers to trading for the firm's own account. Under O'Neal's watch, Merrill expanded its relationship with Long-Term Capital Management, providing the high-powered hedge fund with lucrative financing.

In other words they began to sell financial products to make money not for clients but for themselves and the Long-Term Capital Management is the Hedge fund in which Merrill Lynch and Citibank invested huge amounts of money and it is also the hedge fund which created the Asian crisis.

So thank you for bringing it to my attention again.

According to my research a CDO is a form of a bond but I will have to get back to you on that one.

[ActionMan]

Hey travellerrev do you have any secret recordings from previous weekend of Keys confessing to this.

If you do please post on "You tube."

[AnnetteS]

Travellerev
Thanks for the compliment. Key was a Currency Trader, not a bond dealer and certainly not in CDO's which are more a fixed return product.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collateralized_debt_obligation

[Rem]

http://www.thehollowmen.co.nz/

check out the DVD!

[tpr2]

Hi Guys
This may seem a little blunt..but today is August 12 2008 and interest rates are still at 10% with property prices falling, people are facing negative equity and we have had nearly 30 finance companies collapse in the last 18 months. Blue Chip has buggered off with millions of dollars in investors funds and there are pre/post retiree's who are now shackled to a tax payer funded pension system that will result in either tax rates that are astronomical or elderly being homeless or moving in with the kids or grand kids.

So who cares what Keys did 10 years ago and how it might have had a detrimental effect on kiwis if the attack had forced the dollar lower. The facts are it didn't and we are in 2008 now facing a crisis that will eclipse what that might have been.

I hope that doesn't sound too harsh but Key is a politician, do you really expect him to be squeeky clean....lol...

[Mark_B]

So who cares what Keys did 10 years ago and how it might have had a detrimental effect on kiwis if the attack had forced the dollar lower. The facts are it didn't and we are in 2008 now facing a crisis that will eclipse what that might have been.

I hope that doesn't sound too harsh but Key is a politician, do you really expect him to be squeeky clean....lol...

While we're on the subject of pointing fingers at politicians and what effect their actions (or lack thereof) may have had on the NZ economy, lets remember that more than ANY other person, the one person who can influence the economy most is the Prime Minister.


The PM can at the very least heavily influence:

• the prudential standards applied to banks and other financial intermediaries,
• the information required to be disclosed in investment statements (such as for finance companies),
• the inflation rate (I can name numerous policy arms at the Government's disposal that can affect the CPI),
• real estate prices (Government policies can influence the real estate market either directly or indirectly),
• the conduct of the RBNZ via the inflation target they use.

But despite all of that, do I blame the PM for the current financial and economic "challenges" we face and for the 25+ finance company collapses?

Of course not.


Because no one person was responsible for this.

[McDuck]

I wish there was a smart political party.

One that understood that "the free market" was not a prayer to be uttered every day.

One that understood that lazy people will do nothing, given half the chance.

One that understood that the Death penalty would empty the prisons of today and tomorrow, very quickly.

Give me those three, and you get my vote.

[tpr2]

whooooeeeeee

I think they would get my vote too.

Not sure about the death penalty though.... I like the fact my ancestors got shipped out to aussie for stealing bread rather than being hung until dead.... plus my other ancestors ate the locals which would probably be frowned upon these days.

[Bob Kane]

Travellerev, you seem obsessed with John Key.
It's alright to take an interest in the world but try to retain a sense of perspective.
Otherwise you might grow old and bitter.
Grow tulips or befriend stray cats.

[Austrokiwi]

http://www.thehollowmen.co.nz/

check out the DVD!

Let me guess Rem you are politicising for Labour did Helen ask you to post this? I suggest you ensure your future posts are compliant with the "lets limit freedom of speech" act that labour brought in!

Please Go back to the trademe forum and lets stick to Property and related economics here!

[TonyMacaroni]

Hi Guys
This may seem a little blunt..but today is August 12 2008 and interest rates are still at 10% with property prices falling, people are facing negative equity and we have had nearly 30 finance companies collapse in the last 18 months. Blue Chip has buggered off with millions of dollars in investors funds and there are pre/post retiree's who are now shackled to a tax payer funded pension system that will result in either tax rates that are astronomical or elderly being homeless or moving in with the kids or grand kids.

So who cares what Keys did 10 years ago and how it might have had a detrimental effect on kiwis if the attack had forced the dollar lower. The facts are it didn't and we are in 2008 now facing a crisis that will eclipse what that might have been.

I hope that doesn't sound too harsh but Key is a politician, do you really expect him to be squeeky clean....lol...

From what Travellerev is saying it seems her argument is two fold:

One, that John Key may have been involved in starting an 'attack' on the kiwi dollar and two, that there has been an attempt to cover this up in this recent Herald article.

If these assertions are true, and he knew this attack would damage NZ's real economy, well now thats just not very patriotic is it. Wouldn't you want a possible future leader to have demonstrated that he has put his countries' well being ahead of his personal gain? Particularly as he is about to storm into power in a landslide having released very little in the way policy apart from 'we'll keep any Labour policies that get us elected'.

The problem is Travellerev that, after reading your blog article regarding this, I am having some difficulty in seeing obvious evidence for either of these propositions.

You make a good point that it is everyones responsibility to look in to the backgrounds of elected officials before they get into power, particularly someone with such close ties to US corporate interests as Mr Key. With escalating conflict in the middle east/Georgia etc etc and US imperialism running rampant, my concern would be John Key offering up the lives of our armed servicemen in return for US favours. With so much uncertainty in the world at the moment we need to be very careful who we put into power.

And no, I'm not a Labour supporter - Ms Clarks megalomania is far from ideal. Maybe it'll the the Maori Party for me on election day... seem to be the only party that listens to there voters after they get elected.

[tpr2]

Thanks Tony

I am not actually too concerned about how patriotic a politician is I am more concerned about how they run the country. Considering the country is one damn big business wouldn't it be great to have someone who knows how to make a dollar or two in the driving seat?

[TonyMacaroni]

Thanks Tony

I am not actually too concerned about how patriotic a politician is I am more concerned about how they run the country. Considering the country is one damn big business wouldn't it be great to have someone who knows how to make a dollar or two in the driving seat?

Not concerned about how patriotic your PM is eh? Interesting point of view...

Knowing how to make a dollar through currency trading and running a country are two fairly different activities I would have thought. This creates further concerns with Mr Keys meteoric rise to power. Regardless of this I think we'll all get to see him in action and make our own judgements later in the year.