Social Credit has launched a major print media campaign in nine of the country’s major newspapers to put the pressure on
the government to finance its economic rescue package and forthcoming ‘helicopter money’ distribution by sourcing funds
direct from the Reserve Bank.
The helicopter money idea received support this week from Kiwibank head economist Jarrod Kerr.
The Reserve Bank could directly fund the billion dollar package without incurring any cost to taxpayers – something
called for in recent days by former Senior Lecturer at the School of Economics and Finance at Victoria University Dr
Geoff Bertram.
That call has been echoed by economists Ganesh Nana, Raf Manji and Shamubeel Eaqub and economics commentators Bernard
Hickey and Bryan Gould.
“This is not wild radicalism. It is mainstream, even conservative, economics,” according to Dr Bertram.
Using that means of funding will avoid kiwis being saddled with massive additional debt and interest payments when it
could cost nothing – freeing up much needed tax dollars to be spent on health, education, housing, reducing poverty,
infrastructure, and the environment.
Not doing so will result in a substantial transfer of wealth from hard working kiwis to the mainly overseas shareholders
of the country’s banks and investment funds.
The government is currently borrowing billions through the sale of bonds to banks and other financial entities and
investors while at the same time the Reserve Bank is spending $30 billion dollars to buy from them bonds they previously
held.
Those wealthy investors will make a substantial profit from ‘clipping the ticket’ on both transactions, and taxpayers
will foot the bill.
Full page adverts will appear on Saturday seeking support for a petition aimed at putting pressure on the government to
use direct Reserve Bank funding.