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Trickle Down Theory: The Lie For Modern Capitalism

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Trickle Down Theory: The Lie For Modern Capitalism 𝘎𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘹𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 “𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯” 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘢 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦. Analysis: Bruce Alpine. I n Aotearoa New Zealand this approach has been tried more than once, and it has not worked well for lower-income families.  In the 1980s, under what became known as Rogernomics , the top personal tax rate was cut dramatically from 66 percent down to 33 percent.  The government also introduced GST and reduced many other progressive elements of the tax system.  The promise was straightforward: if high earners and businesses paid less tax, they would invest more, create jobs, expand the economy, and eventually lift living standards for everyone.  What actually happened was very different.  Income inequality rose sharply.  The richest 1 percent roughly doubled the...
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Labour and National are bleeding support to minor parties

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Labour and National are bleeding support to minor parties 𝘓𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴. 𝘐𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘔𝘔𝘗 𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯? Analysis: Bruce Alpine. A otearoa New Zealand’s two main parties are at a 30-year low in combined party-vote support. Recent mid-2026 polls put National and Labour combined together in the high 50s to low 60s — levels last seen around the first MMP election in 1996.  National has hovered in the high 20s to low 30s under Christopher Luxon; Labour has slipped into the high 20s in several surveys after earlier recoveries.  Meanwhile the Greens, NZ First, ACT and especially the Opportunity Party have absorbed the rest.  Opportunity has repeatedly polled near or above the 5% threshold, including a 6.1% result in one August Curia poll , an...
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POLL: Opportunity Party Crosses MMP Threshold Amid Luxon Leadership Crisis

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POLL: Opportunity Party Crosses MMP Threshold Amid Luxon Leadership Crisis 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵 1𝘕𝘦𝘸𝘴 𝘝𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘭 (8–11 𝘈𝘶𝘨𝘶𝘴𝘵) 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘓𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘯 30% (𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 2), 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘢𝘵 29%, 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯𝘴 12%, 𝘈𝘊𝘛 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰 9%, 𝘖𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 3 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 8%, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘕𝘡 𝘍𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 3 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 8%. Analysis: Bruce Alpine. T he latest 1News Verian poll (fielded 8–11 August 2026, sample 847, margin of error ±3.4%) delivers a clear verdict on the National-led government’s fragility and the collapse of traditional two-party dominance.  Labour sits on 30% (down 2 points from June), National holds steady at 29%, the Greens fall to 12%, ACT rises sharply to 9%, NZ First drops 3 points to 8%, Opportunity surges 3 points to 8% (clearing the threshold for the first time in a 1News Verian poll), and Te Pāti Māori sits at 1%. Party standings. file Projected seats in a 125-member House (assu...
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Luxon’s ‘Surprise’ on MMP Was 30 Years in the Making

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Luxon’s ‘Surprise’ on MMP Was 30 Years in the Making 𝘓𝘶𝘹𝘰𝘯’𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨-𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘨𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘥. Opinion: Bruce Alpine. O n Thursday 6 August, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon told Newstalk ZB that if National is returned to power he would hold a referendum on the MMP (Mixed Member Proportional) voting system, alongside one on moving to a four-year parliamentary term.  He framed it as a constitutional “check-in”: after three decades, is this still the system New Zealanders want?  He also linked it to the practical realities of coalition government, remarking that he did not need “some yahoo or numpty” from another party around the Cabinet table if National could secure a stronger mandate on its own.  The remarks surprised coalition partners — Winston Peters called them “inexplicable...
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National’s 10-Point Collapse Exposes Luxon’s Failure

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National’s 10-Point Collapse Exposes Luxon’s Failure 𝘓𝘶𝘹𝘰𝘯’𝘴 𝘛𝘰𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘐𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘌𝘹𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥: 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭’𝘴 𝘋𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘴 10-𝘗𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘊𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘱𝘴𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘝𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘞𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘋𝘶𝘱𝘦𝘥 Opinion: Bruce Alpine. T he National-led coalition government has shed approximately 7–10 percentage points in party vote support since its 2023 election victory, when it secured 38.1% of the vote and 48 seats.  Recent polling is damning.  As of early July 2026, RNZ–Reid Research placed National at a new low of 28.7%, with Labour surging to 34%.  Taxpayers’ Union–Curia, Roy Morgan, Verian, and Talbot Mills polls consistently show National languishing between 28–31%.  The governing bloc (National + ACT + NZ First) clings to a narrow or vanishing lead around 50%, projecting a precarious or lost majority under MMP ahead of the November 7 election.  During the 2023 election, voters were uncertain about the new leader Christopher...
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Opportunity Knocks. From Fringe to Kingmaker?

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Opportunity Knocks. From Fringe to Kingmaker? 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘖𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘺’𝘴 𝘉𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘔𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵: 𝘊𝘢𝘯 𝘌𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦-𝘉𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘗𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘴 𝘞𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘗𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘌𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯? Analysis: Bruce Alpine. O ver the recent polling cycle, The Opportunity Party (TOP) has surged in Aotearoa opinion polls, recording 4–6.5% support and positioning itself as a potential kingmaker ahead of the November 7 election.   Recent surveys, including Roy Morgan (6.5%), 1News-Verian (4.6%), and  RNZ-Reid Research poll (4.7%)   show The Opportnunity Party nearing or clearing the 5% MMP threshold.  This marks its strongest performance in a decade of attempts. Several factors explain this momentum.  First, widespread disillusionment with the two major parties. National and Labour have hit historic lows in some polls amid ongoing economic pressures—housing affordability, cost of living, stagnant productivity, and policy inconsistency....
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