The Calibre of the Modern Politician

Behold the Wonders

The calibre of politicians leaves much to be desired.  We suppose in democracies a society tends to get the politicians it deserves, but nevertheless we tire of our representative pontificating with sonorous solemnity about things they know very little.

In New Zealand the independent Reserve Bank (made independent to prevent politicians meddling with the money supply in a self-interested attempt to garner public support) is charged with the integrity and solvency of the banking system.  To that end it has recently stipulated that mortgage lending banks require house buyers to put down equity of 20 percent of the purchase price or more, for 80 percent of their mortgage books. This effectively stops reckless lending by banks in its tracks.


New Zealand escaped the worst of the debt and housing crisis in the global financial crisis of 2008 and onwards.  But its housing market is overvalued now by prudent measures, and the market is showing signs of overheating in large population centres.  Some banks have been behaving recklessly.  Hooray for the RB.

Enter stage left the empty principled, void minded politician.  They realise immediately that this new policy will hurt some people--in the sense that an injection at the doctor's might hurt.  It causes some pain to prevent much worse afflictions in the future.  Hah--time to whip up some electoral support.

Labour leader David Cunliffe ramped up pressure on the Government with a public meeting with Kanik Mongia, 23, an IT consultant, who had mortgage pre-approval for a 90 per cent loan cancelled by ASB because of the LVR changes. He was seeking $450,000 for an investment property.

Cunliffe said there was need to cool the property market, especially in places like Auckland, but the new lending rules would have "unintended consequences" on first home buyers. "Unfortunately they are taking it out on the hide of first home buyers like Kanik, and that's not what we want. We want young people to be able to get into their homes and we don't want young speculators driving prices through the roof," he said.(Stuff)

Lots of commentators have mocked the stupidity of choosing a "first home buyer" as poster boy who actually wanted to make a speculative investment, not purchase a house to live in.  But if banks were allowed to continue their reckless lending of requiring only a 10 percent deposit from house buyers, it is precisely the "first home buyers" who would likely end up with negative equity and forced mortgagee sales when the housing market turned down--as it eventually will.  What then would Cunliffe turn to?

Would he let the speculative home purchasers watch their houses being repossessed by mortgagee sales?  Would he nationalise the banks?  Would he doll out socialist dollars to inject fresh equity into houses underwater with debt?  Would he scrap the Reserve Bank Act and make the Reserve Bank once again subject to the whims and venal lusts of politicians?  All of the above, no doubt, would be on the table.

And all this, because Cunliffe failed to exercise basic moral precepts of integrity and demonstrate true leadership when it was needed.  Why has he thus failed?  Because of his lust for power, and because his moral compass is not calibrated so as to direct him away from bribery and corrupting the electorate, and because he does not have the smarts to realise that he would risk turning New Zealand into Spain, or Italy, or Greece.

Ignorance and corruption.  Behold the modern politician.  What wonders secular humanism has wrought.