The Mike Hosking Breakfast

As Donald Trump celebrated his 80th this week, I read the stat that he is not alone in still having work to go to.
The retirement age in America is 67, but the percentage of those still in work past that age has quadrupled since the 80s.
So, a couple of things come out of that:
It’s often presented as a need as opposed to a want, and I think, increasingly, that isn’t the case.
It is presented as some sort of oddity. In other words, the reportage of the facts and changing stats reflects another time, not the current one.
And the current one is this: people work because we have discovered it’s good for you.
It’s like exercise, which we have also discovered in recent decades, and turned into an industry. People like to do what’s good for them, so they keep doing it.
The narrative is based on the idea that work is a chore and needs to be done to earn money to pay for living. In many cases, it is no such thing. It is about connection and challenge, about fun. In Trump’s case, it is about power.
It’s why Rod Stewart still performs – he doesn’t have to; he wants to.
Trump wants to rule the world. That doesn’t stop at 67.
Further, I think —and this is probably part of the changing landscape as well— young people aren’t what they once were, and as such, experience is increasingly valued. Older people are not the burden they were once seen as; in fact, they are increasingly not even seen as old.
Old, to me, is 80+. Generally, something cognitive happens post-80s. You can be 67, 71, or 78 and be sprightly, fit, cohesive, and effective – in the workplace or not.
But post-80s, for many, something metaphysical tends to unfold.
In the ensuing period, the idea that you stop work in your mid-60s to play bowls or golf for up to 30 years is absurd.
Further, this trend will increase because today’s 80-year-olds come from a generation of little exercise, little attention to diet, and not a lot of medical advancement.
Someone who is 20 today will crack 100 with increasing regularity, and, as night follows day, more will want the enjoyment and challenge of work.
And I’ll tell you this for nothing: it will be a good day when it’s reported as perfectly normal, as opposed to some emerging trend.
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At the end of each week, Mike Hosking takes you through the big-ticket items and lets you know what he makes of it all.

Fieldays: 8/10
Massive crowds, good mood, lots of money changing hands. Rural NZ is booming.

NZ Inc: 7/10
Actually a pretty good week economically. Spending was up, food inflation wasn’t anywhere near as bad as they thought, and GDP showed we were actually on our way.

Our mood: 3/10
The evidence did not support the misery. We don’t have to be hopped up, but the score of 80 does not dovetail with the hard data. Give yourself an uppercut.

Immigration and MBIE: 1/10
As bad as it gets — a shocking betrayal, horrific damage to the public service rep. And even if jail time isn’t required, you can’t run a country if you are being deceived by crooks.

The Iran Deal: 3/10
Trump has achieved nothing. We are all glad it’s over, and it’ll feel good paying $2-something for petrol. But we were doing that before Trump thought Iraq was easy.

Travel: 7/10
I’ve been around the world in the past fortnight — and it’s an amazing place. Well, the bits I saw are. But it’s also troubled, overcrowded, and expensive. NZ looks pretty damn good to me.

Lewis Hamilton: 8/10
He is the driver of his generation, and a thrill to watch. He lived his dream this week — a victory in a Ferrari. We should all be lucky enough to live our dreams.

LISTEN ABOVE FOR MIKE HOSKING'S FULL WEEK IN REVIEW
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What is the matter with Labour? They are giving me free doctor’s visits – I don’t want them or need them.
Now they are giving me free prescriptions… it’s tens of millions of dollars we don’t have, handed out to people who don’t need it. Some people need it – give it to them.
You are literally wasting money giving these things to anyone on a half-decent salary.
Now, the real problem with the policies is they are paid for by the capital gains tax. Now, in case you haven’t worked it out —given it’s not retrospective— they have no income from capital gains and won’t until lots of people with investment or secondary homes start selling them.
The bill, though, for the policies kicks in on day one.
So already they are running a credit card on their promises.
But the really major problem with the capital gains tax is it’s predicated on projections that have not —and indeed are not— turning out to be true.
For the last several years, property prices have gone nowhere.
The Labour forecasts are based on 3% a year. We have not returned 3%, or anywhere close, for years now.
The property flatline has been in place since COVID, and it’s not growing 3% this year. It might —big might— start getting close next year. But for every year it doesn’t, you need extra growth to make up the difference, all the while the bills for the free scripts, scans, and visits are real and piling up.
So it’s a twofold problem: they hand out money they don’t have to people who don’t need it. And they haven’t got the money anyway to hand out, given it hasn’t been generated, and they have no way of knowing when —or if— it will be.
In the meantime, it’s on the debt pile, which is already 47% of GDP, which, in case you forgot, was 19% of GDP until the old Labour Party arrived in 2017.
So from 19% to 47% – and now clearly more where that came from.
If voters are interested in detail and fact, this sort of cost-plus policy nonsense is a recipe for yet another economic disaster, and I thought in 2020 we decided we weren’t making that mistake again.
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Friday has arrived, so Kate Hawkesby and Tim Wilson are back with Mike Hosking to Wrap the Week that Was.
They discussed Mike and Kate’s holiday, travelling, and the newest business to take over the kiosk in the courtyard outside NZME.
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The Warriors are headed south, playing their first match at Christchurch’s new stadium.
Three Warriors teams are set to run out onto the field as part of a festival of footy, the day ending with the NRL clash against the North Queensland Cowboys.
Tickets for the event sold out in a few days, making it the club’s fastest-selling regular season match since their debut against the Broncos in 1995.
CEO Cameron George told Mike Hosking it’s a real privilege to come to places like Christchurch and sell out so quickly.
He says there’s a huge buzz around town, and come Sunday, he’s sure there’s going to be an electric atmosphere in the new stadium.
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