Stuart Pedersen
Mt Maunganui
'Bubble Up effect'
I so agree with David Cormack (Opinion, December 12). As a country we were fed the "Trickle Down effect" line years ago. The only people espousing and agreeing with this theory are the well off and big business.
The majority of the rich are where they are because they know how to hold on to their money and make it grow. Giving them tax breaks just means they are better off to make more and they are not likely to spend it frivolously, allowing it to go back into the money chain to trickle down. Term deposits and investments tie up massive amounts of capital that is not available to the everyday Joe Bloggs trying to get by.
Give the same money to low and middle income people and they almost immediately have to spend it to just to keep surviving. This could be called the "Bubble Up effect" because they are supporting the small business community who in turn pay the next up the ladder for their supplies and so on right to the top where the rich can skim off the cream but without as much resentment from the have nots.
France's President Macron has provided us with a clear picture of what can happen when the rich get the tax breaks and the poor see no future from their everyday drudgery.
Every company needs profit reinvestment to grow but directors and shareholders should not only be responsible for growing the company but also consider the welfare of their employees. I'm sure the government would like to pay their department employees a fair wage so if private business is doing well with more people earning a living wage then the more funds from taxes the government has to pay them and the money keeps bubbling to the top.
When even the hard working middle income families are struggling you know there has to be something wrong with the existing theory.
Barbara Baldwin
Te Puke
Commuter train
Regarding the letter from A Palmer (Letters, December 12) suggesting a train to Auckland. Why spend money on a scenic train to Auckland when a morning and evening train to and from Katikati to Tauranga with stops along the way for workers and general public then buses running from The Strand to take workers to their places of work.
This idea has been talked about for quite some time between friends when the subject of road congestion crops up. The rail is already there and surely a deal could be done with NZ Rail to make this happen. Come on Tauranga wake up its under your nose - do it. Take a trip to Perth in Australia and see how a fantastic train system works AND it works in conjunction with freight trains.
Carol Yaxley
Papamoa
Scarcely the stuff of nightmares
I would like to comment on the article by Dawn Picken (Opinion, December 6) about screening for breast cancer. Like Dawn, after a mammogram I was recalled for an ultrasound and biopsy. It was unpleasant, but scarcely the stuff of nightmares, and to my relief, the results were negative.
More than a decade and more mammograms later, I had another recall. This time a cancer was detected, removed and I made a complete recovery. Without the early detection, I might well have faced prolonged chemotherapy – or be dead.
While Dawn agrees that early detection saves lives, she makes much about the "emotional distress'" which may come with breast screening.
Some temporary emotional distress is much preferable to being dead! I really appreciate the preventative policies offered by our health system, and would encourage everyone to make the most of them.
Ann Graeme
Tauranga
