If Labour had announced a policy to hand out free money to house buyers, it would be accused of being fiscally stupid and economically ignorant. They would have been accused of throwing around money we don't have.
Handing out money without increasing the supply of housing will simply put up prices even more. The economics of National's plan don't stack up.
In Auckland an average working family can't afford to buy the average house. National is coming face to face with the reality of its own philosophy. It operates the economy for absent landlords, not for working people or families. Its belief in the market has collided with market failure.
We are seeing the beginning of the end of the affair with John Key. Chucking around a couple of hundred million dollars over five years won't make Auckland housing more affordable, but it will make him look even more like just another politician.
Writer Maya Angelou wrote that you don't remember what someone said or even what they did, but you do remember how they made you feel. As never before, John Key is making us feel he can't be trusted.
