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As New Zealand Courts Tech Talent, Isolation Becomes a Draw

nytimes.com

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Re: As New Zealand Courts Tech Talent, Isolation Becomes a Draw

#251

Post by EdwardDiego »

Gatsky wrote: post #40

I love NZ... but I live in Melbourne, Australia and there are tons of kiwis here (including many close friends and colleagues). They come here because salaries are better, adjusted cost of living is less and there are just more opportunities for professionals. Australia isn't perfect but I'm not really sure that NZ is a more attractive destination for tech workers.

You forgot that a) it's warmer and b) Melbourne has a sweet nightlife - not surprising when it has the same population as our entire country.

Yeah, come to New Zealand because you like mountains and temperate rainforests. Not to advance your IT career. I think in 20 years time that may change though - the tyranny of distance applies less to software than other products.

Re: As New Zealand Courts Tech Talent, Isolation Becomes a Draw

#252

Post by boznz »

Apocryphon wrote: post #175
humanrebar wrote: post #3

> For all sorts of reasons, New Zealand suddenly makes sense. The cost of living is less than in San Francisco. Commuting is less wearying. And American politics, “Brexit” and the Islamic State are on the other side of the world. For the most part, this is all true in, say, Tulsa. Especially if you stay off Facebook. You especially don't have to go to New Zealand to find a cheaper, commuter-friendly place to work. No…

When I think of NZ, I imagine South Pacific beaches, lush forests of emu and kiwi and other exotic animals, and the landscape of the Lord of the Rings film trilogy. What natural beauty does Tulsa have?

If you end up in Auckland, Wellington or Christchurch you could be just in another big city anywhere in the world, you may be within an hour or twos drive of some of the above descriptors but you wont be looking out of your home or office window at them unless you can drop a million dollars on a house. Get real guys.

Re: As New Zealand Courts Tech Talent, Isolation Becomes a Draw

#253

Post by EdwardDiego »

int_19h wrote: post #249
EdwardDiego wrote: post #219

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Looks like our tourism marketing campaigns are paying off, although emus are Australian, we had moa, but they're extinct now. Not pictured in the tourism campaigns - our vast reliance on agriculture.

Is it really a bad thing? When I see "vast reliance on agriculture", or, say, "net exporter of agricultural products", I read it as "self-sufficient country that can feed itself even in troubled times". If anything, this sort of thing might command a premium in the current environment.

No, but it's not as pretty as the stuff in LOTR. And the pollution problems caused by the massive conversion to dairy over the last 20 years is becoming a big issue - turns out New Zealanders like being able to swim in their rivers and lakes.

Re: As New Zealand Courts Tech Talent, Isolation Becomes a Draw

#254

Post by gravypod »

vacri wrote: post #225
gravypod wrote: post #206

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "Isolation" and "Isolationist" are significantly different concepts. One is a physical property, the other is a social construct. Someone who want's to isolate themselves, in search of "isolation", can be called an "isolationist". > This isn't isolationism either. Switzerland is isolationist, but it has plenty of strict laws (including conscription), for example. What you're describing is a libertarian fantasy coun…

One of the really annoying things about libertarianism is the way it takes words that other people already use, redefine it to mean something else, and then tells those people they're wrong for using the original word. An 'isolationist' is someone who wants their country to withdraw from the world politically. It's not someone who wants to live 'off the grid'. It's not someone who is frightened by a 30% marginal tax…

Googling "define isolationist" gives the following:

    a person favoring a policy of remaining apart from the affairs or interests of other groups, especially the political affairs of other countries.
Googling "define isolation":

    the process or fact of isolating or being isolated.
Where did I redefine those?

Re: As New Zealand Courts Tech Talent, Isolation Becomes a Draw

#255

Post by cwilkes »

jconnop wrote: post #54
chadgeidel wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Internet connectivity issue was the big deal-breaker for me. Australian bloggers have been complaining about it since the beginning of the WWW. Apparently there's one provider and they don't care about anything beyond "email and casual browsing". I've heard that Australia and New Zealand share the same ISP and the same policies. This is going to be a huge hinderance for any tech enterprise. I'm glad to see @bspn…

Uncapped gigabit fibre is now available to a significant and growing portion of our population, and in almost all circumstances you have 10+ ISPs to choose from. None of these local monopolies that America seems to suffer from. We used to be an internet backwater, lagging behind Australia and far behind Europe/USA, but in the last 10 years we've really leapt into the 21st century. Case in point: http://www.speedtest.…

That's to local .au servers. What is it like to the US? I think you can select a country with Speedtest.

Re: As New Zealand Courts Tech Talent, Isolation Becomes a Draw

#256

Post by wingworks »

cylinder wrote: post #94

I love how these comments always boil down to salary and cost of living arguments. People, (mostly Americans), you're doing it wrong. What kind of fool moves to a remote island in the middle of nowhere and then expects to somehow still earn as much as in the United States? This is not the right reason to expatriate. Go because you love NZ (or X country) not because you want to leave America. Go because you like the l…

Exactly this! ^

Re: As New Zealand Courts Tech Talent, Isolation Becomes a Draw

#257

Post by reality_czech »

cookiecaper wrote: post #131
Glyptodon wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So I'm in essentially this situation and I concur that my salary does not completely adjust to an SV/Bay Area salary. But there are also 3 things that do not seem possible at once despite the extra money which keep me from pursuing opportunities in tech hubs: I'm ~5 minutes from biking/hiking/outdoors, ~10 minutes from work, and have a house with a shop/garage. So far as I can tell if I were to move to a tech hub I m…

Yes. The thing to remember about these SV people is that they're mostly single people or working couples who are living in ridiculously tight spaces like these "microapartments". [0] They're forced out after having a kid or two. Almost anywhere else in the country, that $2200/mo will get you quite the spread; you can trade off between square footage, neighborhood, and commute time, but you're going to have very nice…

I have a lot of friends who live in Sillicon Valley and have kids. They don't live in "microapartments" (those aren't even legal to build, there are space minimums.) They mostly live in houses which they either bought or rent. If you have a job, you can pay for housing and everything else.

I truly don't understand why anyone would live in Florida unless they were growing sugarcane. The climate is extremely hot and damp, and there is Zika according to the CDC. So what is good about Florida?

Re: As New Zealand Courts Tech Talent, Isolation Becomes a Draw

#258

Post by nathan_f77 »

agentile wrote: post #78
anentropic wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think that's true about NZ tax http://www.ird.govt.nz/income-tax-individual/filing-your-ret... I have heard that USA does that though

Yes, I may have that wrong. At the time I was a contractor so the fear was the following situation per "If you're a New Zealand resident, you're taxed on your worldwide income." If we wanted to eventually become residents of NZ, which we did, and I was obtaining income in the US, NZ and US would both tax me for that income. It seemed, however, less likely that NZ would approve me for immigration if I was not intendin…

> NZ and US would both tax me for that income.

Yes, the US will tax US citizens on worldwide income, but not if you are paying taxes in another country and earning less than $100,000 USD per year: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_earned_income_exclusio...

It's totally fine to live in New Zealand and work as a contractor for companies in other countries. I think it might actually be better, since you're bringing money into the country.

Re: As New Zealand Courts Tech Talent, Isolation Becomes a Draw

#259

Post by gravypod »

lostlogin wrote: post #227
gravypod wrote: post #213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Keep in mind how low a 30% tax rate is Well if it's so low I wouldn't mind sending you my paypal. You can always send me some supplimental money if you don't think the government is taking enough from you. We can think of it as wealth redistribution to a poor college student. > It's low relative to the OECD If I'm focused on isolating myself from everyone why would I care about what other OECD members are doing? >…

Some of us down here are plenty happy to pay for our share and would vote to increase what's taken to improve services. We don't need more immigration, we need infrastructure and need to pay for it. Taxes help pay for university here (and I wish it covered more of the cost) so if you were studying here, your partly covered. Why do you think we're isolationist? No part of NZ foreign policy is intended to be like that.

Why not just then vote against tax hikes and instead donate your money to the government or to charity organizations?

When you vote for tax hikes you're essentially reaching into your pocket, taking out money, and giving it to someone. Then you're reaching into your neighbor's pocket, taking some more out, and giving it to yourself and that other third party.

Why not let people choose to give their money? Why vote to force them to give their money?

Re: As New Zealand Courts Tech Talent, Isolation Becomes a Draw

#260

Post by vorg »

lostlogin wrote: post #163
mistermann wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> housing prices are extremely high. I don't understand that, Same problem Canada has: interest rates below the rate of (real, unadjusted) inflation, and no limitations on foreign ownership of real estate (a major catalyst, at least , for a bubble).

Interest rates here are way above inflation. according to the below reserve bank site inflation is 1.3% (stated in text, looks higher in that graph at closer to 2%) and the cash rate is 1.75%. This translates into interest on a mortgage being somewhere between 4.7% - 6% depending on fixed term duration etc. Mortgages here always have very short terms with a maximum of about 5 years. http://www.rbnz.govt.nz/statistics…

The parent commenter said "(real, unadjusted) inflation". The inflation rate published by the Reserve Bank is calculated for everyday items as used by some demographic, but excludes the rising price of assets such as houses themselves, or the health costs of the aged demographic. If you treat the rental and purchase price of houses to be part of the real inflation rate (because they are compulsory costs for people living in Auckland) and appropriately weight them in the basket of items considered, then the real year-on-year inflation rate is far higher than the Reserve Bank's interest rate, causing even more locals to borrow money for more houses.
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