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Friday March 12, 2010

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  • Brian on Smith Blog - Our Right to Feel Safe Change one word in the sentences . Maximum to MINIMUM I will be there on Wednesday more
  • angry on Flying Foxes and little girls This is the SICK and PERVERTED laws you get from FANATICAL greenies. Human being to them are seen as simply PARASITES on the ... more
  • Shez on Halal certification It doesn't say it, but those are the guidelines required for something to be labelled Halal or "permissible". :-) more
  • angry on Halal certification "Shez", for your edification the word "halal" is NOT mentioned in the Bible ANYWHERE! FAIL! more
  • angry on Halal certification "Shez"... Given your rabid and fanatical support for this, please remember that you are free to emmigrate to a muslim ... more
  • angry on Flying Foxes and little girls This SO TYPICAL of the Leftist ideology of anna BLIER'S government! She and her government are on the nose and well and ... more
  • Ray on Halal certification Halal signifies that a product or object etc is permissible as per Islamic law. Therefore bananas,apples etc are edible ... more
  • JohnE on Racists in our midst I amazed to see indians taking over all the 'menial' work (no disrespect to that type of work intended). Every trolley boy ... more
  • JohnE on Flying Foxes and little girls Absolutely disgusting. Simply not good enough. If the law is NOT acceptable, we the people, have the power to change it. I ... more
  • Shez on Flying Foxes and little girls I wouldn't wish bad on anyone, but maybe if one of these judges that give out these so called punishments are victims of a ... more
  • Shez on Halal certification Halal in the Bible... FROM THE BIBLE: Deuteronomy 14:3-10. Do not eat any detestable thing. These are the animals you may ... more
  • David T on Tony Abbott does a Turnbull Tony, we need a strong opposition not a fickle oppostion. Please don't give the government any more ammunition as this will ... more
  • Albert on Flying Foxes and little girls These laws prove once again that the environmental movement is not about taking action to protect human life and future ... more
  • angry on ETS Police SUBJECT: 'Execute' Skeptics! Shock Call To Action: 'At what point do we jail or execute global warming deniers' -- ... more
  • unimpressed on Flying Foxes and little girls Fetalaiga's 18 month ban from driving just shows the level of stupidity of both the law makers and the magistrates that ... more
  • Lynne on Flying Foxes and little girls The only thing in Queensland that is better protected than these disease riddled flying vermin are bureaucrats. When are ... more
  • LEONARD on Separation of Powers The Doctrine of the Separation of Powers has become simply a joke. It purpose is to separate the Legislature, the Executive ... more
  • Anne Scott on Halal certification You are missing the point, Shez. We, Australian taxpayers, begrudge paying Mr El-Mouelhy a levy on products he has managed ... more
  • Wobblyone on Halal certification Hey Angry... Shez is either Muslim or one of the idiot do-gooders that can't tell which way its bum is pointed. And Shez... ... more
  • Shez on Halal certification G'day angry. How are you today? Yes I am Australian, and bloody proud of it. I'm off to have some Cadbury's Dairy Milk. If ... more

Bail-out?

Posted by: Michael Smith | 21 October, 2008 - 12:53 PM
rudd

Nobody should think that the Federal Government's $10.4 billion redistribution of money from some taxpayers to others is going to fix the problem that got us into this economic crisis.

It simply won't.

At the best, it's a short-term response and then only to a symptom of the illness - we are living on too much borrowed money and we don't create enough stuff of value to pay for it.

The economic growth that this government and the previous Liberal government crow about is built largely on a mirage. Our domestic consumption is funded by debt - which means it's funded by money we expect to earn tomorrow and not money we have earned today. Debt is OK if it goes towards assets that will make tomorrow better or more productive - a hospital, a new road, or a port. Or towards a major asset that you believe will grow in value beyond the cost of the money - such as a house at the right price.

But when the debt goes to pay for rubbish - plasmas, holidays, credit card purchases - the economy can end up in real trouble.

Our capacity to borrow is finite and it's clear our whole country gets the wobbles when the credit starts to dry up.

Rather than talk about addressing this very difficult problem, the Federal Government's response is to tip more money into consumption so that we'll buy more stuff in the lead-up to Christmas. Economists call it stimulating the demand-side. That should have the very short-term effect of keeping us out of a technical recession for another quarter. But it doesn't address our underlying problem at all.

We need to be more productive and to match our growth in consumption with our ability to pay for it. It's a hard thing to say to people - it will sound harsh - and our political leaders on both sides are avoiding it.

If Kevin Rudd was fair dinkum about the well-being of families, he would be saying two things. The first is to pay down debt. Ultimately that's the painful reality - in the short term we have to reduce our reliance on tomorrow's money.

Secondly if you want to spend more money - either as a country or as individuals or families - find a way to produce more stuff of value. Earn more money. Be more productive. Sell more stuff.

But he doesn't say that.

Consume, consume, consume. That's the mantra coming from the Federal Government. And it's a mantra that will lead us into trouble.

Blog comments Your Say

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    david Monday 8 December, 2008 - 8:36 AM

  • If it's OK for teachers to stike, maybe we can have a tax payers strike when not happy with government behaviour. They would get the message pretty quickly!

    Dave Muller Monday 27 October, 2008 - 12:59 PM

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