Bobby. wrote on Sep 14^th, 2010 at 7:56pm:


http://www.treasury.gov.au/documents/1858/HTML/docshell.asp?URL=02_Appendix_A.htm

Reasonable to expect we could find the numbers here?

Any clues Mr Hicks?

qikvtec wrote on Sep 14^th, 2010 at 9:40pm:



The Bat and Barnaby are not wrong in saying the Treasurer refuses to deny the claim

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/07/26/2964184.htm

he is a liar .. nothing to e confused about .. he lied about costings , he lied about supporting regional australia , he lied to the Indi's about supporting the NBN..
why would you believe him when he uses numbers like 100 million per day ..

Bobby. wrote on Sep 13^th, 2010 at 4:02pm:


Let me say first, that compared to many, in fact, most other countries around the world, we are certainly much better off and yes, we are currently living well within our means.

Second, the figures seem to fluctuate a little, perhaps due to Political leanings. The $100 million you refer to was originally just the interest component of new borrowings, which in effect is the current deficit, now it seems to have slipped to new borrowings, not just interest.

That said, I would say you may be a little low, I think you may find out when the figures are announced later in the year, that the 2009-2010 deficit will be closer to $70 Billion or around $200 million a day.

That is certainly higher than the Liberals did during their last term during 1996-2007, but that was assisted by a massive Economic Boom, driven by the Peak Earning & Spending period for the Boomer generation.

The period between 2007-2010 was marked by the GFC, which was the beginning of the Boomer Bust, also assisted by the Peaking of Global Energy supplies (Peal Oil).

Notwithstanding all of that, if the deifict comes in at $70 Billion, that would be around 6% of GDP. To compare, the USA is looking at a deficit of over $1.5 Trillion on a GDP of about $13-14 Trillion, so their deficit would be about 11%.

Similarly, Australia's National Debt is likely to be around $180-$200 Billion, which is about 17% on our current GDP, whereas the USA has probably just exceeded 100% on their National Debt to GDP ratio.  

Bear in mind, the USA is not the worst & their are many in a similar category to them, so yes, we are relatively living within our means, particularly given the relevant circumstances, of when the Libs were in power, compared to the last 3 years.

And, if this were a standard recession, of the type experienced quite often last century, then I would also have no problem with continuing with deficits for the next 2-3 years.

However, this is not your run-of-the-mill recession, in that it will not simply go away, with the input of some money, to boost public confidence.

What we are now entering is a long term, Economic slowdown, where Demand is set to decline of many years, for a number of reasons.

That said, we need to back away from deficits, as quickly as possible, but at the same time we need to try to maintain the publics disposable income, as much as possible.

Politicians & Economists, will need to think outside their normal comfort zones, for a change!  

Their is serious talks in financial circles  about the US going into a depression alongside Europe and Japan .. the coalition supporters whine about labors economic management but as pointed out was worse under Howard ..

They whine we spent the money we did on a stimulus but this has proved to be correct and kept us out of a recession ..  The countries who are struggling and heading into a depression have far worse economic figures.. Just remember Howard saw this coming and did nothing ... that is good management

So really it isn't about labor fiscal policy it is about how much the coalition supporters whinge because they lost the election ...

calm down take a chill pill .. no one is hijacking i am just making a valid point .. all the while you whine about our debt level it is very small compared to any major country in the world ....We are very healthy economy wise and as pointed out out of a recession , and not headed for a depression like the possibility for others ..

That is a better scenario then the amount of debt we have to repay just like any other country has a debt

perceptions_now wrote on Sep 14^th, 2010 at 10:35pm:


That is an excellent analysis by perceptions, and the final point about how we proceed is a very valid one, although the sad fact is that if the recession continues as is expected, then we also know what will follow, as night follows day, it has always been, and that is one of the scariest scenarios there is.
In that situation (war for those slow on the uptake), it is hard to say how our comparative financial status will be of much benefit anyway, so I think we really need to concentrate on raising the profile of our banking system and chocolate industries, and be careful who we are friends with.