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Global Economic Downturn to Continue? (Read 97518 times)

perceptions_now

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Re: Global Economic Downturn to Continue?
Reply #30 - Dec 13^th, 2010 at 1:53pm

Australian Top Banks May Gain From Swan’s Reforms, Analysts Say

Dec. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Australia’s four largest lenders, led by Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Westpac Banking Corp., may emerge as victors from Treasurer Wayne Swan’s package to promote banking competition, analysts and academics said.

“We see this as a major win for the major banks,” analysts led by Jarrod Martin at Credit Suisse in Sydney said in a note to clients dated today. They are “perhaps long-term relative winners from the reforms.”

Swan yesterday announced plans to help customers switch lenders, strengthen Australia’s smaller banks, and develop the domestic bond market to allow banks to raise cheaper funds. The package was a response to public anger at record profits from the biggest banks, which control more than 80 percent of the home-loan market, and mortgage-rate advances that outpaced increases to benchmark borrowing costs at the central bank.

In a parliament where no party has an outright majority, there’s a “tangible” risk some of the treasurer’s plans will fail, Credit Suisse said. Swan’s minority Labor government needs support from other lawmakers in the lower house of parliament to pass legislation.

Swan plans to ban exit fees on new home loans from July 2011 1) and empower the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission to pursue banks that signal interest-rate changes to rivals.

“The outcome appears very modest,” said Victor German, an analyst at Nomura in Sydney. “We see the restricted nature of the reforms as a near-term positive for the majors.”

2) The treasurer’s proposals don’t go far enough to boost competition, said Frank Zumbo, competition lecturer at the Australian School of Business in Sydney.

“Swan’s package represents a minimalist approach to dealing with the very serious lack of real competition,” Zumbo, said. “The package relies heavily on proposals that may take years to implement or that may never see the light of day.”
Link -
http://noir.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=anWl1n.kRH8g&pos=4
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1) I would think the ACCC already has those powers, the difficulty lies in proving a case!

2) I would agree, the package does not provide the substantial changes needed to boost competition against the 4 major banks and it may fail to get the numbers in parliament!

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perceptions_now

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Re: Global Economic Downturn to Continue?
Reply #31 - Dec 14^th, 2010 at 1:16pm

Oil And U.S. Hyperinflation

As precious metals investors, it can often seem to us that the U.S. government (and the banking cabal which pulls its strings) is exclusively focused on suppressing gold and silver prices - given the historic role of precious metals as a "barometer" of economic conditions, especially inflation. However, there is a different commodity that this group obsesses about to a far greater degree than precious metals: oil.

The United State's enormous dependency on imported oil translates directly to enormous economic vulnerability. Indeed, U.S. paranoia about "securing" oil supplies for itself has been the driving force behind most (if not all) of the wars it has instigated in the Middle East.

The U.S. dependence on petroleum goes well beyond simply the massive amounts that is spent each year by the U.S. to satisfy its oil-gluttony. Cheap oil is the essential input needed to operate the "levers" of U.S. military/economic imperialism, as well as the foundation upon which the entire U.S. domestic economy is built.

Let me summarize this dependence briefly. By itself, the U.S. military is one of the ten largest oil-consuming entities on the planet. In other words, operating the U.S. war machine by itself consumes more oil each year than all but a handful of nations. Thus, the death, destruction, and misery that the U.S. military has inflicted upon its victims over recent decades is accompanied by the horrendous waste of countless billions of barrels of our most precious natural resource.

In this respect, high oil prices are a "blessing" to much of the world, as the hopelessly insolvent U.S. government is totally incapable of financing any more "military adventures", now that the era of cheap oil is gone forever. Indeed, we can only assume that Iranian defiance to the U.S. regarding its nuclear program is based upon their firm conviction that any military harm which the U.S. could inflict upon Iran would pale in comparison to the economic harm it would inflict upon itself from such an attack. Thus, we know the #1 reason why the U.S. is vainly attempting to keep a lid on oil prices: having a "big stick" is of little use if you're never able to use it.

The U.S. military is but one facet of the U.S. empire totally dependent upon cheap oil.

Of near-equal importance is the need for cheap oil in order to pursue its agricultural imperialism. Roughly two decades ago, the U.S. government made a conscious decision to abandon most manufacturing activity - with the exception of the industrial and hi-tech sectors which service the U.S. war-machine.

Replacing manufacturing as the foundation for the U.S. economy is agriculture.

Even here, however, the U.S.'s Achilles heel asserts itself. Apart from the fact that U.S. agriculture is highly dependent on massive water subsidies, what few people realize is that agriculture is an oil-intensive industry. Oil-powered machines plant the crops. Oil-powered machines distribute the petroleum-based fertilizer products used by most forms of agriculture.

Oil-powered machines then harvest most of these crops, so that oil-powered trucks can take this food to processing centers, before ultimately being shipped to consumers - primarily in more oil-powered trucks. Compounding U.S. oil-gluttony, the U.S. has embarked on a huge program to produce the world's least efficient bio-fuel: corn-based ethanol.

In other words, after consuming vast quantities of oil to produce its crops, the U.S. then takes a large chunk of that agricultural production and converts it to fuel - in a process which uses nearly as much fuel as is produced, resulting in no economic benefit to anyone (and no increase in energy supply), except for a windfall for corn-farmers.

While the U.S. selfishly wastes vast quantities of oil with its war-mongering, and foolishly squanders vast, additional amounts through short-sighted agricultural policies which can only be characterized as "idiotic", this endless waste of precious petroleum is 100% certain to destroy its domestic economy.

As U.S. "inner cities" became increasingly uninhabitable due to endemic poverty - and the crime which inevitably accompanies that - U.S. "urban sprawl" turned into a gigantic population-shift, where urban Americans became "suburban Americans", forced to commute long-distances (in oil-powered vehicles) just to make it to work each day.

Meanwhile the rest of the world chose to reduce their own oil-consumption through adding high taxes to oil, which also made various forms of mass, public transit economically viable - further reducing their oil-dependence. In its typically short-sighted fashion, the U.S. did the exact opposite. It continued to heavily subsidize oil consumption amongst its population.

Decades of this totally suicidal policy has left the U.S. with the following problems. Americans possess tens of millions of obsolete gas-guzzlers - for which they are still making $billions in payments. They live in massive homes they can no longer afford to heat, located so far from employment centers that they can't afford to drive to work. Meanwhile, equally short-sighted city planners never bothered to embark upon any significant investments in mass-transit.

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perceptions_now

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Re: Global Economic Downturn to Continue?
Reply #32 - Dec 14^th, 2010 at 1:17pm

Oil And U.S. Hyperinflation (Cont)

Even if the U.S. had the money to begin to create 21st century mass transit for its cities (which it doesn't), these long-term infrastructure projects would take at least a decade before making a significant dent in U.S. oil consumption. The U.S. has no money, no oil, and no options.

While Wall Street caused the "Crash of '08" to attempt to hide its own insolvency as being merely part of a "global crisis", the U.S. government had an entirely different motive for engineering a global economic crash, and a total meltdown in all commodity markets: $140/barrel oil. In this respect, Rob Kirby wrote a very interesting article about U.S. "machinations" in the oil market, beginning in May/June of 2008.

Through a combination of sleuthing and deduction, Kirby connected a dramatic change in U.S. oil policy to the Crash of '08, and otherwise inexplicable price-behavior regarding the different grades of global crude - which coincided with the change in U.S. energy policy. He also noted that these "machinations" bore an uncanny resemblance to "activities" of the U.S. government in precious metals markets.

Media talking-heads continue to perpetuate the myth that a "cheaper dollar" will improve the U.S. trade balance - and ultimately help the U.S. dig its way out of insolvency. Empirical data has revealed this to be nothing but wishful thinking. In fact, each time the U.S. dollar takes another nose-dive, the U.S. trade deficit usually widens, as the modest up-tick in U.S. exports is overwhelmed by the soaring bill for U.S. imported oil.

The bottom-line for these parameters is that the only way in which the U.S. can delay economic collapse is to continue to push-down oil prices (versus the U.S. dollar). Where precious metals factors into this equation is that oil-producing nations (most notably the Arab, OPEC nations) watch gold and silver prices - to tell them when/if they need to push crude prices higher, as compensation for the ever more rapid dilution/depreciation of the U.S. dollar.

Therefore, while the U.S. government desperately wants to keep gold and silver prices down, it absolutely needs relatively cheap oil prices. What this means is that when oil surges above $100/barrel (likely by January or February) we should all expect another made-in-the-USA "economic crisis".

If (or when) the U.S. finally loses any ability to control oil prices, the consequence is inevitable: hyperinflation. Soaring oil prices increase the U.S. trade deficit, cripple the domestic economy, negate any/all benefit of its massive agricultural subsidies, and leave its war-machine "out of gas".

Simply, there is not a single facet of the U.S. economy which can remain solvent with high oil prices. When cities, states, and most average Americans begin a downward spiral toward bankruptcy due to high oil prices, the last and only option for the U.S. is more money-printing - much, much more.

With current U.S. money-printing already a threat to set-off U.S. hyperinflation, any further escalation of Bernanke's monetary madness must result in hyperinflation. Much like decades of suppression of the silver market has resulted in the near-total depletion of silver stockpiles, so too has the U.S. policy of depressing global oil prices resulted in the depletion of global oil reserves - decades sooner than would have occurred with any kind of sensible, long-range planning.

While the silly, suicidal bullion-banks only increase silver demand each time they launch another "attack" on prices (advancing the date of their own funerals), so too has the U.S. government's permanent policy of oil price-suppression merely served to dig its own economic grave.

At the exact same time that U.S. vulnerability to high oil prices has reached a new, all-time high, the ability of the U.S. to suppress oil prices through any form of moderate/subtle manipulation of global markets has been exhausted. With the U.S. economy already on the verge of collapse, creating another "crisis" (its last and only "tool") will require nothing more than simply being honest about the severity of its economic problems.

Link -
http://www.silverbearcafe.com/private/12.10/hyperinflate.html
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Whilst I inderstand where the authors comments arise from and in many instances agree, there are also some factors that are influencing events that he has not touched and I also disagree with some of his conclusions.

In particular, it still seems self-apparent that the US military is still the most effective military of the planet!

Whilst US Politicians have shielded US citizens (so far) from the effects of approaching Peak Oil, other countries have not. It is highly debatable whether higher taxes introduced by many countries has reduced their dependence on Oil or whether governments have simply used that mechanism, as a tax raising avenue!

There has certainly been NO MOVEMENT AWAY FROM OIL!

We are now moving into a new paradigm, one affected by -
1) Peak Oil - Already started.
2) Demographics (Aging Population now, followed by a larger Population (another 1 or 2 Billion Global) by 2040 or so, then a long Population decline (to around 3-4 Billion by Century's end)
3) Climate Change - Already started, but becoming more apparent towards the later end of the century.

Bernanke is living a different crisis!

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perceptions_now

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Re: Global Economic Downturn to Continue?
Reply #33 - Dec 14^th, 2010 at 3:09pm

They Haven't Learned

The oil industry, its lobbyists and its Congressional allies are predictably furious at the Obama administration’s decision not to allow exploratory oil drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico and off the Atlantic coast. The decision was unquestionably the right one.

Given the disastrous oil spill in the central gulf, and industry’s inability to clean it up, one might have expected a little self-knowledge. Not from this crowd, which continues to lobby for more risky drilling instead of focusing all its energy on improving its capacity to prevent and respond to future blowouts.

The White House announced in March that these areas would be opened to exploration as part of a larger political deal intended to produce comprehensive climate legislation. Congress did not pass such a bill. But what really altered the administration’s calculus was the massive BP oil spill in April and the huge flaws it exposed in the industry’s safety practices and the government’s regulatory machinery.

The administration is now saying that these flaws must be fixed before drilling will be allowed to proceed. Exploration and production will continue in the central and western gulf, the nation’s richest source of oil, and exploratory drilling will be allowed in some Alaskan waters, but only after extensive environmental reviews.

Industry’s biggest weakness is its inability to handle a blowout or other major accidents in deep water, where most new drilling is likely to occur. The BP well gushed nearly five million barrels of oil before it was capped. Initially, BP was seen as a uniquely careless company, but subsequent inquiries by a presidential commission suggest that the entire industry ignored safety precautions in pursuit of ever-higher gains.

As the commission co-chairman William Reilly said last week, companies that invested billions in sophisticated deepwater drilling techniques “devoted essentially nothing” to dealing with the consequences of disaster.

The government’s gravest failure was its shocking inability to provide adequate oversight. These problems were underscored last Tuesday in a report from the Interior Department’s inspector general saying that federal inspectors were overwhelmed and poorly trained before the spill and, to some extent, still are.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar reorganized the agency overseeing drilling after the BP disaster. But he acknowledges that much more needs to be done and says that one of the main reasons for putting the March drilling plan on hold is to give the government time to upgrade its staff and “focus on creating a more stringent regulatory regime.”

The industry and its well-paid allies say that delaying drilling will increase America’s dependence on foreign oil. That ignores a simple truth: A nation using one-quarter of the world’s oil while controlling only 3 percent of the world’s known reserves cannot drill its way to independence. The estimated 7.5 billion barrels the eastern gulf and Atlantic coast are thought to contain are just about what this country consumes in a year.

That’s still a lot of oil, and the acoustic studies that Interior is planning may reveal even more. But the country can wait until it’s sure that oil can be safely extracted. What it can’t afford is another massive spill.

Link -
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/13/opinion/13mon1.html?_r=1
================
And that, may well spell the end of Obama?

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perceptions_now

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Re: Global Economic Downturn to Continue?
Reply #34 - Dec 14^th, 2010 at 9:26pm

Oregon aid agencies brace for tens of thousands losing unemployment benefits

Oregon's social-services safety net is in danger of snapping as unemployment benefits expire for tens of thousands in the coming months.

Each week, about 600 Oregonians exhaust jobless benefits. In January, about 4,000 a week will lose coverage. And state officials expect those numbers to spike in April when more than 35,000 people will exhaust benefits in a single week.

Faced with the projections, Oregon Gov.-elect John Kitzhaber will consider asking the Legislature to extend unemployment benefits at the state level, a spokeswoman for his transition team said Friday.

If Congress acts within days to extend emergency unemployment compensation nationally, 14,000 fewer Oregonians will lose benefits in April. But President Barack Obama's proposed extensions, tied to continuing Bush-era tax cuts, won't do anything for those who exhaust the maximum 99 weeks of jobless benefits.

Oregon social-service agency managers say they don't know how they'll handle the fallout, the size of which catches some by surprise. Already they can't provide enough rent and energy assistance for thousands.

The mass exhaustion of benefits, an echo effect of the great recession, is unprecedented in Oregon as the jobless rate remains stuck at 10.5 percent, state Employment Department officials say. Other states expect similar effects, including Washington, where officials don't yet have specific projections.

In Oregon, almost one out of five people already is on food stamps. A record 741,419 Oregonians are on the supplemental nutritional assistance program, a number bound to increase as more people lose unemployment benefits, said Gene Evans, Human Services Department communications officer.

"That's got to be so frightening for individuals and families, seeing the end approaching," Evans said.

James Mitchell, a 64-year-old Southeast Portland man, knows just how it feels. After working in stock brokerages for 36 years, he lost his job in early 2009.

Unless a job offer shows up soon, Mitchell will become one of Oregon's roughly 21,000 so-called 99ers, the unemployed people who have exhausted their maximum benefits this year. Washington state has 32,000.
"They're unable to pay the rent, unable to keep their utilities on," DeMaster said. "We see parents who are trying and trying and trying to find jobs, and they just can't find anything in this economy."

In November, about 2,500 Oregonians exhausted jobless benefits, said Craig Spivey, a state Employment Department spokesman. The number of people on regular unemployment benefits has dropped, he said, from 104,000 a year ago to 87,000 this week.

But almost 80,000 people are on some form of extended benefits, Spivey said. A large number of those people working their way through the unemployment pipeline will result in April's big spike, he said.

Has Oregon ever had a spike as high? "Not in the 25 years I've been involved in this," Spivey said.

"The governor elect will look at the extension of unemployment benefits in the context of the state budget as a whole," she said, "before he makes his recommendations to the Legislature."

Link -
http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2010/12/oregonians_exhausting_joble...
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This is a small measure of a national disaster, waiting to happen!

Following is a chart showing the number of people whom are about to become 99ers, each month, fron November to April next year.

For those who may not know what a 99er is, the following site explains it in more detail. However, it is basically the maximum number of weeks that a person will be paid unemployment benefits.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/99ers

After 99 weeks, you are on your own and over the next 6 months, there are over 4 million Amercians who will cease to receive unemployment cheques, as can be seen in the following chart.

Can you imagine the ramifications involved here???

« Last Edit: Dec 14^th, 2010 at 10:08pm by perceptions_now »

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perceptions_now Gold Member Offline Australian Politics Posts: 11694 Perth WA Gender:	Re: Global Economic Downturn to Continue? Reply #35 - Dec 14^th, 2010 at 11:31pm AUD$ - US$: @ 1.0005 (2010/06/04 - 83.17) ============ The little OZ$ has again hit parity, now! http://noir.bloomberg.com/markets/currencies/fxc.html
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perceptions_now Gold Member Offline Australian Politics Posts: 11694 Perth WA Gender:	Re: Global Economic Downturn to Continue? Reply #36 - Dec 15^th, 2010 at 11:52pm Collapse (The Movie) with Michael Ruppert Part 1 - embedded video http://www.disclose.tv/action/viewvideo/50078/Collapse__part_1_/ Part 2 - embedded video http://www.disclose.tv/action/viewvideo/50113/Collapse__part_2_/ ============ Not lite!
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It_is_the_Darkness

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Re: Global Economic Downturn to Continue?
Reply #37 - Dec 16^th, 2010 at 12:25am

Actually, I think Petrol will be $8 (as projected by the CSIRO, three months afer I prjected $10) per litre in just 2 years.
Don't rely on the Media - they are always 3 months behind upon such things.

You've/We've been already 'warned' by the recent 'inflation - then downturn' ...wait for the biggy - THE GREAT INFLATION.
Even though people won't be spending much upon 'wants', it won't help because the cost of every NEED will skyrocket and cripple them anyway.

....THINGS WILL GET SO BAD - YOU WILL BE PRAYING FOR AN ECONOMIC DOWNTURN AFTER JUST ONE YEAR OF IT OUT OF SEVEN TO TEN.

Mugabe say Grin

SUCKING ON MY TITTIES, LIKE I KNOW YOU WANT TO.

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Amadd Gold Member Offline Mo Posts: 6217	Re: Global Economic Downturn to Continue? Reply #38 - Dec 16^th, 2010 at 6:55am Good movie by Michael Ruppert, and good to see that he offers at least some practical advice on building yourself and your family a lifeboat before the ships sinks, not during or after the event.
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perceptions_now

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Re: Global Economic Downturn to Continue?
Reply #39 - Dec 16^th, 2010 at 2:06pm

Does China Face a ‘Peak Coal’ Threat?

China’s ravenous appetite for energy puts the country at risk of reaching a point of “peak coal,” when demand for coal will outstrip domestic production capacity, a growing number of experts believe.

China now consumes approximately 47 percent of coal produced globally but by most estimates has just 14 percent of global coal reserves. Meanwhile, demand has risen by about 10 percent per year for the last decade, putting the country on an “unsustainable” path, according to a recent report by C.L.S.A. Asia-Pacific Markets, a Hong Kong-based brokerage firm.

Coal might be abundant globally, but if China cannot substantially raise its domestic production, increasing imports enough to meet demand may be hard to accomplish in the short-term, putting the country in a potential supply bind.

“I think China is the vulnerable player here — they don’t really have a lot of options,” said David Fridley, a staff scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and deputy leader of the laboratory’s China Energy Group.

Evidence that China may be nearing an ultimate limit on production can be seen in rapidly growing imports and a recent proposal by a top energy official that the country cap coal production at around 3.6 billion tons per year beginning in 2011. China is on pace to produce nearly 3.4 billion tons of coal domestically in 2010, according to a recent Reuters analysis, and will import about 150 million tons this year.

Chinese officials suggest that the coal production cap is intended to prolong domestic supplies. But some analysts believe that the cap may have more to do with the country’s inability to substantially raise production, most likely because of problems with transportation. Already, a significant amount of coal transport has shifted from China’s overburdened rail lines to its crowded roads, with coal-laden trucks blamed for snarling roads, as with a two-week-long traffic jam that clogged the national highway between Beijing and Zhangjiakou this summer.

Domestic Chinese supplies are estimated at about 110 billion tons, enough for about 30 years consumption at the 3.6 billion ton level. Yet continued rapid economic growth will push demand far higher, leading some to suspect that China is preparing to turn toward imports to meet further demand growth.

As our colleague Elisabeth Rosenthal reported last month, rising Chinese demand has countries like Canada, Australia, Indonesia, Colombia and South Africa rapidly ramping up their coal exports. The sudden opening of the Chinese market has put some countries, like Australia, in the unusual position of increasing coal imports while simultaneously pursuing domestic goals of reducing carbon emissions from fossil fuels to address climate change.

In Australia, plans to rapidly scale up coal exports have already run into political opposition, a prospect that would probably await attempts to develop major new terminals on the west coasts of the United States and Canada to export plentiful North American coal.

“I think the West Coast in general would be a very difficult place to come in and put in a massive coal-export terminus,” Dr. Fridley said.

At the same time, China is expected to face increasing competition from India and other developing nations in Asia for coal imports from abroad, potentially setting the stage for a rapid rise in coal prices. The result would be felt across the global economy, some experts say.

“China’s insatiable hunger for more coal will drive up coal prices everywhere,” Richard Heinberg, an author and senior fellow at the Post-Carbon Institute in Santa Rosa, Calif., wrote in a recent essay. “China can’t keep up coal-powered industrial expansion for much longer, nor can the global economy accelerate without the engine of China.”

Link -
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/14/does-china-face-a-peak-coal-threat/
=================
A few observations -
1) China CAN NOT continue to ramp up Coal production, to meet the current pace of Coal fired power stations, which is about one a week.
The current Coal Production expansion, pictured on the folllowing chart, is not sustainable!
China is currently consumming nearly 50% of Global Coal Production, but it only has 14% of Global Coal reserves.

2) When China starts to reduce its own Coal production, it will try to increase its Consumption via large increases in imported Coal, with Australia being a prime candidate.
This is what the US did with Oil, when it became apparent that US production of Oil would decline.
Whilst TPTB in Australia will think this is just great, IT SHOULD BE RESISTED, IN THE LONGER TERM, BEST INTERESTS, OF ALL AUSTRALIANS!

3) The Chinese Economic expansion has ridden on the back of two Economic tigers, Demographics & Energy (mainly Coal), that is coming to an end!

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Re: Global Economic Downturn to Continue?
Reply #40 - Dec 16^th, 2010 at 2:10pm

China warns of power and energy shortages this winter

SHANGHAI, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Some parts of China could face an intermittent shortage of crucial coal, oil, power or gas supplies crucial for heating during the winter months, China's top economic planning body said in a statement on Wednesday.

Most of China's resource production bases, including coal and and oil, are either concentrated in the northern or western provinces, away from the key demand areas located in the southern and eastern region, such as Shanghai and Guangdong.

Any supply shortfall could prompt a surge in import demand as utilities and firms seek alternative fuel supplies to feed their power plants.

In a sign that the government may again crack down on steel mills which have only recently resumed production, the NDRC said it would need to curb power demand from energy intensive and polluting industries from "rebounding excessively."

Prices of coal and liquefied natural gas jumped last winter, when violent snowstorms caused a transport gridlock and crippled power supplies.

The NDRC has also called for efforts to improve coal production to ensure stable supplies in the winter and spring months, as well as to guarantee "stable supplies" of refined oil and natural gas.

Almost every winter, China's energy market suffers a new variant of the same no-win situation as state controls exacerbate supply shortages that only urgent and pricey imports can relieve.

Despite cold weather and rising fuel costs, a state campaign to stamp out energy wastage has prompted officials in many provinces to cut power supplies to factories, businesses and even homes and public facilities.

Link -
http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFTOE6BE04920101215
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Re: Global Economic Downturn to Continue?
Reply #41 - Dec 16^th, 2010 at 2:11pm

Electricity and other rises to cost families an extra $310

BASIC utility price hikes which will cost the average household an extra $310 next year have angered AdelaideNow readers.
The latest power sting, announced yesterday, will increase the average annual electricity bill by $140 or 12 per cent.

AdelaideNow readers have today vented their frustration at the State Government, SA Water, and the Essential Services Commission for the latest in a string of price hikes.

Judi, of Adelaide, warned low income earners were being pushed even further into poverty.

"Once again, a company making profit but not using any of that money to improve the infrastructure, and instead hitting the consumers pocket again," she says

"Remember, our pockets are only so deep - try digging too much further in, and you'll be hitting fresh air."

Tom Bell of Pt Noarlunga, however, said the rise is a global trend.

"PEAK OIL - it's not difficult to understand people - the more OIL costs - the higher prices go - with everything - economics!!"

In addition to the electricity price rise, water bills are up 21 per cent (an average increase of $85 next year), council rates will go up 5 per cent ($50) and gas bills are also likely to rise 10 per cent ($35).

Grocery bills have risen 5 per cent, or $728, over the past year.

The inflation rate is just 2.8 per cent
.

The electricity price rise takes effect on January 1, meaning the average annual bill will increase from $1160 to $1300.

South Australians will endure the second most expensive electricity bills in the country, behind NSW.

Link -
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/electricity-and-other-rises-t...
==================
Who sees a few linkages?

Like the US & elsewhere, the current CPI figures are absolute BS, they are a concoction that specifically does not count many of the staples of life and it does so to provide governments with specific advantages!

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Re: Global Economic Downturn to Continue?
Reply #42 - Dec 18^th, 2010 at 11:31am

Burke rejects population goal

THE federal government would not set national population targets because they have not worked in the past and would limit the flexibility of Australia's immigration program, Population Minister Tony Burke said yesterday.

Mr Burke said the focus of the government's sustainable population strategy would be on ensuring different parts of the country could cope with changes in population rather than on establishing targets.

''In the past, people have come up with targets - they have always been wrong,'' Mr Burke said.

Advertisement: Story continues below ''If targets had been set 20 years ago what would we have known about the resources boom that is going on now?''

Mr Burke said it was critical to be aware of population distribution rather than concentrate on a total, then issues such as congestion on Australia's urban fringes and shortages of skilled labour in remote areas could be tackled effectively.

''Looking at the pressures on different communities around Australia, from Penrith to the Pilbara, demands a much more detailed conversation than dealing with arbitrary targets,'' he said.

The government is planning to finalise its sustainable population strategy by April next year.

Mr Burke yesterday released an issues paper and three reports commissioned by the government on the impact of population changes on the economy, the environment and quality of life. The authors had divergent views on several issues.

The panel of experts focusing on environmental impacts, chaired by former New South Wales premier Bob Carr, expressed concern that urban expansion following population growth was encroaching on prime agricultural land, with implications for food security.

By contrast, the panel addressing economic issues, chaired by Australian Industry Group chief executive Heather Ridout, argued that the increase in Australia's agricultural output since the mid-1970s had come from productivity growth, not from farming larger land areas.

The Ridout report said population growth was central to economic prosperity and would improve living standards
, but the Carr panel said that while population growth did increase the overall size of the economy it had only a negligible effect on per capita growth.

Ms Ridout said yesterday that ''balanced'' population growth would lead to a more diverse, dynamic and prosperous society and pursuing restrictive immigration policies would hurt the Australian economy.

''China is going to exceed the whole of the G7 in its economic weight and we need to be open to our region. Restrictive immigration is just another form of protectionism,'' Ms Ridout said.

Link -
http://www.theage.com.au/national/burke-rejects-population-goal-20101216-18zm9.h...
============

Neither Labor or Liberal will has any intention of upsetting TPTB, by directing the Population numbers & the general Economy, on a path of Sustainability.

TPTB are of a mindset that "the Exponential Economic Growth Fairy can & will continue forever".

Clearly, the laws of nature say that is not possible and we are now living thru a period which will confirm that the laws of nature will prevail!

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perceptions_now

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Australian Politics

Posts: 11694
Perth WA
Gender: male

Re: Global Economic Downturn to Continue?
Reply #43 - Dec 18^th, 2010 at 4:37pm

The Mighty US Banking System?

Last Report dated - 20/11/2010

Banks gone this week - 6

Banks Gone last week - 2

Banks gone since last report - 8

Banks gone this month, so far (December) - 8

Banks gone last month (November) - 10

Total Banks failed, so far, in 2010 - 157

Total Banks Failed in 2009 - 140

FDIC Link -
http://www.fdic.gov/bank/individual/failed/banklist.html
============
The next 12 months will see many more US Banks fail!

FDIC graph of failures - per year

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It_is_the_Darkness

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Australian Politics

Posts: 4000
in a ReTardis
Gender: male

Re: Global Economic Downturn to Continue?
Reply #44 - Dec 18^th, 2010 at 10:40pm

I cant mention the source upon this Forum,
but you just gotta trust me on this.
It is reliable - the person has been to the 'in-house' conferences, etc.

...Sydney Electric are set to DOUBLE their rates next year. That is - a $100 bill will be $200, etc. They are also seeking to power down sections next year in rotation ...so if your suburb 'blacks out'.

The excuse is demand and associated costs going up.
Everything is going up, up and away (with TAA).

GREAT INFLATION.

SUCKING ON MY TITTIES, LIKE I KNOW YOU WANT TO.

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