John Smith wrote on Oct 1^st, 2014 at 8:01am:



I suppose we just have to forgive the Liberals?

They know not what they do.

longweekend58 wrote on Sep 26^th, 2014 at 10:07am:


....and the Senate to exercise oversight when the parl-e-a-ment gets above itself.....

Quote:


Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/business/poor-retail-sales-hit-department-stores-20141001-...

People are not spending because of:
1. A hangover of the private sector indebtedness  due to Howard & Costello.

2. Swan’s over–eager fiscal consolidation, especially the lunatic drive for a surplus, started unemployment growing

3. The relentless talking down of the economy by monkey & Hokey while in opposition

4. The relentless talking down of the economy by monkey & Hokey since they formed government

5. A harsh and unfair Budget, then the mishandling of and the Budget fraying into tatters. $30Bn of savings over 4 years, GONE!

Deflation and recession are just about here as is high unemployment and high inflation due to the falling dollar. Christ you read those economists talking in the linked article and you have to wonder what the hell they are smoking. One idiot said that people will be less likely to buy online from overseas when the prices in shops will be close to the overseas price. Hello? Where does the idiot think the shops get their stuff from? Overseas! Yes, genius! Online buying will always be cheaper.

As the dollar falls petrol gets dearer petrol (petrol, diesel, aviation fuel whatever—petroleum products) gets dearer and this feeds into all sorts of costs—the farmer pays more for diesel for his tractor, the trucky pays more for diesel for his truck to haul the produce to market or processors etc. Use of renewable energy in remote towns will allow them to switch their diesel generators off more often, diallowed by this miserable excuse of a govt.

Then the mini–Budget, needed not because the economics changed but because it was a bad Budget deservedly mauled in Parliament. So what nasties will the worst Treasurer after Howard then Costello bring in in December and will they get through the Senate or will we need a miniminiBudget. The stupidity just goes on.

Expecting people to work till they are 70 years old, is a ridiculous idea.      

To provide "SOME" Real World, non Political information -
1) A government Deficit is the figure, where the annual Expenditure, exceeds the annual Revenue.

2) A government Surplus is the figure, where the annual Revenue, exceeds the annual Expenditure.

3) A government Debt is the accumulation of both annual Deficits & Surpluses.

4) Globally, most governments have historically run at a modest Deficit & Debt, But both of these figures fluctuate depending on the Local & Global Economy & where the Economic cycle is, at any given point in time.

5) Due to the GFC, which "officially" commenced in 2007, most government Debt to GDP ratio's have increased Globally, although the reasons for these problems actually go back quite some time & governments of both major persuasions have contributed to a lack of adequate planning, going back some 30-50 years, both locally & Globally! 

6) Despite the fact that both Labor & Liberal have done "somewhat better" than many/most other countries, we still have a growing Debt problem. Not an emergency just yet, But it is heading in that direction.

7) To put our growing Debt problem into perspective, many other countries are far worse than Australia, for example on a NET DEBT basis & based on 2012 or 2013 figures, as per the following site, other countries bear roughly the following relationship to Australia -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_public_debt
Greece - 14 times worse
Japan - 12 times worse
Portugal - 10 times worse
Italy - 9 times worse
USA - 8 times worse
France - 7.5 times worse
United Kingdom - 7 times worse
Germany - 5 times worse

Conversely Norway & some of the Oil producing nations have substantial Surpluses NOT DEBT and consequently they are much better placed to withstand the GFC Mark2 which is about to revisit the Global Economy.

I expect that the GFC Mark2, when it arrives, which I expect will be sooner rather than later, will initially see a loss on most Global share markets, in the order of some 50%, irrespective of which Political Party/s happen to be in power.

That may not be nice news, But it is what is likely!   





    

Dnarever wrote on Oct 2^nd, 2014 at 9:08am:



People who voted for Abbott deserve to get ripped off.

Pity about the others who didn't.

Dnarever wrote on Oct 2^nd, 2014 at 11:56am:


what utter nonsense.  most 70yos are fit, healthy and more than capable of working - and many still do.  you can retire when you want.  you can get the pension with you are 70.  get over it.