Andrei.Hicks wrote on Jan 27^th, 2015 at 10:15am:


the GFC never happened did it .. 

and you pretend to be an accountant

John Smith wrote on Jan 27^th, 2015 at 12:15pm:


Swan was still blaming the GFC years after the effects had long since passed. Oops! Try again. What's your next excuse?

If Labor had kept the Budget in surplus for all its 6 years in government we would have:

70% marginal tax rate. . .




. . . . . . on the first $50,000 of income.

Sir Grappler Truth Teller OAM wrote on Jan 27^th, 2015 at 11:25am:


Unfortunately the forum protocol doesn't permit me to know the names of those who, at the time I made the above post, had voted "all of the above" in the poll . . .not that I would wish to transgress the sanctity of the poll booth anyway.

PS as opposed to some here who shall remain nameless.

Given the premise of the Budget staying in surplus 2008–13 that sort of thing, sky high tax rates, sky high unemployment would have been inevitable.

When Gillard & Swan embarked on the stupid quest for a surplus unemployment rose, monkey and Hokey with their uninformed tinkering with the Budget lifted that to 6.3% and so on.

We will see a ‘7’ in front of the unemployment figure before long.

bogarde73 wrote on Jan 27^th, 2015 at 1:53pm:


Did you undermine your own credibility by voting in AP's misuse of the poll function ?

Its time wrote on Jan 27^th, 2015 at 12:33pm:


Tony covered for him just before the 2013 election admitting that he expected a surplus in 2024.

Smokey not only didn't get a surplus but he has blown out the deficit by over $20 Billion more than expected - taking the projected number to $47 Billion from Labors $24 Billion.

Adults on a spending spree will do that.

A few observations -
1) Economic performance/activity, normally goes in cycles.
2) Most countries, including Australia, have used Debt in their basic Economic calculations.
3) The country most regarded as the leader of the "Free Enterprise Economic System (the USA), has usually been in Debt during the modern economic era, with about 30% Debt to GDP being their lowest point, over the last century.
4) Australia has also commonly used Debt, during the modern era, with the end of the Baby Boomer Boom showing their lowest Debt to GDP ratio.
5) Australia currently shows a Debt to GDP ratio of around 27% (Gross), which is about 10% up on its 2007 low, But by no where near as much as most other countries, many of which are in the 100-200% range & Japan is around 250%.
6) For all Actions & in-Actions, there are Consequences, so if you want a lower current Debt, you would need to think thru what Consequences there would be, if various Stimulus programs had not been installed.
7) Given the Austerity actions taken in some European countries, it may be likely that Debt outcomes may have still expanded AND other undesirable things may also have crept in.

That said, "this time is different" and I would suggest across the board action is required, on both Revenue & Expenditure, in a balanced manner, across all sectors, for us to avoid the worst of the likely outcomes!