Frank wrote on Aug 12^th, 2026 at 2:54pm:


Already addressed: the turn-out for a City Hall (mayoral) election was at record levels.

More important for you to consider:

(This Is Money)

Wealth taxes will hit growth: No 10 must not succumb to the politics of envy, warns Alex Brummer**

**full article on the MMT board.

https://www.ozpolitic.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1645944963/1500#1510

.......

"Politics of envy"?

Most people merely want access to the essentials and don't give a s*it about how much wealth Musk and his fellow $billionaires have.

The real question is: how can government eradicate systemic economic disadvantage.

Most politicians are captured by the illusion of monetary scarcity - which only applies to USERS of the currency, not the legal ISSUER of the currency (ie the sovereign government).

So 'progressive politicians'  are forced to look at taxation of the rich as a means of funding essential social services.

Of course comfortable Conservatives like you who think systemic poverty and homelessness is a nornal state of affairs in a modern 1st world economy (as do the authors of the above-linked article) -  are content with the status quo.....but the rise of non-mainstream parties (on the Left and/or Right) says otherwise.

lee wrote on Aug 12^th, 2026 at 7:14pm:


. another Nostradumbass. You can tell precisely how and why people voted. Quote:


No, I want billionaires to be taxed fairly, do try to address the issue.

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Which has nothing to do with your confused narrative about the effects of a well defined annual tax on excessive/unfairly-taxed wealth.

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Except when YOU walk past the homeless, you think : "It's your fault"....deplorable.

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I can point to the Keynesian 'welfare state' era (1946-1973) when poverty in the Western democracies was decreasing.

But blind self-interested laissez faire economists seized their chance to revert to 'winner takes all' Neoclassical economics, when the 1st Arab oil  embargo caused stagflation in the West.

And now the electorate is rebelling...proving that growing inequality - as exited in the late 'guilded age' - is unsustainable.

(google AI)

" Gilded Age: the late 19th-century era of rapid economic growth and vast wealth inequality in U.S. history. "

lee wrote on Aug 14^th, 2026 at 1:55pm:


Nonsense: taxing all classes of income-creating assets of the ultra rich at the same rate as wages, will bring in billions for the community in which  the billionaires became super rich.   

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I'm proposing taxes on all income-creating assets of the super rich, to create fairness in the tax system.

Meanwhile, YOU won't say how government can at least fund the delivery of essentials for all, given the nation has the equired resources. 

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You slippery fraud: you won't say how government can at least fund the delivery of essentials for all, thud eradicating poverty.  Hint: there is no shortage of resources which would prevent government from eradicating entrenched disadvanatge. 

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Indeed Gough - before the 1973 Arab oil embargo destroyed the effectiveness  of Keynesian deficit spending (1946-1973) - sought to ensure workers' increasing living standards with policies such as free uni and medibank.

But blind self-interested laissez faire economists seized their chance to revert to 'winner takes all' Neoclassical economics, when the 1st Arab oil  embargo caused stagflation in the West,beginning in 1973

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Dummy lee... Gough was not at fault for the creation of the UN abortion aka Israel back in 1948, without also recognizing the Palestinian state - which eventuated in the Arab oil embargo in 1973.

The resulting demise of Keynesianism was the concomitant catastrophe which reversed the  increasing living standards manifested from 1946-1973 among the working class - and which wrecked Gough's ability tofund his proposals  free uni, Medibank for all,  etc.

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The public are saying "a pox on both your houses"  (referring to mainstream political parties); the polls aren't just "noise". The mainstream in in deep poo.

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Dummy lee:

1. the US became the largest economy in the world in the Gilded Age, massively affecting the global economy.

2. The Gilded Age, infomed by Classical economics,  was benighted by massive poverty.

3. Inequality manifesting as massive wealth amidst homelessnes, entrenched disadvantage, and stagnant mean- wages is socially unsustainable.

thegreatdivide wrote on Aug 15^th, 2026 at 1:11pm:


An extra 5% on certain income is not the same rate as wages. it is on top.

thegreatdivide wrote on Aug 15^th, 2026 at 1:11pm:



Nope. you are proposing different tax level according to source.

thegreatdivide wrote on Aug 15^th, 2026 at 1:11pm:


Ah, which essentials? what are essential to some may not be essential to others.

thegreatdivide wrote on Aug 15^th, 2026 at 1:11pm:


See above. "Essentials" need to be tightly defined.

thegreatdivide wrote on Aug 15^th, 2026 at 1:11pm:


And yet you haven't been able to show that. you mumble about creating money, but although you admit it devalues the money currently in exitence (even if a "once off") you don't propose any measures to fix that.

thegreatdivide wrote on Aug 15^th, 2026 at 1:11pm:



Ah yes free university. And now we have a plethors of "social scientists" who don't know squat, which Keating opposed. And of course that led to the diminishing of TAFE. You know where those tradies come from.

thegreatdivide wrote on Aug 15^th, 2026 at 1:11pm:


And it never recovered?

thegreatdivide wrote on Aug 15^th, 2026 at 1:11pm:


And paid for by taking the superannuation funds of Commonwealth Employees and putting it into "General revenue". You can onlt take the m=oney once.

thegreatdivide wrote on Aug 15^th, 2026 at 1:11pm:



Some of the public. Your rhetoric once again beclowns you.

thegreatdivide wrote on Aug 15^th, 2026 at 1:11pm:


You mean it had never existed before?

thegreatdivide wrote on Aug 15^th, 2026 at 1:11pm:


Strange that people who lived beyond the Gilded Age managed quite well, despite there being poverty, which has always existed.  You really want to go back to those times? You seem to be stuck in a time warp.

I just love how conservatives don't understand what socialism or indeed communism is.

It's a constant source of entertainment.

greggerypeccary wrote on Aug 16^th, 2026 at 11:40am:



Yes. The circular political theory is more relevant than most think. if indeed they think of it at all.

"The path of of extremists, left and right, converge in authoritarianism. The political spectrum is not a line; it is a circle."

https://scienities.com/2016/03/20/circular-political-spectrums/

lee wrote on Aug 15^th, 2026 at 1:38pm:


Dummy lee: wealth taxes have previously failed to tax wealth-creating assets which you refer to as "certain income", because assets (as opposed to wages) have proved difficult to tax. 

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Addressed above. Until systemic poverty is eliminated, wealth above a certain level needs to be returned to the community, via taxes on wealth. 

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Dummy lee: essentials by defintion are required by ALL humans for non-poverty-scarred existence. 

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Dunmy lee: secure housing, access to healthy food, and above poverty wage employment.

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Logic: plentiful resources - as in Oz -  means no need for systemic poverty. 

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I propose a treasury-managed economy, taking account of competition for available resurces to avoid inflation,  to mobilize the nation's resources, rather than the current failing (central and private) bank-managed economy which relies on  bank created debt money. In the former, the public sector has access to debt free money to fund the public sector. 

https://publicmoneypublicgood.net/

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Certainly laissez faire neoclassical classical economists  "don't know squat" ....and now we have a housing affordability crisis we can't deal with, and an immigration crisis caused by importing  overseas students to fund unis.   

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Indeed, the Keynesian 2% unemployment and housing for all (1946- 1973) never recovered; and now we have a c-o-l and housing crisis. 

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(google AI)

There is no historical or economic record of the Whitlam government taking money from public service superannuation reserves or member accounts to pay for general budget expenditures.

Superannuation Reform Goals:

Instead of raiding existing pools of money, the Whitlam government initiated the National Superannuation Committee of Inquiry in 1973 to study the viability of a universal, national retirement income framework

Gough like Menzies funded his policies via Keynesian deficit spending - until the Arab oil embargo caused global inflation. 

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Dummy lee: poverty had existed before and during the Gilded Age, but wealth had been reserved for royalty.  The 'robber barons'  changed all that:

powerful 19th-century American businessmen who accumulated immense wealth through monopolistic practices, exploitation of labor, and political influence during the Gilded Age

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Dummy lee: the Gilided Age (with massive inequality) - then ww1 -  the GD - ww2: lee says "people managed quite well"...only SOME "lived quite well..."; then post war  keynesian welfare state (with increasing prosperity for all) - followed by reversion to Neoclassical laissez faire economics shrinking the middle class while mean  wages stagnated.

Now you can't walk down Sydney's George St on a Saturday night  street without falling over homeless people.

Courtesy deplorable Neoclassicasl economics.

thegreatdivide wrote on Aug 17^th, 2026 at 12:20am:



Rental income is not the asset. It is from the asset.

thegreatdivide wrote on Aug 17^th, 2026 at 12:20am:


See above. Now address the Law of Diminishing returns. Where the more money you put into it the more it costs for that last 10-20%.

thegreatdivide wrote on Aug 17^th, 2026 at 12:20am:


So there is no precise definition, merely that which you want to call essentials.

thegreatdivide wrote on Aug 17^th, 2026 at 12:20am:


Ah. Onbly those three? Got it. Now address the elephnat in the room of those who do not wish to be employed, as it is easier to live that way. You know - No need to get up if you don't feel like it. house sharing because it is cheaper and fits what you want, Shared expenses.

thegreatdivide wrote on Aug 17^th, 2026 at 12:20am:



Logic only works if all people use logic. Those that don't - don't wanty it.

As I have said before logic is not foolproof, it only creates bigger fools.

thegreatdivide wrote on Aug 17^th, 2026 at 12:20am:



And then you have politics and politicians.

thegreatdivide wrote on Aug 17^th, 2026 at 12:20am:


But you can. 

thegreatdivide wrote on Aug 17^th, 2026 at 12:20am:


And we never had housing for all.

thegreatdivide wrote on Aug 17^th, 2026 at 12:20am:



Then you research is wrong. The members of the ADF were paying into super, it was taken by the Whitlam Government. The ADF is by exrension a government service.

"Circa 1973. $126 million in accumulated DFRDB /DFRB superannuation funds reallocated into consolidated revenue. Funds declared untaxed. (The DFRB fund had approximately $160M as at 30 June 1972 but adjustments were required) The final balance of $126M was actually transferred into Consolidated Revenue in 1975 by the Whitlam Government."

https://adso.org.au/legistlative-history/

thegreatdivide wrote on Aug 17^th, 2026 at 12:20am:



So where was the "royalty" outside of Eurpe that was involved in this?

American businees men were not and are not  royalty.

thegreatdivide wrote on Aug 17^th, 2026 at 12:20am:


Which is so different to China as they move them on, right quick...or else.

thegreatdivide wrote on Aug 17^th, 2026 at 12:20am:


Oh, now China is a leader in neocllasical economics.