"Australian Exceptionalism"

[Aaron_C]

You are right of course; without population increase we need immigration to help increase the customer base.

I agree. Some migrants contribute more than others, that's a fact. My mother is a GP and you see all different types. Some who do well for themselves, and others who rort the tax and welfare systems, all having healthcare cards while running restaurants. Just like any other human beings.

 

[TomW]

I wish Gina Rinehart would stop acting like she's a self-made woman a little noblesse oblige wouldn't go astray.

 

[our obsession]

RBA chief says Australians too pessimistic

June 08, 2012

Excerpt:

Mr Stevens says Australia is in good shape to tackle any possible global recession sparked by debt woes in Europe.

He says economic indicators show Australia handled the financial crisis of 2008 well.

"Compared with then, banks are less reliant on offshore short-term wholesale funding - considerably less - and I think the household sector's balance sheet is in better shape and of course we have some macroeconomic room for manoeuvre and one would expect the exchange rate to play its role in that scenario," he said.

But he says the Reserve Bank should not use interest rate cuts to encourage a return to a boom based on ever-increasing house prices.

"One thing that I think I need to say is that we should not try to engineer a return to the boom in household consumption, low saving, gearing up and so on," he said.

"Many people say that we need more confidence in the economy, and I agree with that, but we need the right kind of confidence."

Australia's economic growth surged by 1.3 per cent in the first quarter of the year, more than double economists' expectations, driven by household spending, business investment and mining construction.

Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show the economy grew by 4.3 per cent in the 12 months to the end of March on a seasonally adjusted basis, its highest level in 4.5 years and well above the long-term average of around 3.25 per cent.

Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan hailed the gross domestic product figures as painting an "extraordinary picture of exceptional growth".

"What we see here is resilience - an island of growth amid global uncertainty," Mr Swan said earlier in the week.

 

[our obsession]

From the Economist:

Let the job-creators in

Snippets only:

Chile is one of several countries to have made a big effort to attract entrepreneurs (see article). Britain offers visas to people with promising ideas who attract £50,000 ($77,000) of venture capital to back them. Singapore requires an investment of only $40,000. New Zealand demands no specific sum, but grants permanent residency after two years if the business is “beneficial to New Zealand”. Chile vets business plans and gives the best ones $40,000 without taking any equity in return. America, by contrast, has no specific visa for start-ups. It does give visas to investors, but the terms are so tough—applicants must typically put up $1m—that the annual quota of 10,000 such visas often goes unfilled.

No immigration system is perfect. All must juggle competing interests................There are fortunately other entrances to America for entrepreneurs: on student visas, as employees or, like Sergey Brin of Google, as children. But here, too, America is lagging. Relative to its population, Australia grants 13 times as many permanent visas on the basis of skills. It isn’t just the boost from China’s boom that explains why Oz is growing faster.

 

[Aaron_C]

I suppose People Smugglers are 'skilled' professionals that we should let in too, yes?

 

[Ideo]

I suppose People Smugglers are 'skilled' professionals that we should let in too, yes?

Depends if we call them migration agents or not.

If you have money it is far easier and safer to arrive in business class and have a team of lawyers than to risk everything in a rickety boat.

 

[our obsession]

Speaking of:

Parliament of Australia

Department of Parliamentary Services

Updated 14 January 2011

Asylum seekers and refugees: what are the facts?

Janet Phillips Social Policy

Section Contents

Introduction ...................................................

What is the difference between an asylum seeker and a refugee?
.................................................

Are asylum seekers 'illegals'?

...............................................................................

Are asylum seekers ‘queue jumpers'?

.....................................................................................................

Do most asylum seekers arrive by boat?
.................................................................................................

Do boat arrivals ‘bring disease’ and are they a threat to security? .........................................................

Are boat arrivals ‘genuine refugees’? .................................................................................

Do boat arrivals ‘take all Australia’s refugee places’? .............................................................................

Do refugees receive higher welfare benefits than Australians? ............................................................

Is Australia being ‘swamped by boat arrivals’? ......................................................................................

Is Australia being ‘swamped with asylum claims’? ................................................................................

Do developed countries bear the burden of hosting asylum seekers and refugees? ...........................

Summary ................................................................................................................................................

Key resources .........................................................................................................................................

Asylum seekers and refugees: what are the facts?

Brief excerpt (summary) only:

Summary

• Australia has a long history of accepting refugees for resettlement and over 700 000 refugees and displaced persons have settled in Australia since 1945.

• There is a difference between an asylum seeker and a refugee—asylum seekers are people seeking international protection but whose claims for refugee status have not yet been determined. Although those who come to Australia by boat seeking Australia’s protection are classified by Australian law to be ‘unlawful non-citizens’, they have a right to seek asylum under international law and not be penalised for their ‘illegal’ entry.

• Up until 2009 only a small proportion of asylum applicants in Australia arrived by boat—most arrived by air with a valid visa and then went on to pursue asylum claims. While the number ofboat arrivals has risen substantially in recent years, it is worth noting that they still comprise less than half of onshore asylum seekers in Australia and a greater proportion of those arriving by boat are recognised as refugees.

• There is no orderly queue for asylum seekers to join. Only a very small proportion of asylum seekers are registered with the UNHCR and only 1 per cent of those recognised by the UNHCR as refugees who meet the resettlement criteria are subsequently resettled to another country. As the overall number of asylum applications has continued to rise, states are increasingly taking responsibility for refugee status determination.

• All unauthorised boat arrivals in Australia are subject to the same assessment criteria as other asylum applicants and also are subject to comprehensive security and health checks.

• Claims that refugees in Australia are entitled to higher benefits than other social security recipients are unfounded.

• In recent years, the Australian Government has allocated around 13 000 places to refugees and others with humanitarian needs under its planned Humanitarian program. Most of these places have been given to offshore refugees referred to Australia by the UNHCR, but some are given to refugees who applied for asylum onshore.

• The number of people arriving unauthorised by boat in Australia, is small in comparison to the numbers arriving in other parts of the world such as Europe. Similarly, the number of asylum claims lodged in Australia is small in comparison to the USA, Canada and Europe.

• While only about 20 developed nations, including Australia, participate formally in the UNHCR’ srefugee resettlement program, the vast majority of asylum seekers and refugees are hosted in developing countries.

 

[our obsession]

Westpac Economic Bulletin:The Australian economy - 6 June 2012

Some fun stuff: Australian Economic Indicators, Jul 2012

Australian Economy-Crikey

 

[Graemsay]

A rather less positive piece.

http://www.cepr.net/index.php/op-eds-&-columns/op-eds-&-columns/housing-bubbles-are-not-funny

And the FT on potential risks with the Aussie dollar.

http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/201...ar-from-south-pacific-peso-to-southern-franc/

 

[our obsession]

From Tom Conley @ The Conversation-'Punching above our weight: sizing up Australia’s economy

Small excerpt only:

...What this all means is that we should take measures of economic weight as indicative rather than absolute, and that future projections should carry the same warning as investment products; “past performance is no guarantee of future results”.

Economic “progress” is another thing entirely, and we need to consider measures such as GDP per capita, human development, and environmental sustainability to get a more accurate picture of what is going on.

For GDP per capita, the distinction between the two methodologies is significant, with Australia ranking 6th on a USD exchange basis and 15th on a PPP basis in 2011....

From Rajan Venkataraman:

Sustainable Australia - Sustainable Communities: A Sustainable Population Strategy for Australia

Commission on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress

 

[our obsession]

The Austrian Miracle


What's the secret of Austria's singular success, while the rest of Europe's economies founder?

( DARDIS MCNAMEE NOVEMBER 5, 2012)

Foreign Policy

Interesting read, excerpt only:

VIENNA — Walking through the beautiful and bustling streets of central Vienna, one finds it hard to imagine that elsewhere in Europe thousands of demonstrators are taking to other streets to protest crippling unemployment and the imposition of punishing austerity measures.

This is particularly true in Greece and Spain, where one in four people is out of a job, and one in two of those under 25. For the European Union's 27 countries, the unemployment rate is now 10.6 percent -- and it's even higher for the eurozone countries, at 11.6 percent. Worse, the trend is negative: Both rates have "risen significantly" according to Eurostat, from 9.8 percent and 10.3 percent, respectively, the previous year.

In Austria, however, the rate is just 4.4 percent, up slightly from a year ago but persistently the EU's lowest unemployment level.

This is also a country whose tourism industry seems recession-proof and whose capital city of Vienna is repeatedly ranked No. 1 on Mercer's Quality of Living index.

It's an enviable record, to be sure, and one that seems counterintuitive in the context of a slumping global economy, regionwide pressures, and a common currency on the verge of collapse.

What is Austria's secret?

The answer lies in a system of economic and employment policies built on a central commitment to social market economics, where individual and corporate prosperity depend on general prosperity in a tapestry of interdependent interests.

These assumptions are played out, at least in part, through a "social partnership" system of representatives from labor, industry, government, and often academia, in which job security, wages, pensions, unemployment insurance, and other workplace standards, as well as related legal and policy questions, are discussed and negotiated, leading to recommendations to Parliament and the respective ministries.

At the same time, Austria has a productive and highly competitive manufacturing sector, which accounts for the country's favorable trade balance.

In a country with generally good secondary schools and effectively free higher education, the economy enjoys a well-educated workforce and stable relations between management and labor within the social-partnership system that allow for long-term planning.

Austria also has an excellent medical system, ranked among the world's best, and a varied and flexible national health-care system supported by all participants.

see rest..

 

[our obsession]

Putting the Australian economy in historical context (charts)

Includes:

-Standard variable mortgage rates, 1980->

-Large/Small business rate

-Unemployment rate

-Real household consumption rate

-Real economic growth

-Household savings ratio

 

[TomW]

The Austrian Miracle


What's the secret of Austria's singular success, while the rest of Europe's economies founder?

( DARDIS MCNAMEE NOVEMBER 5, 2012)

Foreign Policy

Interesting read, excerpt only:



see rest..

So Austria is basically a mini germany without the east germans dragging them down.

 

[our obsession]

Comparing Business Regulation (183 Economies), a publication of the World Bank and International Finance Corporation.

Doing Business 2011