Australians are now the biggest borrowers in the world

http://digitaljournal.com/article/284509#tab=comments&sc=0&contribute=&local=

“Once a jolly banker/Couldn’t get their numbers right”…. The old folk song is so true. Australia’s Reserve Bank changed roles from Roadrunner to Wile. E. Coyote with ease. Australians now owe $56000 per head, compared to $44,000 for Americans.

It's a pretty hideous story. Our “recovery” and “growth” turn out to be debt based. Like one of the cartoons where the coyote keeps running for a while over going over the cliff, Australia’s debt is now more than GDP. 90 per cent of that debt is tied up in mortgages. The rest is various forms of personal debt.

obviously a bit hyperbolic, if we experience a crash of that magnitude banks won't sell the properties as that would actually realise the loss, like what is happening in the US. It's a pretty big IF as well ;)

Would like to see some sources for the figures, thought I thought the description of the possible knock on effects was interesting.
 
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Labor gets in, fu** up the economy in 6 months, 2 1/2 years to the next election toilet flushed
LibsNats get in fix the economy over first term, strengthen it over second term, pinhead voters decide that Labour promises sound good again
goto top

K.Rudd is another grate labor leader
grate: at the top of the sewer​
It happens every time, riding on the sheeps back etc

Robert Menzies 49 – 66 Lib UP
Harold Holt 66 – 67 Lib (swim ya bugger) UP
John McEwen 67 – 68 Country (Nats) UP
John Gorton 68 – 1971 Lib UP
William McMahon 71 – 72 Lib UP

Gough Whitlam 72 – 11.11.1975 Lab down the toilet, How far down do you have to flush before the GG gets involved
Malcolm Fraser 11.11.1975 – 1983 Lib UP
Bob Hawke 1983 – 1991 Lab down
Paul Keating 1991 – 1996 Lab down

John Howard 1996 – 2007 Lib UP
Kevin Rudd 2007 - Lab down

Wonder, would the Lib/nats have any better response to 'World Crisis' Possibly not, but its great to find someone to blame
 
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Im no economist but comparing a country that is doing ok to ones that are all down the toilet does not seem right to me.Yet this happens continually.I am more interested in the states of both countries in the same part of a cycle.

If your out running one morning and see another runner with a sprained ankle limping home.you dont straight away assume you are the faster runner because you past them. There is every chance that runner will be up and going next week and every chance they could run straight past you.

I hope that makesd sense.
 
check out the average wealth of an australian... i was shocked at how low it is. thought most people could save that much in 1 year
 
resources in ground divided by population = very wealthy

as long as there is still more resources in the ground.

One thing that i think will hurt Australia in the long run is the dependence on resources as an economic driver. Sure it is fine now but eventually we'll run out of stuff to sell and what then?

If you look at other western first world countries, the only thing we can offer is services. There is primary industries but they are not sufficiently sized to drive Australia's economic growth indefinitely. For the long term having a well educated population is the most important thing and I don't think the Libs did a very good job.

Higher education is very expensive now. Something like $45k for an Arts degree. It's US Style education for rich, put in place by Dr Brendan Nelson, who let it not be forgotten, received his PhD back when they were still free :p

I am living in Germany now, one of the very few countries with a trade surplus. My cousins and their friends all go to university, which costs them approximately $800 a YEAR. Some of them even get paid to go to university due to their socio-economic background.

So great, the Libs cut a whole bunch of "costs", and Labour inherits poor infrastructure and a dire educational system. Howard rode on the coat tails of some hard choices made by Hawke/Keating, and Rudd got Little Johnny's mess (as well as a rather significant global slow down).

So politics aside, what is for Australia after resources? We're a one trick pony like developing countries relying on oil. It's great when prices are high and theres plenty to dig up but what then?
 
as long as there is still more resources in the ground.
So politics aside, what is for Australia after resources? We're a one trick pony like developing countries relying on oil. It's great when prices are high and theres plenty to dig up but what then?

Then it will be someone else's problem because we won't be here.
Or those of us who are still around can sell our well priced properties and retire.....:D

Hopefully manufacturing in China will be too expensive by then so some manufacturing will return here.
We could also be self sufficient, we produce more food than we consume. On the energy front, we still haven't started utilising the solar energy which is hiting our continent daily, then there is wind, geothermal, etc
 
I wish I only owed $56k. Must be doing something wrong:confused::rolleyes:

soooo - to cover hubby and i there must be 27 other people with no debt.

makes sense.

1xjunior - 3xstepkids - 2xinlaws - leave another 21 unrelated to me who are debt free. they don't have the equity base either.
 
Hi all,

So politics aside, what is for Australia after resources?

One word, food.

Australia is one of the largest exporters of foodstuffs. We will be feeding the world for a long time to come.

bye
 
beat up

over the last 2 years Australias wealth has grown and the usa wealth has seriously deteriorated. Asset pops and USD devaluation. Therefore the debt thing only tells a very small part of the story. Debt has increases but so has our wealth dramatically. So would be interesting to see the debt to equity ratios.

This stuff always comes out to counter balance the positive forecasts. its a massive spin juggling act between the governement, reserve bank, industry and community groups. Ill show your this and raise you this...

The ultimate aim to keep the consumer guessing, fearful and conservative. Not totally bad but you gotta understand the game.

cheers
Aussie
 
soooo - to cover hubby and i there must be 27 other people with no debt.

makes sense.

1xjunior - 3xstepkids - 2xinlaws - leave another 21 unrelated to me who are debt free. they don't have the equity base either.
I'll lend you my two offspring, between us two adults we don't even have $56k each so the kids are spare. Hell, I'll toss in the respective parents and grandparents too, so there's a whole 11 debt free people to help cancel you out :D

You'd be surprised how many people are debt free, actually. All the kiddies and a lot of the old wrinklies.
 
Wonder, would the Lib/nats have any better response to 'World Crisis' Possibly not, but its great to find someone to blame

I don't think it would be any different if the Libs were in power,just a different mindset that favors a certain class of knowledge over others..
willair..
 
resources in ground divided by population = very wealthy

When the resources run out, we have nothing. No manufacturing, nothing.

We are doomed.

PS: on the becoming smarter idea, seen an interesting piece on the U.S.A, as manufacturing moves to Asia, the people who used to do those jobs ie: those who are not capable of higher learning (not because of money either), have nothing, it is creating a massive under class.

Also on the FIRE (Finance, Insurance, Real Estate) sector, they do not actually produce anything, it is all paper shuffling, yet they account for 28% of the U.S work force and if they were not bailed out could you imagine the trouble the world would be in.

Maybe people should start reading this:
http://www.debtdeflation.com/blogs/
 
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