I say... no recession because our governments will jump in and try to be the hero and rescue everybody by pumping billions of dollars worth of stimulus therefore delaying the inevitable, you see it doesn't matter how much debt we rack up, the problem is always for the next government in power to worry about. What matters is they do not fall in a recession during their reign of power.
Is Australia facing an economic downturn/recession?
- Thread starter hobo-jo
- Start date
Great Country crap polies on all sides
We deserve what we get
You need parliment to run for 5 years not 3 years and some hard decisions might be brought in
We are learning our lesson with minority government
If they keep giving handouts and the mining boom stops then in 10 years time we could end up like Greece
It is a shame because we could have the best living standards in the world
We are heading for a recession and this carbon tax debate is not helping confidence
SENIOR
We deserve what we get
You need parliment to run for 5 years not 3 years and some hard decisions might be brought in
We are learning our lesson with minority government
If they keep giving handouts and the mining boom stops then in 10 years time we could end up like Greece
It is a shame because we could have the best living standards in the world
We are heading for a recession and this carbon tax debate is not helping confidence
SENIOR
I think we do have one of the best living standards in the world. Have you spent any time in dakkar ? Visited the slums of India ? Spent a weekend in Nigeria ? lived with a rural family in thailandmfor 2 weeks ? Try it and then report back to me. I think you will find we have it damn easy.
CM, you're a man after mine own heart.
Doesn't our comparative prosperity, freedom, and opportunity to prosper just totally pee you off?
I'm thinking of moving to Shitzwana myself, just to guarantee as you do that I can be completely miserable and existentially unquestionable in my condemnation of the bourgeois aspirations of the mere lumpen proletariat.
Or, I could be complicit in the fraudulence opulescent security pervading here in the corrupt comfort of Australia?
Decisions . . . decisions!
Mersault, you anaemic cowering democrat, fetch my lash. Away with guilt!
Right............. so care to explain what's happening in America?
Australia doesn't have a lot of the problems the yanks have, especially around government borrowing.
i think Australia IN GENERAL has stalled.
all our markets are hiatus - our stock market is range bound, our dollar floats 102-108USD, the housing market is on a looong boooring protracted slide, employment is pretty much full but a lot of east coast employment is still underemployment, banks continually tighten credit and change criteria - allows them to advertise they have eased lending conditions, but those that fit the criteria are 0.1%.
it appears to me that there is zero confidence in housing, none in stocks and businesses are anticipating a move but don't know when, so would rather underemploy and hold than fire and have to re-hire later.
the "wait and see" approach will only last so long.
all our markets are hiatus - our stock market is range bound, our dollar floats 102-108USD, the housing market is on a looong boooring protracted slide, employment is pretty much full but a lot of east coast employment is still underemployment, banks continually tighten credit and change criteria - allows them to advertise they have eased lending conditions, but those that fit the criteria are 0.1%.
it appears to me that there is zero confidence in housing, none in stocks and businesses are anticipating a move but don't know when, so would rather underemploy and hold than fire and have to re-hire later.
the "wait and see" approach will only last so long.
It's embarrassing really. Why do so many Australian people need assistance!!
I think to answer that question, we need to understand the difference between 'it's nice' and 'actual need'.
It's embarrassing really. Why do so many Australian people need assistance!!
Because if you don't have a plasma TV that's considered pretty undemocratic/inhumane/communist.
I think Aust is facing a downturn alright.
On the subject of disability pensions, my partner is friends with a long term quadriplegic (40+ years) who actually works (computer programming) three 1/2 days a week. He still gets some pension but most importantly he gets govt hours of care at home. This is increasingly important - he can speak, but relies on a mouthpiece to operate controls of the wheelchair and the compueter, and has limited use of his fingers. He lives in a custom built home and since his father died, his 24 hour carer is his mother, who is now in late 70's with early stages of dementia herself. They should be getting 24 hour govt carer, it would be cheaper than putting them both in nursing care. But the govt can't afford it. I wonder how these 2 would get along in Singapore?
I certainly hope as our economy implodes our quad friend and his mother don't have their hours cut back further, she is on the point of collapse already.
On the subject of disability pensions, my partner is friends with a long term quadriplegic (40+ years) who actually works (computer programming) three 1/2 days a week. He still gets some pension but most importantly he gets govt hours of care at home. This is increasingly important - he can speak, but relies on a mouthpiece to operate controls of the wheelchair and the compueter, and has limited use of his fingers. He lives in a custom built home and since his father died, his 24 hour carer is his mother, who is now in late 70's with early stages of dementia herself. They should be getting 24 hour govt carer, it would be cheaper than putting them both in nursing care. But the govt can't afford it. I wonder how these 2 would get along in Singapore?
I certainly hope as our economy implodes our quad friend and his mother don't have their hours cut back further, she is on the point of collapse already.
While I can't speak to the general position of the disabled in Singapore, you have to remember that labour is cheap, relatively. For instance, a full-time live in carer from Indonesia might cost AUD$300/month, then double that for insurance, room and board, levy, etc., so AUD$600/month. You see a lot of elderly people (and children) out and about with their carers and there are various charity organisations for support as well. But it's true that there's very little of "Australian-style" welfare in Singapore, and a lot of people seem to work well past what we'd call retirement age.
Family ties and responsibilities are also very important for that reason (lack of welfare) - you can actually sue your children if they are capable of supporting you financially but not doing so. Of course that's a last resort but I'm sure that would go down well here
i'm not so fussed. Look at the composition of the latest employment data.
Net employment gain was low, but one needs to read into the data.
Government employment growth was negative, private employment was positive for a small net gain.
This is good, over time, the economy will be more efficient, and when it does recover it will be more efficient.
Look also at consumer incomes relative to debt repayments, its back to mid 1990's levels now.
So yes things are hard, but the ship is slowing righting itself.
On a serious note, there is concern that the US will not meet its foreign debt repayment next month. Certainly, they will default if Congress does not approve the deficit increase from $14.8t to $21t (t=trillion) ... which is looking unlikely at the present.
Meanwhile, back on the ranch .... Julia Gillard has blown our budget on things like the schools program, laptops for every student, pink-batts,, solar panels, set-top boxes and, of course, the $43b national broadband scheme. I might add, Optus was forced to sign up a week or two ago and part of their contract requires that they throttle back the speed to their existing cable users because part of that network is FO and, as Optus cable users are secretly aware, it is freakin' fast ... especially in the morning when no one is watching cable ... but I digress ...
My point, which I haven't made yet, is that Julia has been spending up big. Don't forget the foreign aid bill either, which exceeds $1b per year to Indonesia alone. Now, I want you guys to look at the following table. It ranks countries by foreign debt. Note that USA is number 1, but Australia is number 14. Let me point out that we are NOT the 14th wealthiest nation in the world ... but we have the 14th highest debt. Look at the percentage of foreign debt in relation to GDP. Look at the cost of our foreign debt per person. Compare them with the USA. Australia owes nearly 20% more per person than America. Worried? We farkin' should be. Want someone to blame? Look toward your current government!!! Here's the link I was talking about: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_external_debt
Next, lets look at foreign exchange reserves. This, in part, is what's used to guarantee your line of credit as a nation. On this list you want to be right up the top. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_foreign_exchange_reserves
Notice that the USA is 16th. Look where Australia is!!! 40th. What are we doing way down there? Where did all our money go? I think I might have discussed that already. Compared to the rest of the world the USA doesn't seem to be doing too badly, but with over $1t in debt Australia seems to be punching above its weight. Now, remember I mentioned our foreign aid bill? I mentioned that we send $1b per year to Indonesia. Take a look at Indonesia's foreign exchange reserves. Right up there with the USA. Thailand and Malaysia are too. So why do we send these nations billions of dollars in foreign aid each year? Economically, all three have a lower foreign debt and a higher foreign exchange reserve than Australia.
The people of Australia need to stop being idiots. We need to stop voting for material possessions like set-top boxes and the national broadband network. Arm yourselves with the information above and take it to the next election. Remember the lesson that independents and the Greens have taught us - that there are REALLY only two parties: Liberal and Labour. If you don't like who's in, then vote 'em out!
Meanwhile, back on the ranch .... Julia Gillard has blown our budget on things like the schools program, laptops for every student, pink-batts,, solar panels, set-top boxes and, of course, the $43b national broadband scheme. I might add, Optus was forced to sign up a week or two ago and part of their contract requires that they throttle back the speed to their existing cable users because part of that network is FO and, as Optus cable users are secretly aware, it is freakin' fast ... especially in the morning when no one is watching cable ... but I digress ...
My point, which I haven't made yet, is that Julia has been spending up big. Don't forget the foreign aid bill either, which exceeds $1b per year to Indonesia alone. Now, I want you guys to look at the following table. It ranks countries by foreign debt. Note that USA is number 1, but Australia is number 14. Let me point out that we are NOT the 14th wealthiest nation in the world ... but we have the 14th highest debt. Look at the percentage of foreign debt in relation to GDP. Look at the cost of our foreign debt per person. Compare them with the USA. Australia owes nearly 20% more per person than America. Worried? We farkin' should be. Want someone to blame? Look toward your current government!!! Here's the link I was talking about: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_external_debt
Next, lets look at foreign exchange reserves. This, in part, is what's used to guarantee your line of credit as a nation. On this list you want to be right up the top. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_foreign_exchange_reserves
Notice that the USA is 16th. Look where Australia is!!! 40th. What are we doing way down there? Where did all our money go? I think I might have discussed that already. Compared to the rest of the world the USA doesn't seem to be doing too badly, but with over $1t in debt Australia seems to be punching above its weight. Now, remember I mentioned our foreign aid bill? I mentioned that we send $1b per year to Indonesia. Take a look at Indonesia's foreign exchange reserves. Right up there with the USA. Thailand and Malaysia are too. So why do we send these nations billions of dollars in foreign aid each year? Economically, all three have a lower foreign debt and a higher foreign exchange reserve than Australia.
The people of Australia need to stop being idiots. We need to stop voting for material possessions like set-top boxes and the national broadband network. Arm yourselves with the information above and take it to the next election. Remember the lesson that independents and the Greens have taught us - that there are REALLY only two parties: Liberal and Labour. If you don't like who's in, then vote 'em out!
Herin lieth one reason why we have the highest costs of funding for almost any form of lending in the western world....
Our Visa is being paid by our Master, which in turn is fuelled by our Amex.
We have just recently sold the furniture..............
ta
rolf
Our Visa is being paid by our Master, which in turn is fuelled by our Amex.
We have just recently sold the furniture..............
ta
rolf
You'll get 99% agreement on here ... unfortunately the election can't come soon enough to limit the damage.
Don't forget the school buildings scheme ... I still don't understand how private schools could get the same building built for 60% less than the government! Pathetically run - again!
Well this is why Labor lied to the electorate before the election - so they can push their agenda through with (hopefully for them) less backlash. But people reap what they sow
Those debt figures include public and private debt. Would be interesting to see solely government debt figures.
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