Is the Australian economy screwed no matter which party is in power?

SteveS made a comment in the American election thread that I think applies to Australia:

It reminded me of a report from a few months ago that summarised a similar point in the context of Australia, i.e. things are turning to shit and politicians really aren't helping no matter what they claim or who is on power. Mainstream political parties may feed us slightly different flavours of policy bullshit, but ultimately it's still a steaming pile of shit:

 

Is there any hope?

 

Yes.

I cant wait to see the damage that is done by the big 3 car manufacturers closing their factories.

Not long now, only a couple of months until Ford close.

 

Yes I agree
Too much reliance on China for a start so definitely yes too many outside influences which any government to a certain extent has no control of.

 

Why can't we become competitive in other areas as well as agriculture and resources? I don't see why they should be mutually exclusive. Maybe it's just that the largesse from a temporary period of high demand has made the nation complacent, and emboldened politicians to lead us up shit creek without a contingency paddle.

 

Or maybe the tides of history are turning against our nation and it really is hopeless

 

I agree with your last sentence because we do and therefore plenty of potential for other avenues.
My point was we shouldn't put all our eggs in one basket and be so reliant on just one country that certainly has it's own issues and agendas which wouldn't be putting us first or even second that's for sure.

 

I have been hearing about something called consumption based manufacturing for a couple of years now and it seems to be finally getting some traction and hitting mainstream.

https://www.ted.com/talks/olivier_scalabre_the_next_manufacturing_revolution_is_here

If this really is the next big thing, it is going to drastically change the way that we manufacture and purchase goods. The East will be p!ssed for sure but the outcome is that we may see jobs coming back to home soil and I am all in favour of that.

Can Australia take advantage of the next big thing? Probably not with the current batch of crooks running either side of the House but it would be great opportunity for somebody with a spine stepped up to the plate. I wonder what Nigel Farage is up to these days?

 

So let's assume that the Aussie economy is "screwed" soon, what does that actually mean? What's the effect? (assuming your job and income is safe)

 

Short answer, YES!


OC

 

SP,

"Is there any hope?"

NO!

We are doomed to 'austerity' far worse than we can imagine, and few here will see the "sunlit uplands" beyond.

in fact, a "new dark age".

OC

 

Not turning against...history is driving us towards the rocks.

Milton Friedman pointed out that throughout human history government degrades society from a golden era of freedom and prosperity to enslavement and misery ...since the 5th century BC in Greece, the Renaissance to our world today, government's history is of enslaving its economy & citizens with restrictions and poor decisions which ultimately end that society.

Every year a few more laws are added to the slate. Its much easier to add a new law than to repeal an old one. Until eventually the slate is full. At those times, citizens live in a prison state.

The golden eras of human history have all involved a wiping clean of the slate. The Renaissance happened thanks to the plagues wiping out the controls of govt. and the church. The govt. withered away without taxes since everyone was dying & everyone lost faith in the church since everyone was dying horrible deaths. Movement was curtailed due to quarantines which meant Govt. bureaucrats & tax collectors couldn't enforce the Govts rule across vast areas anymore. Without these restrictions local capitalism blossomed, education rebuilt unfettered by the dogmatic horse $#!t of the church and humanity entered a new golden age.

In 1700's Europe, where laws had become so abundant and onerous that stealing a loaf of bread was punishible by death...the discovery of the new world & Australia opened up the chance of escape from the shackles of Govt. New lands where Govt was too small or far away to enforce rules.

Alas history shows us that we're once again letting Govt. destroy our success. Its the rule of Govt. Whether we had a mining boom or not, a global recession or not...govt always screws it up.

 

If your job and income are safe then you'll be very fortunate, but you may find you are the target of increased taxation as the broader taxation base declines while social security demands increase.

 

There could be more "budget repair" measures too, which will basically be a wealth grab.

Anything the government can get is hands on with be fair game if they can spin it in some way. Here's a few speculative ideas:

* Super funds forced to invest in government projects or budget repair bonds.
* Massively increased council rates (a percentage of the payments can be deferred against eventual sale proceeds in some cases.)
* Land tax on the principal place of residence.
* Death duties / inheritance taxes.
* Unregistered holdings of gold confiscated (unexplained wealth laws)
* "Temporary" emergency levies on everything
* GST increase.
* Bank deposit levy
* Fuel tax increases
* Big increases to tobacco and alcohol taxes
* Police budgets increasingly reliant on fines and asset confiscation. Massive increase in arbitrary laws with associated fines.
* Private debtors prisons

 

There are many problems in the "mature" economies worldwide like Europe, US/Canada, Japan, Australia etc. There is no 1 single problem but the panacea of the past 60 years of manipulating interest rates (monetary policy sometimes erroneously referred to as a supply side solution) have failed since the GFC of nearly 10 years ago. The net result is near zero interest rates (officially anyway) having very little affect on the overall economy.

 

Good call...However I think some of what you said alas won't be speculative but guaranteed