The ZH article was basically saying Australia was heading towards Greece's fate Don't believe it but an interesting read, especially the comments section. ZH doesn't usually cover Oz much so worth a look.
Other comment of note:
Aussie Dollar Tests Long-Term Trendline As China Contagion Spreads
Last week, we asked "Is Australia the next Greece?" It appears, judging bu the collapse in the Aussie Dollar, that some - if not all - are starting to believe it's possible after last night's 15-month low in China Manufacturing PMI. As UBS previously noted, China's real GDP growth cycles have become an increasingly important driver of Australia's nominal GDP growth this last decade. With iron ore and coal prices plumbing new record lows, a Chinese (real) economy firing on perhaps 1 cyclinder, and equity investors reeling from China's collapse; perhaps the situation facing Australia is more like Greece than many want to admit.
Australian consumers are more worried about the medium term outlook than at the peak of the financial crisis, and rightfully so...
As China plumbs new depths in manufacturing, just piling on Aussie's woes...
The Dollar is rising this morning but all eyes are on AUD as it tests a very long-term trendline...
As The Telegraph previously concluded, rather ominously,
The problem is that Australia, after decades of effort to diversify, is looking ever more like a petrodollar economy of the Middle East, but without the vast horde of foreign currency reserves to fall back on when commodity prices fall.
Instead, Australians must borrow to maintain the standards of living that the country has become accustomed to, which even some Greeks will admit is unsustainable.
Charts: Bloomberg
Other comment of note:
Australia, since Robert Menzies, has been poorly managed. Back in the '60s Australia used to have very strong manufacturing sector, with companies like AWA, they used to manufaturer TVs, radios and a plethora of electronic goods. White goods used to be manufactured, and their was even an airplane manufacturing sector. Today, manufacturing is being massacred by the lazy policies of easy money by supporting the mining sector and the illusionary support of things tourism. Furthermore, Australia has gone to a service, or tertiary industry focus. Basically they believe by giving services to each other like, banking for healthcare, that the economy is able to advance. And that is the problem. There is no added value industry. Added value in Australia means, importing products from China and adding a ridiculously higher price to the good. It is a fair comment to say that Australia is the Greece of Asia, for it is.
What does it say of a country, like Australia, where you can buy citizenship. Yes for $5,000,000 Australian dollars (thats, only $US 3,500,000, and dropping fast), anybody with that kind of money can buy Australian citizenship, of course, all the most unscrupolous people from China, and every other dubious economic crook in the world are doing just that. Along with this insanity, Australia's blind eye to foreigners buying up property, especially by the Chinese, is so prevalent that now the median price for a Sydney home is $1,000,000 AUS. Eventhough the Australian Government has brought in tough new requirements on foreign ownership, nothing, as always will be done. Australia has painted itself into a very dark corner, if there is a housing correction, the entire economy will collapse, they WILL NOT do anything to jeopardize the property market, like raising interest rates, or going after foreign home buyers.
The underlying problem in Australia is that it has been incompetently managed. It matters not, Liberal or Labour Parties are in power, for they are both incompetent. And now that the mining boom is over, Australia is heading for the economic backwaters of the South Pacific. The AUS/US will head down 50 cents, and you will hear, as always, the economic nincompoops say that this is good for trade. If you look at a chart of the AUS/US dollar over the past 40 odd years (since it has been floated), you will see when ever the AUS dollar weakened, the Australian debt skyrocketed, as it is now. So how can a weak dollar help? It can't, it never does. What you really want is a strengthening dollar and people buying your goods, like it was for Germany and the Deutsche Mark.
Don't be fooled by the rosey picture Australians paint. Yes they have $60,000 AUS average salary, but that is only $40,000 US and the cost of living is one of the worst in the world, add house prices and rent, and that $60,000AUS wage barely will not cover your expenses. When a 2 bedroom unit, that is really a pig-sty, can cost you $2,500 a month, you are looking at 50% of your wage just to live like a rat (Sydney prices!).
The fundamental problem with Australia, is the same one with Greece, arrogance, incompetence, and incredible high opinion of themselves and absolutely no common sense or realistic undestanding of their low place in the world. And the last thing, and most important thing...they are incredibly rascist, that is the white anglo Australians. I hope as the immigrant population grows that eventually more of them will get into the Australian parliament, which right now is heavily biased to the anglo whites (alla South Africa in the bad ol' days).
Australia was once a lucky country, today its living on borrowed time. Like Greece, Australia is going to pay a huge price for its backward and foolish ways. Thanks to a long line of corrupt and incompetent Prime Ministers starting with Whitlam, Australia is now on a Greek trajectory. When you have a political class of the likes of Bronwyn Bishop, that treats the taxpayer as Emelda Marcos or Marie Antoinette did, you can only have one eventual outcome.
Like the US, Australia has a poor quality and corrupt political class. It matters not, Democrat or Republican in the US, Labour or Liberal Party in Australia, the outcomes are always the same, bad corrupt and incompetent government. I don't know what is worse, to have such people in government destroying countries, or that there are so many people in the electorate that keep voting for these thieves and morons, what does that say about the people who vote for this kind of government? Yes, you get the government you choose, but does everybody deserve them, especially those who want neither of these criminals? That's why people should be always allowed to leave and freely go to some other country, it puts pressure on the home country to get its act right, otherwise the good hard working people will be abused. Problem is, when nearly every single country in the world is run badly, and that there is a potential of 7,000,000 people to move around, this free movement of people can be very unbalancing.
So I ask all who have read this comment, what is wrong with democracy when we still get such bad governments? How can we fix democracy? Because, I for myself, am tired of these thieves and idiots. Something has to change.
