Quote:
Originally Posted by AndrewJ
Gday Renato
I agree partly, and a lot of that is due to our high ( relative ) dollar, and the fact that the cost and time of international transport has dropped dramatically.
Also, ( as mentioned by a friends young daughter ), a holiday cant be repossesed later, whereas trying to buy something real that you cannot afford can :-)
I also agree we are "currently" really well off relative to a lot in the world, but part of me also says thats because we have squandered the legacy of our parents generation to get there, and are starting to steal from the future to stay there.
Sorta like having a party with the credit card.
Somewhere underneath it all, we will need to make "real" money to pay for it, and the current trends for that in this country arent looking as good as they should be.
Andrew
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Hi Andrew,
You aren't wrong, there is certainly cause for concern about the future unless we live within our means now. Borrowing for infrastructure is fine, as future generations get to use it too. But borrowing for consumption now, so that they have to pay it back later, isn't fine.
Certainly, all that very high median wealth that Italy has isn't doing it much good. In my 11 week trip to Italy last year, catching up with relatives and friends in a rich part of the country, several themes kept coming out of the mouths of most of the people I spoke to - the crisis, and how their kids couldn't get jobs - and just about everyone knew of someone who had recently migrated to Australia to find work.
Regards,
Renato