It's official, we are ripped off!

[Stardrifter_WA]

A news article on ABC has come out and said what we all know, that we pay to much for everything in Australia! BUT, and it is a big but, it is surprising as to why. It is blamed on the Government, which is a surprise to me at least.

The article is at:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-12-1...report/3730444

[brian nordstrom (As avatar)]

Thats exactly why the govt want to raise the dreaded gst to 12.5% . Mongrels !!!.
Brian.

[KenGee (Kenith Gee)]

Gee fancy the CIS saying it's the labour governments fault? I think remember reading one of their press releases when they said it was labour's fault for the flooding in south east Asia.

Let's drop the min wage to 2.50 a day and stuff all thoses people on low wages. Lets ignore the volume issue for Australia and the supply chain issues in Australia. ABC online are the new weekly world news yesterday they were going on how they governement waste money on drug sniffer dogs!

[KenGee (Kenith Gee)]

OMG I went to his article on the CIS website and it's even worst then I thought he actually lies and plain makes stuff up. So not only does he think Australian workers shouldn't be able to afford a car just so he can get his next Mec cheaper. His fact checking is normal for CIS , I bought a second hand japanese import, even though this guy says you can't.
He thinks we should have cheap bananas here in Australia so we should do what the EU does import bananas from the third world by out bidding the local population so they can't afford the cheap food their country produces. Nice one DR hartwatch

[traveller (Bo)]

Agreed KG.
In the interest of balance, I suggest people also read this
http://blogs.crikey.com.au/pollytics/2011/12/08/australian-exceptionalism/
Cheers,
Bo

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Thankyou Bo, there a lot of Aussies living in a cloud of bullcrap about how bad it is here - many of them supposedly intelligent too.

Of course these same people will not read your link either

Mike

[casstony]

Bo, the article you refer to conveniently leaves out the fact that most Australian debt is in private hands.

If one has $500,000 worth of assets but $400,000 in loans, the net wealth is $100,000. Several years of declining property values could see that wiped out and if your job disappears you're suddenly bankrupt.

Take a look at 100 years of Australian house price history, look at what happened in Japan and the US real estate over the last two decades and assess the likelyhood of world economic recession given levels of debt in the worlds major economies.

Life is pretty good for most of us right now but that does not reflect conditions in the rest of the world, conditions that will impact on us sooner or later.

[Keltik (Trevor)]

The last time I looked the price of petrol in the UK was about 75% higher than here. Their version of GST (VAT) is now at 20%. I think you might find that the situation is worse in other EU countries. Any article by some "institute" claiming the government is the cause of "higher prices" needs to be viewed through that useful astronomical item, the political-bias filter.

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Originally Posted by casstony

Bo, the article you refer to conveniently leaves out the fact that most Australian debt is in private hands.

If one has $500,000 worth of assets but $400,000 in loans, the net wealth is $100,000. Several years of declining property values could see that wiped out and if your job disappears you're suddenly bankrupt.

Take a look at 100 years of Australian house price history, look at what happened in Japan and the US real estate over the last two decades and assess the likelyhood of world economic recession given levels of debt in the worlds major economies.

Life is pretty good for most of us right now but that does not reflect conditions in the rest of the world, conditions that will impact on us sooner or later.

Tony, you are confronted with ALL that overwhelming positive reality and agree with it ...but you still manage to start your response with a negative

Aussies who complain about things here are simply just not living in a relative reality and in globally relative terms are little different to a mega wealthy super star who complains that their lobster is not served at the right angle in a restaurant

If you are sick in Australia you can get excellent health care, if your parents are a bit cash strapped but you want to succeed your education is free for 12yrs and high quality, if you are a woman and and want to succeed you can (and even become head of a nation), you will have money when you retire, if you want a hot shower you have it, if you want to flush away your turds you can, if you are having a rough patch in your life there is an excellent social safety net, if you are being abused it can be stopped, if you want to vote a particular way you can etc etc friggin etc

One little thing to add, many people like to bag China and speak negative about dealing with them but just remember this, a person on the average wage in Beijing can afford 62% less goods and services than a person on the average wage in Sydney.

Smile and just realise how good it really is here...

Mike

[casstony]

One of the functions of government should be to provide a regulatory framework for various facets of the economy which encourages free enterprise but punishes fraud.

Unfortunately our government thinks it knows better than the market and government interference creates distortions in markets/business cycles to our detriment. An obvious example is the first home buyers grant which pushed house prices higher than they should have gone and has kept them higher for longer, the ultimate result of which is that Australian honeowners are far more indebted than they should be and far more exposed to a downturn in the economy. Who benefitted from that poilcy - banks through profits on loans and government through increased tax revenue.

[casstony]

Mike, I enjoy all the good things in my life too, but if there's a large concrete block hanging over my head I like to keep an eye on it.

Anyone who thinks the next decade will be as easy as the last is living in a fools paradise.

The whole world has pulled forward enormous amounts of economic activity by borrowing and spending - this has to be balanced out by slower econmic activity in the future.

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Originally Posted by casstony

One of the functions of government should be to provide a regulatory framework for various facets of the economy which encourages free enterprise but punishes fraud.

Unfortunately our government thinks it knows better than the market and government interference creates distortions in markets/business cycles to our detriment. An obvious example is the first home buyers grant which pushed house prices higher than they should have gone and has kept them higher for longer, the ultimate result of which is that Australian honeowners are far more indebted than they should be and far more exposed to a downturn in the economy. Who benefitted from that poilcy - banks through profits on loans and government through increased tax revenue.

Minor issue at best.

Sorry but we need some reality checks here, seriously we need to get off our 4 bedroom double garage home, 6 cylinder car, 4WD, computer, Ipod, Iphone, restaurants, holidays, second car, piano lessons, fishing boats, jet skies, goto telescopes, CCD cameras, en-suites, water features, high speed broadband, free to air TV, shopping trollies, one person per car... high horses and slip back into reality for a moment

In a nut shell no matter what cherry picked negative item you throw up, Australians have it the best in the World, too many of us are becoming conceited, shallow and self absorbed (in a global sense).

Mike

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Originally Posted by casstony

Mike, I enjoy all the good things in my life too, but if there's a large concrete block hanging over my head I like to keep an eye on it.

Anyone who thinks the next decade will be as easy as the last is living in a fools paradise.

The whole world has pulled forward enormous amounts of economic activity by borrowing and spending - this has to be balanced out by slower econmic activity in the future.

Sure, you may be right but I just find the sort of empty negative rhetoric like the article in this thread, thrown at us, particularly lately, trying to paint a picture of gloom and woe and suggest it is tuff going in Australia, quite ridiculous and even shameful.

Mike

[casstony]

Originally Posted by strongmanmike

Minor issue at best.
Mike

The property booms and subsequent busts in Japan, Europe and the US are actually one of, if not the major issue that has brought down their economies and nearly destroyed their financial systems, helped along by government and banking fraud.

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Originally Posted by casstony

The property booms and susequent busts in Japan, Europe and the US are actually one of, if not the major issue that has brought down their economies and nearly destroyed their financial systems, helped along by government and banking fraud.

So do you seriously see a day in the near future when as an Australian you won't have a free education, free medical treatment, be able to buy a car, go to uni, **** in a porcelain toilet, run down the shops for some milk, watch your favourite uncensored TV program, vote in a free and safe election, make a quid if you are clever, order in some take away..etc etc...?

I think not and that is my point and if you haven't got it by now meah se la vi

Mike

[multiweb (Marc)]

Originally Posted by strongmanmike

I think not and that is my point and if you haven't got it by now meah se la vi

You mean la dolce vita? I like 'c'est la vie' better in Oz than France or I suspect any EU country right now for sure. The food's better, the climate's better, the life style's better, the gvt... erm... I'll shut up now. Minor issue at best.

[casstony]

Mike, it's difficult to overestimate the amount of damage that can be done by the financial and social pressures building in the worlds major economies.

Bernanke and Merkel can only kick the can down the road for so long.

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Originally Posted by multiweb

You mean la dolce vita? I like 'c'est la vie' better in Oz than France or I suspect any EU country right now for sure. The food's better, the climate's better, the life style's better, the gvt... erm... I'll shut up now. Minor issue at best.

Yep even they are better than all the rest! We even have the worlds greatest treasurer, no not Costello, saving money does not the treasurer make, it's how you use it you see?

XX

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Originally Posted by casstony

Mike, it's difficult to overestimate the amount of damage that can be done by the financial and social pressures building in the worlds major economies.

Bernanke and Merkel can only kick the can down the road for so long.

Bah! I love Australia just the way it is and has been.. for the 30 yrs I have understood it anyway . The disagreements I have had with various government policies along the way have mostly been semantic but I have long realised how good it is here and I try to keep everything in perspective and I wish more people would do the same. I do worry about the clear xenophobia that has crept in though... but that is not for this thread.

Mike

[casstony]

Originally Posted by strongmanmike

Bah! I love Australia just the way it is and has been.. for the 30 yrs I have understood it anyway .
Mike

Cooincidently 30 years is about how long the world has been propping up economic activity with borrowing. Blind Freddy knows that can't go on forever and I think it's just about crunch time.

I understand that most people don't see what's coming though because the generations that did see such difficult times are mostly gone.

I don't see how Australia can keep going as it has been given what is happening in the rest of the world. We're not an island (economically speaking)