We went from nearly zero to 11% in order to avoid a technical recession and wasted plenty of money on insulation and other unnecessary window dressing,
Wasted? We avoided recession, while many other developed countries didn't.
Suity
We went from nearly zero to 11% in order to avoid a technical recession and wasted plenty of money on insulation and other unnecessary window dressing,
Too many mixed messages coming out of Canberra.
Ask the LNP, Alan Jones etc and we're 6 months away from Greece with their debt, deficit and intergenerational theft slogans.
Economists are now saying that the economy needs a boost, with an injection of cash. Plus they are saying that because cash is so cheap now, we'd be crazy not to borrow a $squintillion and start building a shit load of infrastructure. The investment of infrastructure and education has a huge flow on effect to our economy, they say.
Who's right ? I take the word of economists over Hockey. MY cynical opinion is that they are trying to force ideological change under the guise of austerity.
Wasted? We avoided recession, while many other developed countries didn't.
Suity
Here we go again.......
Yep, over the short to medium term we do need to fix the structural imbalance between govt revenues and expenditures.
No, we didn't need to go as hard in one hit as proposed by the current govt in last year's budget (and, in fact, it was economically as well as politically misguided to go so hard in one hit).
Here we go again.......
Yep, over the short to medium term we do need to fix the structural imbalance between govt revenues and expenditures.
No, we didn't need to go as hard in one hit as proposed by the current govt in last year's budget (and, in fact, it was economically as well as politically misguided to go so hard in one hit).
They were trying to keep an election promise - a promise they very well new they could not keep, therefore they went hard in the first budget hoping all the shit would blow over by the time of the next election.
Fail.
Heather Ridout (reserve bank board) on Q&A the other night. She said that we had to address shit, but did not join Alan Jones's chorus of disaster.
She in fact encouraged borrowing cheap cash and investing in the future. She was not concerned about "debt" but moreso revenue. She said that investment in the future would resolve the revenue shortfalls in due time.
Unless it doesn't!
The only thing that makes me nervous is that this is the game we just finished playing that lead to the GFC...
I'm all for 'cheap debt', but economists have been wrong on these things in the (recent) past - worth being wary isn't it?
Yes we do have a budget problem which needs to be fixed. The problem is the governments policies/budget is all directed to one segment of society.
Why cut Newstart / make it harder for the unemployed yet let retires with residential homes worth over a million dollars get the pension
Why bring in the Medicare co payment yet let investors negatively gear investment properties.
Why talk about lowering the minimum wage yet let retires draw their super tax free
Why focus on people on a disability pension yet do nothing to stop tax minimisation of the wealthy using trusts or large corporations transfer profits off shore.
Why do they want a free market system for tertiary education, but don't want a ETS for companies and actually pay them to stop poluting.
If the government can't see that their policies arent fair, they have some serious issues
Well you've got to trust someone. Who do you want to trust ? Someone like her with decades of experience in global economies or Abbott, Hockey & Cormann ?
I agree with some of ur points but not the pensioners with a million dollar house not getting a pension. A million dollar house is not much these days. On the northern beaches a million dollars gets u block of land and a knock down. If an elderly couple who have just paid off there standard 3-4 bedroom house in Sydney (that is worth around a million dollars) with not much in super, what are they to do? Should they be forced to sell their home and move out west into a two bedroom apartment forgetting the fact they have been paying off their home for 30-40 years, just so they can afford to live?
you should never penalise someone for the house they live in .... if they worked hard to buy it or got lucky with the rise of house prices then good luck to them
i also don't think super taken as an allocated pension over time should be taxed - good on you for looking after yourself after retirement
I also think there is a place for encouraging people to have investment properties
but f**k me dead, I cannot understand the tax evasion via trusts etc - thats just f**ked up shit
Couldn't agree more on all points.
Suity