Comments on: UPDATE III: Oz Is Alright, Economically (Electorally? Now That's Another Matter)

By: james huggins

james huggins — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 12:26:00 +0000

Per the remarks above about Australia’s “true” uemployment numbers:
“Figures lie and liars figure.”

By: R. J. Stove

R. J. Stove — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 08:38:42 +0000

I’m very grateful to Ilana Mercer for reproducing my remarks (yes, it was I who originally wrote them) about the current Australian electoral stalemate. But it’s a pity that Peter Hartcher and so many others in the local mass media are still spouting their codswallop about Australia having “only” a 5% unemployment rate. This blague has long been overdue for contemptuous rejection.

Successive governments have arrived at such absurdly optimistic figures through making (unlike their European counterparts) the statistical assumption that every Australian adult who does merely one hour of paid work per week is just as “fully employed” as an Australian adult who does 40 or 60 or 80 hours of paid work. As Melbourne researcher Marcus L’Estrange has been saying for years, if you look at the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ own figures (which get extremely little publicity) for “persons not in the labor force”, the true jobless rate is nearer 20%: fully comparable with what America fesses up to having.

http://www.henrythornton.com/article.asp?article_id=4473

By: Derek

Derek — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 18:48:57 +0000

I wish PBS would do a comparison between Oz and Uncle Sam on how they harvest their fruit crops. Maybe it would change their opinions on the benefits of illegal immigration.

By: Roger Chaillet

Roger Chaillet — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 16:35:05 +0000

I’m sure Stuart Cohen of National Propaganda Radio cannot tell the difference between a balance sheet and an income statement, yet “knows” all about the State “investing” to create jobs.

Australia’s economy is humming because it exports so much to China. http://dailyreckoning.com/australian-dollars-run-may-hit-a-short-term-snag/ [Which means that it PRODUCES.]

By: james huggins

james huggins — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 11:12:25 +0000

As I am obviously simple-minded I usually only can come up with simple answers. The more a government stays out of the public’s business the stronger the economy. That means minimum regulatory interference and less taxation. The fewer interfering rules and regulations, usually put in for ideological reasons anyway, the more freedom business has to flourish. The fewer taxes there are the more financial activity there is and the more “deficit reducing” revenue there is for the doofuses in Washington to waste. To actually look the public in the eye and state that bills like the health care boondoggle will actually reduce the deficit is an insult to our collective intelligence. Now I haven’t said anything new here. The readers of this blog have heard these things forever, whether some agree or not, but as I said I am into simple answers.