Showing posts with label spending. Show all posts
Showing posts with label spending. Show all posts

Politics: Australian Conservatives Push to Privatize Healthcare

Health: Australian liberal conservative governments keep privatizing medicine
There isn't much doubt that the Liberals (read conservatives) would like a completely privatised health system. They look lustfully toward the US and their inefficient structure - the most expensive health mishmash in the world!
Protest against liberal conservative healthcare changes
There is a logic to this "conservative hiding behind liberal sunglasses" behavior. You see, businesses don't like their taxes being "wasted" on something the private sector can run perfectly well, descrimination notwithstanding. Businesses would like this money back in a tax rebate so they can make higher profits, thankyou.

Note how Liberal PM Menzies ended free pharmaceuticals brought in by Labor PM Chiffley. Gough Wittlam initiated Medibank after menzies It was just about the only thing he did that worked. This has now been pushed and poked by a series of Coalition governments to become the now private Medicare. No doubt, this political toing and froing will continue into the future.
 Politics by Ty Buchanan 
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Drug Subsidies Taken Away From Pensionsers

The Australian government is in Goo Goo land with its health service. Cutting funds while spending on the odd "party belief" thing seems to be the order of the day. It is taking tens of billions out, then spending a billion on a stupid, fruitless idea.
Health Minister
Don't I love it when I make you stupid old foggies pay?  Ah, ah, ah!
It says it will end hepatitis C in Australia by spending on specific target drugs - over five years! Nothing is eradicated in just five years. It takes decades to half a century to stop a prevalent disease, and it will still come back occasionally.

The government is following a policy of robbing Peter to pay Paul by subsidizing high end expensive drugs while taking many basics off the PBS scheme that pensioners rely on. Members of this government simply don't care as long their misguided belief that the market will solve all is promulgated when they lash out here and there with unfathomable foot in mouth decisions.
 Politics by Ty Buchanan 
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Politicans Made Australia Wealthy - They Certainly Did Not!

Australia is a lucky country. Its citizens have become much wealthier over the past 30 years. We have to thank the politicians for this. What? We most certainly do not owe it to politicians. Australia is richer because China has become richer and Australia is the main source of the minerals China needs to make all the exports which have been leaving that country in increasing amounts, by the year.

The Labor Government had the money from tax collections horded by the Howard Government to bail Australia out of the impending recession. We don't have to thank Howard for this. The money should have been spent on hospitals and schools. The Coalition Government held the economy back even though it was doing very well. And Labor should not take all the credit for Australia not going into recession. The money was there and it spent it. The Coalition somehow lost the plot of governing. It most definitely should not have kept on blaming the states for the hospital crisis. The Coalition spat the dummy and refused to reform the medical system.

Labor tried to reform the medical system. So it hit the Coalition over the head with missed opportunities when the Coalition lost power. A new revamped medical system would have been well set up by now if change had taken place when it should have.  The Coalition government is now abandoning Labor's hard fought revamping of health care

People worry over the debt the Labor Government has run up. Remember the colossal amount of money the Coalition Government got from boom times. When the recession is over, which won't be long now, that debt will be paid off quite quickly. The Coalition looks lost in the wilderness at the moment. Members of both Coalition parties know Labor will have all good news for many years to come.  The Coalition knows that Labor will be looked upon as a positive government in history as spending cuts must be done - now.  This will push the economy into a short recession while the rest of the world booms.  You can be sure that when Labor wins again they will start spending again.  This is what happens in Britain and the rest of the ex-colonies.
Economics by Ty Buchanan

Neither Labor Nor Liberal Understand the Needs of Education

With fewer students choosing not to maths and science, or even worse doing badly in the subjects, there is a real shortage of people who can work in big data tech. Research scientists for universities are simply not there. Business pays twice as much as universities. Basically, universities need more money. The government is doing nothing about this commercial reality.

Labor took a big chunk out of university funding with its educational reforms. The Liberal national government has promised less for both universities and schools, despite the Abbott back down. Just what the government plans to do is unknown at present. The Gonsky reforms are up in the air. Some states are not yet on board and states who have signed want the money promised by Labor.

Universities are in the wings waiting for some kind of positive action by the government. If the Gonsky funding goes ahead there will very little left for the tertiary sector. Robbing tertiary to fund schools does not make any sense. Both should have got a larger slice of the money pie. This is like taking money out of high schools and giving it to kindergartens. It is not rational. Education is a complete working body, from top to bottom. Maybe Chrisopher Pyne was right in his claim that we need a new start, but his version announced as cutting future spending in all educational sectors is not on.
Education by Ty Buchanan
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Education by Ty Buchanan
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Australian Retail Problems Not Caused by the Mineral Sector

There is clearly something wrong with the Australian economy. We seem to in the same position of Indonesia several decades ago when it had oil and the high price was pushing up the value of the currency. A high currency makes it difficult for those producing "non-boom" products to export. That is why the US is printing more dollars to weaken the currency, improve the economy and create more jobs. Nothing much is happening for it though because the US dollar is the major international currency as gold used to be.

Just why Australian shopkeepers are crying fowl is more difficult to understand. A strong currency means imports are cheaper. Australians are very import dependent in their spending habits and buying cheap imports is what they like to do. They buy such imports over more expensive Australian made products, but this shouldn't hurt the bottom line of retailers.

They claim Australians are spending less. Though figures show this to be the case, spending is not that easy to understand. If people save, the banks have more money to lend out to business and those who want to go into debt. However, due to the financial crisis Australian banks have tightened up on lending criteria. They will no longer lend to those with no offsetting assets. In other words, banks are withholding money. This money is not active within Australia. It may be invested overseas by banks.

The retail sector is wrong to blame exporters of minerals, the economy in general or interest rates. Obviously, the cause of reduced spending is the behavior of banks. Government could force the hand of banks. It will not do this as politicians fear a bank crisis occurring here in Australia. Some European countries were devastated by the global banking crisis. Their governments lost billions in propping up banks by giving them money that borrowers could not pay back. It was taxpayers money they were "giving" away.
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Economics by Ty Buchanan
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Government Spending Has to Be Reduced

Many people in developed countries rely on welfare to live their lives. The welfare state has been accepted as the only way for government to go - until now. Britain where the welfare state began is making major cutbacks in government payments.

Even in the US, where government support is perceived as low by non-US citizens, middle class welfare is rife. The term middle class is a widely misused term. Everyone knows it means the rich. It seems everyone has the their hands in the government feed trough.

In Australia the baby bonus was introduced by a right wing Howard government. It is ironic that it has been virtually abolished by a left wing government. It was available to all, rich and poor. No means testing was ever done.

The problem is political parties keep giving in order to be elected. This happens until a major deficit occurs and cutbacks are forced onto prevailing government.

If redistribution of income was not done the rich would get richer and the poor would be used as "serf" labor. Unfortunately, political parties "look after their own" when they are elected to government. Right wing governments do have a heart and do redistribute mainly to the poor. However, middle class welfare tends to creep up over time.

It is now accepted by the average voter in developed countries that the time has come for significant cuts in government spending. People do "squeal" when spending is cut specifically to them. There are immediate consequences when recipients no longer receive benefits. The Salvation Army has had a major increase in single mothers wanting food assistance.  This is due to single mothers being forced onto the dole by recent government changes.

A direct problem to hard government cutbacks, when public servants are dismissed, is an increase in unemployment. Of course, this means a higher demand for unemployment benefit support. There is always the danger of pushing the economy into recession. If this is the consequence of spending cuts voters soon change their tune and blame a government. Rationally, continuous priming of an economy by more spending must ultimately end. The piper must eventually be paid.

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Economics
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Australian Saving Means a Change in the Retail Structure

Why is Australia in such a bad way? The country is exporting at record levels. China is paying up front for these exports. Interest rates are not too high. Remember the Keating days of 14 per cent? We do have a "dual" economy with manufacturing doing it tough due to the high dollar, but Australia never has been a strong exporter of manufactured goods.

Retailers are saying people aren't spending. You would think that people can only spend what they earn and no more. However, due to the multiplier effect, according to economic theory, when a person spends a dollar that one dollars turns over about five times. In other words the money supply, the real paper dollars out there, is actually only about a fifth of the money on the books in an economy. So what happens when a consumer saves? Think about it. The money in circulation "shrinks" by four more dollars. This is what is happening in Australia. We all envied Japan in its good years when they had very high rates of saving per head of population. Now Australians are adopting this way of living.

Australians are doing the right thing and being told by retailers that they are doing the wrong thing. You can't have your cake and eat it too. You either spend now or you don't. The real problem of course is that there are far too many retailers in Australia. Particularly today where many shops sell broad lines of goods. Years ago shops really specialised. Each town had one grocer, one greengrocer, a chemist shop, fish shop selling fresh and fried fish, butcher, Garage and so on. When you are in a shopping centre today you pass several shops selling the same thing while walking.

Australians were in personal debt for decades. Many warned about the lingering debt levels. It is a good thing that people are changing their ways. Unfortunately, the whole retail structure must change as well. This will only occur reluctantly and with great hardship. Many buy businesses and think their future is made. The reality is different. Owning a business is now very tough. Not only do you have local rivals, many Australians buy from oversees on the Internet. Gerry Harvey of Harvey Norman may be calling for GST to be placed on Internet purchases. What he really wants is a ban on buying in this way. Things will change. More businesses will go bankrupt.


Australia's future lies in commodity exports. It always has; it always will. Manufacturing motor vehicles in this country was a mistake. Sell iron ore and coal then buy cheaper imports. This has always been the way to go. The main question for us all now is whether we should abandon food production and import most of it? Australia is a major exporter of wheat. This is a commodity. Perhaps Australia should continue. Growing food generally, however, is an important issue for the future. We cannot keep out cheap, high quality food imports from New Zealand for ever with questionable import barriers. Just why Australians still bother producing poor quality sheep is a mystery. The wool is good. The meat is inedible.
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Economics