Macroeconomics 101 … not!

Foreign minister Downer displayed his fundamental macroeconomic ignorance yesterday when he was trying to explain to reporters the accounting behind the relief payments the Australian Government is proposing to aid the tsunami victims. Reported on the ABC he said that “the Government will need to dip in to the Budget surplus to provide relief money to areas affected by the tsunami disaster. The amounts proposed are beyond the government’s current disaster relief fund. For reasons I explain below this fund can be nothing more than a notional accounting allocation that the Government considers it will spend each year on disaster assistance. It does not exist in the same way as you and me (as households) might have saving accounts with actual dollars in them in a building society (or bank) each year.

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Why didn’t they build better houses!

I am in a quandary … as usual! I thought along the same lines when Australia was stricken with drought recently and there was a national urgency to provide both government assistance and support from the private sector (national appeals and such). At present the world’s media is focused on the events following the natural disaster in the Indian Ocean. Not without some justification given the extent of the calamity. Nation’s (some) are rushing to provide aid and our Prime Minister John Howard quickly committed $35 million in aid and has said more funds will be made available. He is quoted on ABC news today as saying “The amount will be added to significantly in the time ahead … We have a moral obligation on the basis of pure humanity to help and we will help.” Say that again John: “We have a moral obligation on the basis of pure humanity to help and we will help.” But try this logic out: the citizens who have been ravaged by the earthquake and subsequent tsunamis could have taken steps to avoid their exposure. Why didn’t they educate themselves enough to ensure they knew about the dangers and why didn’t they build better houses and why, why, why?

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Job Guarantee success in Argentina

In the New York times article (December 26, 2004), from Larry Rohter – Argentina’s Economic Rally Defies Forecasts – it is reported that the Argentinian economy has made a surprising comeback. Rohter writes “When the Argentine economy collapsed in December 2001, doomsday predictions abounded. Unless it adopted orthodox economic policies and quickly cut a deal with its foreign creditors, hyperinflation would surely follow, the peso would become worthless, investment and foreign reserves would vanish and any prospect of growth would be strangled. But three years after Argentina declared a record debt default of more than $100 billion, the largest in history, the apocalypse has not arrived. Instead, the economy has grown by 8 percent for two consecutive years, exports have zoomed, the currency is stable, investors are gradually returning and unemployment has eased from record highs – all without a debt settlement or the standard measures required by the International Monetary Fund for its approval.”

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The war on the poor

Mike Rhodes reported from California in Homeless attacked in Fresno that in February 2004, a “a coordinated multi-agency attack on homeless encampments earlier this month, the City of Fresno destroyed tents and other shelters used by the homeless … the Fresno Police Department … has returned to the tactic of not allowing the homeless to build any permanent structures. With thousands of homeless on the streets in Fresno, and homeless shelters able to provide only a couple hundred beds, a majority of the homeless have been turned into criminals. If you are homeless and can’t get into a shelter, you are breaking the law if you try to sleep anywhere in this city. This new policy penalizes the homeless and criminalizes poverty … There have also been public service announcements telling the community not to give money to the homeless … ”

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Euro zone madness continues

In the UK Financial Times article by Darryl Thomson, Dollar falls to fresh lows in thin festive trade posted December 24, the continued slide of the USD against the Euro is put down to “disappointing US economic data” (mostly sharp slowdown in new home sales). However, a so-called currency strategist claims it is the “deficits rather than the data which were weighing on investors minds”. The hoary old neo-liberal twin deficits attack on public spending is making a comeback.

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The PM should heed his own words

In the PMs xmas message he says that as Australians we enjoy “a prosperous and successful society, there are more Australians in work than ever before, our living standards are high and we are warmly regarded around the world” and that we should not to forget our less fortunate citizens.

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Debt worsens

Recently released ABS Statistics show that household debt has hit a record $815 billion but the growth is slowing as the property slowdown deepens.

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Welcome to the CofFEE blog

December 24 – things have gone quiet. But not at the Centre of Full Employment and Equity (CofFEE). Today we launch our own CofFEE blog which will catalogue what we think of various things that happen in the economy, in politics and beyond. ankara escort çankaya escort çankaya escort escort bayan çankaya istanbul rus escort…
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