I wonder how robust China’s economy really is?

I started new general thread on this. It really does look very precarious indeed:

http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?discussion=4454

One thing that has gone unmentioned in this article is yet another boost to immigration – the skills category therein – as part of this budget.

Hells bloody bells, if the almighty rate of immigration, which is predominantly skills-based, hasn’t done the trick by now, then there is something drastically wrong with this approach.

And what happened to Gillard’s stance against a big Australia and an implied desire therein to head for a lower population than our super-high immigration rate is taking us towards?

Oh yeah, just another example of totally contradictory policy positions!

Come on, we’ve survived as well as we have because of our ‘inherited’ wealth in the ground, NOT because of a huge skills intake.

I really really object to this absurd rapid-growth-forever philosophy (oh you don’t say Ludwig – you only tell us this in every second post that you write!).

If our natural wealth is going to save this country, then we need to stop rapidly increasing the domestic demand for all the goods and services that the profits provide at the same time that we are increasing the rate of exploitation!

And the sooner we do this, the better, given the highly uncertain future of China's demand for our minerals.

We GOT to stabilise the overall demand, so that the supply can start to actually give us average per-capita gains, instead of just supplying about the same level of return for ever-more people!

Come on Swan and Gillard, get your heads around the fact that we have GOT to embrace a stable population and ultimately a steady-state economy, instead of constant expansionism with no end in sight.

Good national economic management is just not possible without this.

Ludwig,if you'd like another example of 'contradictory policy positions', how about a $5000 rebate to encourage small busineses to buy new cars while introducing a carbon tax to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide?

You do have to wonder whether the carbon tax is just another tax, heavily disguised as an environmental initiative so that we'll all feel good and the government can keep on spending our money. Sorry, I admit that's a bit cynical.

Chris,

I appreciated your reference establishing that households over $150,000 are in the top 15%. It shows how absurb the 'class war fear campaign' being run by 'The Australian' and the 'Herald-Sun' here in Melbourne are. And yet no-one in these esteemed publications compain as the real value of Newstart is eroded; or user-pays mechanisms for private infrastructure (eg; tollroads) have the same effect as a regressive flat tax to workers on minimum wage.

nb: One bright spot is that as our population grows we may gain a 'Defence dividend'. (ie: we might be able to get away with a lower proportionate investment in Defence, with many billions of savings) The down-side, of course, includes urban sprawl, transport infrastructure deficits etc.

It would be nice if you could convince some of the Conservative thinkers and policy makers just how dangerous and unfair this rhetoric of 'class war' is - when it comes to the upper middle class paying their fair share. I assume some at least may be inclined to listen given your being published in Quadrant a while back....

I wonder how robust China’s economy really is?
Yeah,
Especially if the unthinkable should happen, an earthquake at the new dam.

Reading the Galaxy polls, it looks as though TA's rhetoric is working and the government is getting a hiding in the polls with regards the budget.

"The Galaxy poll of voters conducted on Wednesday and Thursday nights, following the Budget, found that only 11 per cent believe Labor now to be sound economic managers."

Building the entertainment revolution was a classic. The reason Juliar claims that the set top boxes are so expensive is that they need to be idiot proof for the old folks. The pensioners seem to be hugely unimpressed with these idiot boxes that cost nearly as much as a new plasma.

shadowminister,

Yes the setbox exmaple shows just how poor govts can be. Even after the disaster of waste under HIP, you would have thought that someone woud have taken the 15 minutes necessary to find out how much the private sector was selling and installing set boxes.