The National Forum   Donate   Your Account   On Line Opinion   Forum   Blogs   Polling   About   
The Forum - On Line Opinion's article discussion area



Syndicate
RSS/XML


RSS 2.0

Main Articles General

Sign In      Register

The Forum > Article Comments > The Government's balance sheet > Comments

The Government's balance sheet : Comments

By David Leyonhjelm, published 5/9/2016

Each area of government spending should be pared back, with welfare properly targeted to the poor and duplication between the Commonwealth and States in areas like health and education eliminated.

  1. Pages:
  2. 1
  3. Page 2
  4. 3
  5. 4
  6. 5
  7. ...
  8. 9
  9. 10
  10. 11
  11. All
Real sovereign governments issue a currency. While there are unused resources of either labour or other productive facilities the sovereign government can spend by crediting accounts to which it owes payment for work or goods supplied and debiting its account with the central bank which it owns.

The money so created will wend its way through the economy and end up as savings in the hands of the private sector. Those savings will be with a financial entity as reserves and eventual be spent buying bonds issued by the sovereign government or its agents.

It is an economic fact that if the foreign sector is in balance the private sector can only increase its financial assets to the exact extent of the sovereign government debt.

The state governments are not sovereign in currency and are no different to the PIGGS in the Euro system.

Australia needs to re-establish the Loans Council.

A perfect example of state government stupidity is the new NSW trains decision. Building trains in Australia saves the sovereign government from paying unemployment benefits and it also collects tax from the employees who become employed building trains and supplying train parts.

Instead the NSW Government owes money to finance entities. No wonder the banks are so profitable.

The real limit on a sovereign government is not money and it does not need to borrow money to spend. The real limit is full employment and a shortage of other resources and the consequent likelihood of inflation.
Posted by Foyle, Monday, 5 September 2016 1:17:00 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
Pretty much on the money there David, but perhaps you need to explain to those of Aiden's line of thinking, that you can't generate wealth by spending money you don't have, particularly on things you can't make an immediate profit on.

Even Rhrosty has it almost right. We should be cracking down on the poor BY CHOICE. Those who won't do anything to help themselves, & wont do the work that is available.

There should never be a cent of unemployment benefits paid to anyone where pack packers are earning a good income picking fruit. If they won't take what's offering, they should not get anything.

However it is the ridiculous higher education area that we have the biggest waste. Expanded way beyond it's usefulness. Totally useless study by below average people should be stopped, & the cost of other study raised immediately. Far too many are having a holiday on the taxpayer at universities, especially the B grade lecturers & the host of hangers on that fill the halls of academia.
Posted by Hasbeen, Monday, 5 September 2016 1:52:29 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
An even better place to start is in the land of reality.
Follow the link http://theopenbudget.org/ to the interactive pie chart of where our money goes
Posted by Cobber the hound, Monday, 5 September 2016 3:59:48 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
Hasbeen, rather than asking David (who's probably not here) to explain it, why don't you try explaining it yourself? And while you do so, examine the validity of your own assumptions.

Why can't the government spend borrowed money to make money? After all, the private sector does it all the time. The mining companies typically borrow huge amounts.

Do you comprehend that when the government spends money employing people, it gets the wealth of what they produce, and it reclaims most of the money through the tax system?

What I really can't understand is why you're so eager to get Australians to do low value work, but so disparaging of the one thing that does most to enable Australians to do high value work. Do you want Australia to become a third world country?
Posted by Aidan, Monday, 5 September 2016 4:12:15 PM
Find out more about this user Visit this user's webpage Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
Right on the ball, Hasbeen both on useless education for people who should get a job, and the stupidity of continued borrowing for the everyday running of the country, which is what we have come to. Getting rid of the debt is the first priority. No exlanation needed.
Posted by ttbn, Monday, 5 September 2016 6:07:46 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
Go Senator for Gunz!

Reckon we blokes should have tax breaks for our gun clubs, justice commandos for rigteous action and hunting.
- Easier access to automatic weapons including one GPMG* to shoot back in each school and other public places.

More gunz so we don't have to waste our tax money on Police Forces and no Army.

* General Purpose Machine Gun, 7.62mm preferably, tho 5.56mm is adequate.
Posted by plantagenet, Monday, 5 September 2016 6:29:58 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
  1. Pages:
  2. 1
  3. Page 2
  4. 3
  5. 4
  6. 5
  7. ...
  8. 9
  9. 10
  10. 11
  11. All

About Us :: Search :: Discuss :: Feedback :: Legals :: Privacy