Hear, hear. The waste of the opportunity to create a genuinely long-term benefit to Asutralia is one of the most disgraceful failings of Government in living memory. The cynical vote-buying has created nothing but a vast increase in Government spending on frivolity which will be very hard for a more responsible Government to overturn in future.

Still, at least the social workers are going to get a rise, even if they don't actually produce anything except more demands for handouts.

I get the impression that our exported resources are more a restriction to our economy rather than a benefit, the reciprocal imports are destroying our own manufacturing industries and the coal seam gas exports, destroying much of the underground water that is needed by many farmers and grazers. The reciprocal imports of all the goods our factories had been manufacturing, do not bode well for those factories. The low price asked for our coal and other resources, does not correspond with the value of the products which are manufactured from them. We would be better off with manufacturing our own trains, Cars and trucks, and all those articles that our importers are bringing into the country destroying our own work. I admit I do not have a view of any respect of any political party, and am hoping for a party coming into the government with views and actions that I can respect.

It is an insult to common sense having people who never produced any useful thing or performed any function of import in their lives telling others what to do.

This morning, every morning I see the man who collects the rubbish and I would wish so much to thank him if I could do it without distracting his concentration in timing his movements with those of the threatening road traffic. Heroes of everyday they are.

What has ever done for me a man who has no time to participate in any of the economies of a community bar that of his material wealth and that of other parasites?

Bombs in Mumbai and the condemnation of such butchery by people with big names do not open any window to the passions of the throwers nor indicate the origin or causes of those passions.

What does one who calls himself ‘economist’ know of the economy of human feelings?

So we have two economists, both of whom I respect, posting opposing views on the wealth fund debate here on OLO.

This sort of open debate on public policy by experts is something I would to see a lot more of on OLO. It's wonderful to see.

Do I recall correctly the R.B.A. Guvna stating something to the effect that his view was that the "Australian Household" should no longer be used as a primary mechanism of economic growth?

Hmmm ... here's "My 2c" visa vi the development of the consciousness of the Australian people both individually and collectively, and the development of the prevailing economic mechanism,part 1 of 2 or 3

1. Wig Parasites back onto Legal Aid, with performance based incentives for kudos and higher remuneration, such as the elimination of inconsistencies between CommonWealth and State law.

(e.g. the wanton failure of the States to appropriately seek and take "informed legal consent" from non-Australian speakers and writers. .. The "sign, sign, sign" mentality exhibited by the medical industry at large ought be an area of considerable concern.

2. The A.ustralian $M.oney$ G.rubbers association back on Medicare in toto. No, not only 75% to be paid, plus privatisation, fat cats, shareholders, gap and no insurance coverage on the worst of all of the medical parasites, that is the specialists, BUT instead everyone makes their MediCare contribution, which is invested by go hard and wise teams of performance incentive driven managers, again , with in built standards of excellence based performance bonuses based in turn on real world additional, safe, wealth generation, with distributions to be made from there on a sustainable, equitable, best practice basis.

3. Direct OnLine processes with all of the departments as an option, instead of lawyers, and agents of all manner. Real Estate agents should be regulated to being servants of people who have more money than time/sense.

4. Cull out the redundant retail mechanisms by adding OnLine direct order to enviromentally strong factory storage and distribution/tech service hubs. The factory -> wholesaler -> to retailer economic mechanism is a joke in the face of the NBN.

(My Bunnings BBQ - $AU300 - same thing from a bright light Harvey Norman bimbo - $AU800. Spare us you pathetic winging Harvey, time to change and evolve, perhaps by converting some of your non performing localities.

5. Surplus workers to "Go down the Mines."

After that therapeutic rant, I have now taken the opportunity to read what *Saul* had to say.

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Hmmm .. I would say off the hip that the article goes some way to provide the basis for a compelling argument for the constitution of a "Sovereign Wealth Fund."

(However, I note that Australia in my view has no sovereign .. we have but a tongue tied genocidal foreign tourist muppet guilty of manifesting laws for the forcible transferal of children from one group to another in the post WWII era. Oooo! How disgustingly awful?!)

Still, an "Australia Fund" shall we say?

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Perhaps a consideration of the biblical parable of the poor woman who gave 2c as distinct from the rich person who gave $AU2 would partially explain what *Saul* denotes as curious, that being the donation patterns of people on incomes >$AU6,000 p.a.

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As for my "mate" Wiggus Parasitus WilHelm (real name withheld)who specialises in a few key areas of the "Trade Practices Act" pertaining to mergers and competition, he takes great delight in donating (fully tax deductably) more than $AU100,000 per year. Of course, he is intimately familiar with the necessary legal and financial processes such to make the said practice both time efficient and legally and financially safe and sustainable.

An appropriate on line form with the tax department ought do the trick to get more of it happening, but of course, WilHelm delights in cultivating his own personal NGO beneficiaries. If this was to be done in a much greater participatory manner, I consider there would have to be some form statutory regulatory mechanism enhancements to maintain equilibrium and equitable disbursements across the eligible board in the context of general consensus objectives.

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As I commented recently, my view is that the "Age of Reason" would be better served by teaching First Aid, the Legal & Guvment system, and beyond accounting, the "value of money" in the context of sustainable independent financially secure "Living in Australia" at High School.