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The Forum > Article Comments > The Dutch Disease has infected the Australian economy > Comments

The Dutch Disease has infected the Australian economy : Comments

By John Töns, published 17/8/2011

How strong would our economy be without mining? The Australian government needs to remember that with every boom, there comes a slump.

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You need to look at what happened with the insulation. Firstly it was sub IRS who were the problem. Second the safety record was comparable. I'm not sure nationalisation is a good idea, but the I'll companies don't seem to have much of a record on safety in the last couple of years either.
Posted by Evan Hadkins, Thursday, 18 August 2011 11:52:37 AM
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So far all respondents have agreed that we have a problem.
Solutions have been more problematic. Yet there is something that a government could do that would ensure we do not lose our manufacturing industry. It could, by regulation, tweak the business models that Telcos use.
Until the advent of the modile phone you bought the service provided by the telephone company. Factored into the cost of that service was the cost of the telephone itself - you never owned it all you could do was use it.
If we go back to this model not just with phones but with all manner of consumer goods - we want to be able wash our clothes and dishes, have cool homes, be entertained, for which we happen to need a product that manufacturers provide. So if by regulation govt created the situation where we could not own these products but instead were invited to purchase the 'service' from manufacturers. This would apply to all consumer durables from mobile phones and pc's to fridges and washing machines. Two things would happen. Firstly manufacturers will have a much better handle on how many units to manufacture and so can provide employment certainty. Secondly it would have a built in quality control - people will not buy a service if the product to deliver that service is constantly breaking down. Retail outlets would operate as usual but all they would be doing is selling the service and supplying the machine to deliver that service. Domestic manufacturers would have a competitive advantage because they would not have ship superseded models back to their country of origin.
Will by no means as simple as suggested here but it is an example of the sort ideas that we need to explore if we are going to keep control of our future.
Posted by BAYGON, Thursday, 18 August 2011 12:30:53 PM
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You are treading on dangerous territory there, Baygon. The law
of unintended consequences usually bites good intentions in the arse.

Govt could start by lowering costs which they lumber on business.
Carbon tax, payroll tax, cushy labour laws which prevent flexibility or productivity gains.
Business has no certainty, so why should the provision of labour? We have in fact created a double
standard.

Besides, the odd recession is actually not such a bad thing.
It cleans out the dead wood that accumulates. Like overvalued real estate,
far too many retail stores, those who have overborrowed, etc.
Short term it means a bit of pain, but long term we all benefit.
Posted by Yabby, Thursday, 18 August 2011 2:45:27 PM
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I'm thinking that Yabby isn't one of those feeling the pain at the moment.
Posted by Evan Hadkins, Thursday, 18 August 2011 3:34:47 PM
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Also Yabby the law of unintended consequences applies to all proposals (including yours ) and to not doing anything.
Posted by Evan Hadkins, Thursday, 18 August 2011 3:36:45 PM
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http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?article=12474#215608

Squeers, great article & your comment as well, for once i agree with you.

But the article still ignores "the elephant in the room", there is no way to reverse this trend other than return to protectionism.

The kind of economy described as being desirable is exactly what we had between 1945 & 1965. Before it was destroyed on the altar of "economic rationalism".

By whom one wonders? http://www.mailstar.net/xTrots.html so that is who killed the jobs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9aHC2tSmRM UN australian activitees.

http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?article=12474#215611

sarnian, subsidies are expensive, it is cheaper to have tarriff barriers.

http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?article=12474#215612

stevenlmeyer, spot on, they are wedded to the international banksters.

http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?article=12474#215616

Hasbeen, heading in the right direction but something like tarriff barriers or ANTI dumping laws is less painfull for consumers, workers & employers.

http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?article=12474#215623

Amicus, hopefully you are right, but the LNP is also wedded to globalised, free trade, Coca Cola Communism.

i will be voting for Bob Katter & preferencing the LNP.

http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?article=12474#215626

Neutral, your learning but all the left wing parties are working towards take over by an international socialist NWO.

http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?article=12474#215627

Evan Hadkins, don't put yourself down, i have met many taxi drivers with better ideas than academics.

are you familiar with Austrian economics? Basically you have social policies, tax/welfare systems that promote the traditional christian family, especially extended, rather than nuclear. this then provides a stable foundation for small & medium family owned businesses.

end of problems.

http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?article=12474#215642

Don't worry Micheal Dw, even if the economies of China & India don't slow down some more because the rest of the first world is not buying as much of their manufactered goods, mines will soon be opened in places like Mongolia with lower wages & when the mining bust arrives our currency will soon be worthless again.

BTW, all the gold will be gone in 5 to 10 years.
Posted by Formersnag, Thursday, 18 August 2011 4:00:30 PM
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