Are you suggesting Gov't (i.e. all of us) should build a home for everybody?
Luciferase,
If you read my remarks again you'll find I said exactly the opposite.

Again I say read. I said in ten years time, Gawd!
Russians don't seem to be really enjoying their economic system.

If you take the leeches out of the equation people will to a large extent be able to live & work where they choose instead of being dictated too by mindless bureaucrats in the pockets of developers. Sell available properties to individuals instead of handing the lot to developers whose only effort really is to treble the prices.

"Negative gearing is no more a "loophole" than is not reaching the base threshold income to pay tax."

What other "business" activity allows you to offset your income from one activity against the income of another activity ? eg if I own shares in a business and it loses money, I don't get to offset that loss against my wage income but if it gives me dividend (profit), I get to pay tax on it at my marginal rate.

Valley Guy you miss the whole point, I presume unintentionally.

If you have borrowed money to buy those shares, the interest on that borrowing is tax deductible. Weather the business makes or looses money is immaterial. If you receive a dividend that is taxable.

In the same way, the interest on a rental home is tax deductible.

If your shares loose value, that shows your bad choice in investment, & you are not compensated.

Likewise, if your rental property looses value, that also shows your bad choice in investment, & is not compensated.

Capital gains [or losses] on your shares, or rental property, are treated in the same way, regardless of the investment vehicle.

" if I own shares in a business and it loses money, I don't get to offset that loss against my wage income "

Yes you do.

Normal application of negative gearing and capital gains tax applies equally to all asset classes, including shares portfolios paying dividends while appreciating or depreciating.

Rule: Don't base an investment decision on negative gearing but on the quality of the investment. The attraction of negative gearing is illusory.

base an investment decision on negative gearing
Luciferase,
But isn't that what's happening ? Isn't that the crux of our economic woes ?

The more money borrowed as a proportion of the cost of buying an asset, the more highly the asset is geared.

Gearing helps those with some capital to punch above their weight and magnify their gain if the basic investment is sound, and to magnify their loss if it is not.

It is a way that those with a little capital can gain a lot more, or lose it all. You, Indy, would prefer to see a world where the have-nots are locked into remaining so by limiting their gearing capacity through the abolition of negative-gearing.

NG is not a loophole but an entirely fair and reasonable way to invest. It is not the crux of economic woes, that goes to bad investment decisions, not to how investments are geared.