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The Forum > Article Comments > The remaining agenda for free traders > Comments

The remaining agenda for free traders : Comments

By David Richardson, published 16/7/2013

Comparing our prices with overseas prices it looks like nothing has changed since Allan Fels headed the Prices Surveillance Authority in the 1980s and 1990s.

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I enjoyed this informative article, though I think that there are some additional explanations of price differences between Australia and overseas, besides those mentioned by the article.

One factor not mentioned is the policy of overseas suppliers/importers to smooth out currency movements. I think you will find that as the Aussie dollar drops the cost of imports will not fully rise commensurately. This is quite noticeable in the case of imported cars, which also did not drop in price as much as they might have when our dollar was sky high.

The answer to the uncompetitive prices charged in this country for books, CDs and DVDs (and indeed many other items) is to buy over the internet from overseas. I (like many others) have virtually stopped buying these items in Australia for the price reasons noted by the author. In my experience you need to keep a close watch both on price and shipping costs, when buying over the net. Regional coding on DVDs is easily circumvented by buying a region free player or by changing the region code on non-region free players.
Posted by Bren, Tuesday, 16 July 2013 9:08:35 AM
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We can't compete and also retain the middleman profit taker.
We need a direct factory to the end customer, model.
Elimination/prohibition of the middleman profit taker, which could be made illegal with the stroke of a pen, will virtually half the current cost of living.
This will put downward pressure on the endless dog chasing its tail, wage/price spiral.
Much of this will be assisted by the NBN.
We can't compete with low labour costs economies, with the current status quo.
However, many of these economies eventually confront impossible to manage wages inflation and moves to more high tech production.
However we can compete to high tech manufacture, even textile and footwear, if we also complement that style of economic activity, with very low tax, direct sales and very low cost energy/transport provision.
The only thing that prevents all of those very desirable outcomes, is I believe, self serving or quisling politicians?
Rhrosty.
Posted by Rhrosty, Tuesday, 16 July 2013 11:39:52 AM
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I seldom agree with the Australia Institute's take on economic policy issues, but this article is mostly right. The trade restrictions on items such as CDs are unjustifiable and irritating (I have a small stash of DVDs sent as present from UK relatives that cannot be played on my Australian machines).

I disagree that tariff reductions and increased competition had no effect, though, The relative prices of things like cars and clothing have fallen markedly, even if they are sometime a bit pricier than overseas (small markets and transport costs account for some of that).
Posted by Rhian, Tuesday, 16 July 2013 2:07:01 PM
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The Clayton's FTA we have with the US, allows the US to maintain a 30+ billion dollar trade advantage, invest here with impunity, avoid our tax; and, add to our foreign debt burden in the process.
All while the US locks out some of our primary produce, and continues to subsidise local primary production, that continues to entrench disadvantage; i.e., they just voted to basically keep the farm bill; and, wind back food stamps!
If they did that in reverse, their own severely disadvantaged, would be able to eat more than once a day.
Those not able to match the production expertise of our own unsubsidised production, [mostly billionaire corporate farmers,] should be allowed to sink or swim, without the inordinately expensive former subsidies! The anathema of FTA's!
We could do worse however, than crack on with FTA's in all parts of Asia.
In order for us to maximise any advantages that gives us?
We also need quite massive reforms that reduce income tax, energy and production costs; plus, the cost of water and transport.
Even if that requires a can the can of extreme capitalist ideology; and a return to some of the public ownership paradigms, that held sway, when we were the third wealthiest nation on the planet, and a creditor one at that!
Sure we need to pay our way, albeit, without also propping up parasitical paper shuffling, billionaire business broker barons, who add so much as cascading costs, to the basic cost of production?
Being arguably the most efficient farmers on the planet, and punch well above our weight as innovators, is not helped by being required to also carry the lead in the saddle bags, of parasitical unproductive drones.
One of the worst days work ever done, was to privatise water!
The other was to lock away vast tracts of possible hydrocarbon bearing seabed.
We need to find more of this comparatively lower cost, lower carbon resource, and then earmark it for local lower carbon production outcomes!
Rhrosty.
Posted by Rhrosty, Tuesday, 16 July 2013 5:40:10 PM
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