I find it hard to understand how anyone, let alone this bias author, can predict that we can repay our debt, when the former Gillard government promised a surplus (at any cost), then warned it may be a deficit (surprise surprise), then announced it may be as high as $8 billion, then, only ten weeks later dropped a $30 billion bomb shell.

All this in the space of a little more than ONE YEAR.

Now I could be more forgiving if we had fully funded education reform, NDIS, and the NBN was paid for and on time.

The reality is, these are little more than unfunded dreams, dreams that will now become the libs problem.

If this mob had managed to pay for these, we wouldn't have to be robbing from our pensioners in order to fund Rudds illegals debacle.

I have to agree with Ludwig, when he said how on earth could we accumulate so much debt during a huge mining boom.

I'll tell you how, it's called total incompetence, and it's this incompetence that will see this mob thrown out on their ear.

Alan,
In response to your questions
Are you referring to the tax performance difference between the Coalition and Labor?
You make the mistake of thinking both political parties are different.
They are two sides of the same coin. Socialist, Australia has degenerated into a welfare/nanny state. "From each according to his ability, to each according to his need" is a slogan popularized by Karl Marx. Now it is more like Tax the rich they have plenty of money.

Are you arguing for a continuation, or reversion to the Coalition’s higher taxes?
No I am arguing for lower taxes for all and a considerably smaller government. Ever heard of Libertarian-ism.

Ever bought a house, Adrian?
Yes, And I bought after the boom, I paid it of in full, by working hard and forgoing all unnecessary spending. The amount of money I had to had over to the government for this privilege was disgusting.

But is this really sensible? With interest rates low and investment opportunities for future growth and prosperity, why not borrow more?
So you want to double down, and cure a debt problem with more debt? With interest rates at 50 year lows which way do you think they are more likely to go, down or up?

Greetings all,

Travelling currently. Sorry if responses are not always prompt.

@Cohenite, re: “The rate of growth of the Australian debt is not only greater now than at any time in Australia's history but also greater than the rate that occurred in ... Greece and Ireland.”

Correct. Savings are needed at the right time in the cycle and spending is needed at the right time. When the GFC hit, it was necessary for most governments to either spend banked cash or borrow to spend. Australia did both.

Australia alone acted swiftly and decisively. Zoomed up from 12th ranked economy globally to number one. Most nations now wish they'd done likewise.

Re: “The fact is no lasting benefit or infrastructure has occurred through this debt accumulation. Nothing.”

Nonsense, Anthony. Huge increases in valuable dividend-producing assets. Best-managed economy in the world. By a mile. Some say the best the world has ever seen.

@Rhian, re: “I was not asking for the GDP data, but for who has said that the cause of Australia's comparatively strong GDP growth is its low debt.”

Are you looking for comments in these OLO discussions, Rhian, or Coalition politicians, or economists?

Peter Costello seems to claim zero debt and money in the bank did the trick here:

http://www.news.com.au/national-news/peter-costello-says-he-saved-australia-from-global-financial-crisis/story-e6frfkvr-1225786274775

Is that what you mean?

@rechtub, re: “I challenge you Allen to show me our $300billion odd in new assets.”

Refer here, Rehctub: http://www.infrastructureaustralia.gov.au/

And National Accounts at the Bureau of Statistics, Catalogues 52 and 55 for starters.

It’s not just the asset value now, Rehctub, but their value in the future. And future outlays they will avoid.

“I also challenge you to explain how the likes of the failed insulation ... were asset building projects.”

Refer here regarding insulation:

http://www.independentaustralia.net/2013/politics/we-really-must-talk-about-the-pink-batts/

The others we can pursue later, perhaps.

Re: “I find it hard to understand how anyone ... can predict that we can repay our debt, when the former Gillard government promised a surplus (at any cost), then warned it may be a deficit ...”

Go with the International Monetary Fund forecasts, Rechtub. Don’t listen to politicians.

Cheers,

AA

I read Alan's article on HIP, what a joke. It basically sums you up as a poor scholar and propagandist.

You should try and get it published in academia rather than a very poor website

I wrote an academic piece on the HIP in 2010.

Funny enough, there has been not one academic criticism of my article in the form of a published article (in the humanities and public policy journals at least). I wonder why, if AA can be so certain how good the HIP was?

Who knows, perhaps someone will do so in the future, but hopefully there is not one Australian humanities academic who would dare to defend the indefensible.

One thing is for sure, though, I will be there to defend my piece in response to truth and common sense in line with what most Australians know of the badly designed and implemented HIP.

However, I suspect that the HIP will be always noted as a major policy debacle, as suggested by other academic pieces since

Hi AdrianM,

Thanks for responding. Appreciate this.

Re: “You make the mistake of thinking both political parties are different. They are two sides of the same coin.”

I actually agree with you to a significant extent. But not entirely. The data shows overall taxes are higher under Coalition governments and the weighting is more towards lower income earners. Under Labor, overall taxes are lower and the disparity is skewed more towards those better placed to pay.

Pretty sure this principle was valued well before Karl Marx articulated it, and is accepted today by many who don’t agree with much else Marx said.

Re: “Australia has degenerated into a welfare/nanny state”.

When did this happen, and how are you measuring this, Adrian?

Washington-based Heritage Foundation publishes an economic freedom index which reflects progress in freeing capitalists from government obstruction and over-regulation. Its latest survey ranks Australia first among OECD nations and third in the entire world – just behind Singapore and Hong Kong. Australia's current score is higher than the Coalition ever achieved.

Re: “So you want to double down, and cure a debt problem with more debt?”

What debt problem, Adrian? Did you read the article?

When you bought your house, Adrian, did you take out a mortgage? The day after, did you wake up say “Omigod! I suddenly have a terrible debt of $250,000! What an appalling money-manager I am!”

Or were you quietly satisfied that you were building your assets for future security?

Re: “With interest rates at 50 year lows which way do you think they are more likely to go, down or up?”

They are still declining at the moment, Adrian. So definitely time to borrow and build productive assets. When they start to rise will be time to slow the borrowing or stop it altogether. Above a certain point and it will be time to accelerate repayments.

This will be no problem at all for Australia – nor for Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Norway and Sweden.

Please read the piece, Adrian, and point to anything you think is not supported or not reasonable.

Thanks. Cheers,

AA