Rudd inherited the world's best economy.

Abbott inherited the world's best economy with a huge debt anchor around its neck, and its productivity legs tangled by red tape and IR rigidity.

Labor has stuffed up just about everything it has touched, with financial incompetence to legislative stupidity.

It will take a decade to restore the Australian economy to where it was 6 years ago.

Shadow Minister,
For the budget years when Howard and Costello were responsible for the outcomes (1997-2007) the economy was operated in an area of fiscal space that was, in the long term, unsustainable. In every year the private sector's net financial assets decreased.

In any period where there is a deficit in the Current Account, best measured as a percentage of GDP, there has to be an equivalent sovereign government deficit or the private sector has to go further into debt to survive.

I have pointed out on this site previously that some commentators need to understand monetary theory.

A presentation at the Field Institute recently by Randall Wray and Stephanie Kelton explains the situation very precisely. Kelton's talk is illustrated by slides and slides 10-30 and 48-54 are excellent on this particular principle of empirical evidence supported economic theory. The fiscal space diagram is Slide 49.

Foyle

Your own economic theory has been completely demolished by the fact that you are unable to name any rational principle to distinguish whether the governmental provision of any good or service is too much, too little, or just enough; and how you know.

"In any period where there is a deficit in the Current Account, best measured as a percentage of GDP, there has to be an equivalent sovereign government deficit or the private sector has to go further into debt to survive."

Notice how you failed to consider less gouging of the productive class by the coercive class? You just assumed that, for anything whatsoever that government is doing, the only possibility is that it's doing just enough, or not enough!

It's you who are displaying invincible ignorance. If your assumption was right, full communism would be the most desirable system. And yet when I ask you why it's not, you're at a loss to come up with any reason! because you're at a loss to distinguish the communism - governmental control of the means of production - that's bad - from the communism you're in favour of, which is open-ended and without any limit that you can state without contradicting yourself.

So I'll ask you again: what is the rational criterion by which you distinguish excessive governmental activity? How do you know whether the governmental provision of a given good or service is too much, too little, or just enough?

< …they are now adopting almost identical broad economic policies as Labor – stimulus spending, continuing deficits and increasing debt… >

Good morning Alan. Yes, the Coalition is bumbling along with just the same sort of approach. And like Labor, they are missing one of the biggest factors of all in the maintenance of a healthy economy – the need to wind down the ever-increasing demand for everything, so that all the effort we put into increasing supply might actually get us somewhere, instead of just simply forever chasing the tail of rapidly increasing demand.

The Coalition should be winding back our super-high immigration rate and heading towards a stable population.

I find it absolutely extraordinary that there is not even a thought of this factor in the minds of our politicians or economists!

We really need a 21st indicator, which looks at how supply compares with demand and tells us if it is catching up, falling back or just staying the same. This indicator, being of great importance, needs to be near the top of the list.

So our GDP is growing at 26% PA. Wow, isn’t that wonderful! At that rate, the whole economy will double in size in about 27 years!!

How does this rapid rate of economic growth compare to population growth? How do the good components of GDP (and let’s face it; there is a host of bad things that are added to GDP and made out to be false positives) compare to the rapidly growing demand for everything?

And how are we going to keep up this rate of growth in GDP, given that the mining, agricultural, manufacturing and all other sectors are not likely to show anywhere near the same rate of expansion?

continued

I just cannot judge whose Articles I enjoy the most between Alan Austin , who lives in France, and John Pilger who lives in Utophia.

Both of whom , although living elsewhere , are quick to advise Australia where we should be going, if only we were smart enough to know. ( somewhere far to the left.)

They leave Stand-up Comedy Shows in the shade .

Let’s face it; population growth is the main factor contributing to this very high rate of increase in GDP. It is the demand that is increasing GDP… which is the biggest flaw of all in this ridiculous indicator!

And it is the biggest flaw of all in the minds of the numbskulls that run the country and economy. They see rapidly population growth as contributing strongly to a growing economy…. and that’s all that seems to matter!!

So, when are these dimwits going to get it through their monumentally thick skulls that the most important thing of all, for as long as we are struggling with the economy to make ends meets and to improve the whole caboodle, is to curtail the demand side of the equation?