Hasbeen,

You seem to be a bit ignorant of what's really going on. See http://eemg.uq.edu.au/filething/get/519/Factsheet_Queensland%20Electricity%20Pricing_Jan2015.pdf if you want to know the real cause of the rise in Queensland's electricity prices.

And of course I've noticed the recent fall in our dollar. But if you look at the ten year chart you'll see it's not a long term trend. Its rate above parity with the US dollar was due to short term factors due to bad policy by the RBA (they set our interest rates far too high, and failed to do anything to counteract the resultant surge of foreign demand for our dollar).

Whatever the imbalance is, the market will correct it, but a lot of damage can be done before that happens. The high dollar did a lot more damage to Australia's car industry than unions ever did.

How and why do you imagine welfare destroys any state that embraces it?

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mhaze,

The key problem isn't that free trade isn't completely free, it's that long term decisions may be made based on short term comparative advantage – especially when that short term comparative advantage is the result of government intervention.

Free trade does benefit the whole nation, but there are big disbenefits for people doing low value work, as they're almost certain to be paid less and likely to lose their jobs completely. That wouldn't matter if the government implemented policies to ensure alternative employment opportunities were always available. Unfortunately they prioritise budget repair instead, and a real problem is exacerbated in a futile attempt to solve an imaginary problem.

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Chris,

There's still an enormous amount of stuff that people desire but can't afford. We may reach a post scarcity situation some day, but we're nowhere near it yet.

Hi Aidan
You may be right that there is an advertising created desire in many people However if the manufacturing facilities that already exsist to fill that desire, have automated to a point of not needing the very people with that desire,how do we complete the processes.

My point is that companies are continually finding way's to become more efficient at creating and satisfying human desires. However it is that very efficiancey that is causing the lack of growth in the worlds economy today.

If people dont have money to spare at the end of the week then it does not mater what they desire.

And how many hours did you work running that backpackers Lefty one, heaps I'll bet. I worked from 7.00 AM to 9.00 PM 7 days a week with about a day a month off, running a tourist boat operation in the Whitsundays. The boat crews averaged 10 or 11 hours a day. Many of us have to work long hours, we can't all be bureaucrats or academics averaging 3 or so hours a day a few days a week, can we.

The last time I had one of those traditional holidays, staying in some sort of tourist accommodation was my honeymoon, about a hundred years ago I think. We got so bored in 3 days, we went home to start setting up house. Yes I am from that era, where you set up house after getting married.

On the other hand if holidays are fun, I've been on holidays my entire life, although at times the fun was only in retrospect.

I once salvaged a bankrupt manufacturing operation by sending most of the manufacturing part of the business to Taiwan. The company survived, with 16 staff, down from over 50, & became quite profitable, but I did not feel proud of this, until we developed some export markets for the last of our manufacturing. It was really only a token, but it made me feel better.

This is our future with free trade. We are never going to provide enough meaningful jobs, particularly well paid jobs when we export our industry & import finished goods.

Hi Lefty,
There's a lot more to the manufacturing process than jsut fabrication. The value of actually assembling things is declining, while the value of the designs continues to increase.

What's causing the lack of growth in the world's economy today isn't specifically a lack of consumer spending; it's a lack of spending in general — it doesn't matter whether the spending comes from consumers, businesses or governments. Sovereign currency issuing governments (such as our federal government) have unlimited credit so can always afford to spend as much as necessary to keep the people employed. But few people recognise this.

Issue with 'globalisation' is that everyone seems to have a different perception or understanding of what it means e.g. international trade in goods and commodities while ignoring or showing antipathy towards services and human movement.

In modern political media discourse the 'anti-globalisation' message favoured by both ageing culturlly specific members of both left and right exemplifies a successful white nativist strategy revolving around national socialism.

In other words, be suspicious of an outlook that is encouraged by a group of global oligarchs, often with monopolies, against competition, regulations, trade rules/blocs, government, civil society, immigration etc. while promoting border control and national 'identity'.

While economies, societies, politics etc. can be negatively impacted by anti-globlisation or nativist policies, the elites proposing such policies e.g. Brexit or Trump, will remain unaffected in their little bubble.

There are two distinct types of international import trade. The first is of benefit to the Australian people, the other is a harmful to the Australian people (and also to exploited foreigners).

Type 1 consists of imports of goods and services from civilised countries such as EU countries, Britain, Ireland, America and Canada. The benefit is from competing with foreign suppliers to maximise the variety of goods and services available to Australians. Competitive advantage for a foreign supplier is the same as that for an Australian supplier – better products, better and more responsive business dealing with buyer.

Type 2 consists of imports from crap countries like China and most of ASEAN and South America which maintain authoritarian regimes with dissent muzzled and producers denied freedom of association. The consequent low production costs compete with the cost of decent Australian social and working conditions.

A government FOR the Australian people would set up barriers to trade to serve the Australian people's interests and those of wealth creators ripped off in the crap countries.

The primary weapon would be exploitation-indexed tariffs set at rates that cancel the price advantage of garbage conditions in the suppler countries. Goods and services from civilised countries exempt from tariffs or other impediments.

A further weapon would be a Tobin tax of 1% on all transfers of Australian dollars into other currencies, which would impinge little on Australians' modest transactions for personal reasons but stop dead in its tracks trade in currency speculation.