Stop Spending should become a mantra here in Australia, too. All our economic problems are the fault of politicians spending other people's money on rubbish ideas.

Wrong. This is the sort of economic rationale that turned a manageable recession into the great depression!

What is required is a new, new deal, based on Keysean economics. This is how America and the world not only got out of the great depression, but ushered in, an unprecedented period of prosperity.

Economic growth and prosperity progressively dismantled by conservative thinkers like the bone-headed author. Why? because it went against the ideological imperatives they are mindlessly welded to. Think, their basic wage remained fixed and the same for thirty years.

Accompanied by the mindless chant, the government has no business in business. Of note, the only private business/free market, model that survived the great depression largely intact, were co-ops. And then progressively destroyed by Ultra Conservative numbskulls, who are welded to huge corporate conglomerates, who among other things, avoid tax, price gouge, repatriate profits.

Business practices that costs America and the world annual trillions. And all but forces government to create debt just to fund recurrent expenditure.

Until these harmful practices end. The debt problem can only grow!

Apart from the above, America needs to transition to nuclear energy and with it, total energy independence. And electrify the economy as rapidly as possible by enforcing emission standards that will compel the big car manufacturers to transition to electric vehicles only.

[The fossil fuel energy barons will do all they can to quite literally sabotage/destroy that transition!]

The above economic combinations will create thousands of new wealth creating opportunities and jobs, jobs, jobs. And with it the only thing that will draw down debt, economic growth! Moreover, act to prevent catastrophic climate change.
Alan B.

Wasting money on people whose number one priority is to down the stupid West is the real problem !

The first place from which to cut spending would of course be the Pentagon death machine. But unfortunately for every life form on this planet the US is now a permanent warfare state and its continuing "prosperity" depends on the ever expanding growth of the Pentagon death machine.
The manufacture of "beautiful bombs" and their delivery systems is very good for business. As far as I know every American state has substantial businesses which provide relatively secure employment etc for significant numbers of the population. As do the existence of hundreds of military bases (in the US) too.

The military-industrial (death machine)-complex is of course the ultimate manifestation of Big Government.
If anyone thinks/pretends that it will be reined in if the Republicans gain control of federal government and with the election of the Orange Jesus then they are completely deluded.
Check out these two essays which describe the scenario.

http://tomdispatch.com/trump-2-0 especially the section under the heading Common Defense (sic).

http://tomdispatch.com/the-military-industrial-complex-is-the-winner-not-you

And of course associated with the above is the ever expanding growth of the 24/7 Surveillance State which became a hugely enormous growth industry in response to Sept 11.

One big spend that should never have occurred, and should now be stopped, is the $10 billion a year subsidies to renewables.

How about the $20 billion for Snowy 2.0; and the mooted $100 billion to be spent on unnecessary power transmission wires.

Then there is the estimated $9 trillion over 3 decades on (the unlikely) event of reaching Net Zero. And the $3.5 trillion of your retirement savings that Greg Combet wants to get into to spend on energy transition.

And, how could I forget! The $450 million on a divisive, racist referendum, that ended in the bin where it belonged.

Agree with most of what you say, ttbn. Renewables and the transmission lines needed, will force the price of power up and up, perhaps as high as a dollar PKWH!

The subsidies would be better spent on ready to generate, Chinese made MSR thorium power plants servicing very local microgrids.

Instead of bankrupting power prices, the difference at 3 cents PKWH or less, will create an economic miracle and unprecedented prosperity.

Let them go to an election with their costly renewables as part of their economy destroying mad hatter policies. Renewables are far from the cheapest carbon free power available!

Because to be dispatchable and serve industry, they will need ginormous battery back or pumped hydro. And that will cost a motsa.

Costs that will need to be passed on! Directly or indirectly at the supermarket checkout. Where the GST will collect trillions! This will generate a cost price spiral on steroids, with no end in sight.

Pumped hydro relying on adequate rainfall to keep the system operational. Back a while N. Zs hydro system failed due to massively reduced rainfall.

Imagine you were halfway through smelting iron in a million-dollar refractory grade graphite crucibles. Where intermittent power/pumped hydro failure, allowed the metal to solidify and effectively destroy million-dollar crucibles as the consequence of rank stupidity/green demands. The local steel industry would be destroyed!

Labor vote is down around 26% and falling, if they continue to be the stupidity personified, green's puppets, it'll go lower and send them into the political wilderness. Perhaps for a decade or more?

And from where they'd need a miracle to ever form government again or even an effective opposition, needed to hold the government to account! Elbow would be in his element as our greatest opposition leader. But arguably our worst PM.
Alan B.

THis article sounds a bit suspicious but here is an wiki article on CPI-X...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Price-cap_regulation

We should give them some benefit of the doubt I suppose but research the authors political allegiances, etc to see if they are likely to be aligned with us and can be trusted

Darren Nelson says he is from the PHON party. That's a good sign. Likely better than policies of the major parties.

How to cut spending the Argentine way.....

http://rumble.com/v40pshg-argentina-president-javier-milei-slashes-departments-that-are-a-drain-on-th.html

21 ministries reduced to 9.

It'd work here too.

Albanese could start the cuts, gently, by getting rid of these 'assistant Ministers'. What are they needed for? Coffee making and pencil sharpening?

Over paid Ministers surely have enough staff to assist them.

Ttbn, assistant ministers? Well, incompetents need competent assistants to get it right.

Trouble is, the assistant's advice often disregarded, and they wear the blame when it all goes pear shaped.

Conversely, when the results are good, the minister is out there accepting all the praise and kudos.

This explanation is the best I can come up with, and there seems to be no other.
Alan B.

Here's the thing, those corporations that actually pay tax, never pay more than 13.5% after all offsets. On top of that they pay on average 7% in tax compliance costs. So, tax and tax related expenditure comes in at a tad over 20%.

My reform would make that total, be reduced by 5%, as an unavoidable 15% flat tax everyone pays. Not from total income, just the bona fide profits. No profit/income, no tax.

New startup companies could be given a tax holiday for the first five years.

Tax compliance costs would no longer be necessary so the averaged 7% could go back to the bottom line.

This in effect, would mean, that tax and associated costs would now come in at 8%.

This would likely mean, tax avoidance schemes, would likely cost the bottom line more than paying the tax?

Which to make unavoidable, it could be collected as a transition tax via the banking system.

Finally, I'd lift the tax-free threshold to a new generous level. So, those whose income puts them below the poverty line/average wages, would pay no tax!

But they would still the GST and the fuel excise plus the bushfire levy which could be added to the fuel excise.

Let's stop making those who cannot afford our tax, pay to support those tax avoiders, who can afford to pay our tax.

Stop putting it in the too hard basket. It's just not that difficult, except when as legislators, you are part of the problem/ministerial roadblock.

Don't just do something, stand there.
Alan B.

Just over 22 years ago, the republican party cut taxes to stimulate the economy. All that happened was a marked increase in child poverty and a wages stagnation. The minimum wage stayed the same for 30 years. They had 22 years to prove their mad hatters' economic theories.

Large corporations with top heavy administration needed to avoid tax to stay solvent/or keep the profit curve heading skyward. They internationalised their operations and put the HQs on this or that tax haven.

The result? Trillions ripped out of the tax system, so much so, governments of all political persuasion, needed to borrow just to fund recurrent spending and the ginormous farm bill.

If the latter was cancelled, American farmers would be forced to become more efficient, and billions could be returned to government coffers.

This is the sort of spending cuts America needs to solve her debt problem. The rest is as simple as ending tax avoidance. Aussie farmers get no such subsidies. although from time to time, essential drought relief.

The EU also subsidies farm production to the point of insanity.

If this insanity were to end, we and other efficient producers could feed the world and FTAs would be so much easier to implement!
Alan B.