Some interesting posts, some ridiculous with no concept of a free economy and some that have been given some intelligent thought. Unfortunately we live in an imperfect capitalist society. The main tenet being supply and demand. If you start manipulating this to any great extent, the results have ongoing effects that often have damaging results in other areas (abolish negative gearing in investment areas has ramifications elsewhere - in the case of property, a lack of it for renters) It is so easy to vilify governments, but unless you want some kind of centralised system such as existed in the Soviet Union .....and we know that doesn't work, we are unfortunately stuck with the type of economy that is often unfair, but at least there is room for initiative and hard work being rewarded and is far superior to the alternative. I suggest some readers read Adam Smith's work on economic matters written in the nineteenth century which is still relevant today.

julatron, at the end of the day you have to realize that all home owners are actually investors, so there is no logic in suggesting that they should be treated any differently to other investors. They actually don't pay capital gain's tax if they sell the family home after they have lived in it for a few years, so they are being treated favourably compared to other investors.

The main problem as someone else has pointed out is the ridiculous price of land not helped by the supply/demand paradigm. As well as that, most people want everything new to start, whereas our parents made do with what they could scrounge.

You will not find the answer unless you are prepared to ask the right questions.

Equity is not an easy thing to explain nor to achieve when the divide is based on political denials and proactive statisical invisiblities.

http://www.bsl.org.au/main.asp?PageId=5054

Felicity McMahon, you obviously have a wealth of support ("social capitial" which is good) however; I do hope you seek more depth in your future academic experiences.

Life (for individuals or populations) is not a competition, it is about humanity as it exists for each of us, in everyday life...

Our understanding one another is a "responsibility", and the only way toward education, real productivity and WORLD PEACE.

May we ALL become more ALERT.

http://www.miacat.com/
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If Felicity McMahon is the future of the Liberal Party, then I look forward to a Liberal Party that will actually deliver on their hectoring rhetoric about "personal responsibility" because the current one are running the biggest government we've ever seen, taking taxes from the middle class and putting it back into the pockets of the middle class while putting a cut into public servants' pockets along the way.

Great election-winning platform, Felicity: "We promise to do less. It's all up to youse."

So, the creation of the artificial housing bubble through cheap credit reflects on the borrowers rather than the printers of all this funny money? The banks and the politicians that are desperate to deflect attention from the bogus nature of the system are angelic bastions of personal responsibility?

What part of the fiat currency system don't you understand Felicity?

Pretty much all of it I'd say. This is the sort of diatribe we'll see more often from the central bankers' useful idiots as the house of cards built on junk loans and hedge fund naked shorting topples. We have a Weimar economy and the bankers will be partying like its 1929.

And felicity and her ilk will be screaming "THE LEFT DONE IT!"

Don't believe a word. The monopoly capitalists will convert their paper mountains to real assets and whole charade will start again.

Hard times are a'coming.

The “Death of Personal Responsibility”, eh? In recent years I’ve read various articles announcing the Death of Common Sense, the Death of Civility, even the Death of Indicating When Changing Lanes. Sic transit gloria mundi….woe is us!

Despite the rhetorical exaggeration and blatant party-line promulgation of Felicity’s article, the main point is probably valid. Many people *are* living beyond their means, and there does seem to be a tendency for some to blame the government whenever their expenses seriously eclipse their incomes.

But what else is new? This phenomenon has been observed many times in the past, and will probably be noted again in the future (along with similar observations along the lines of “kids these days are a bunch of lazy, selfish good-for-nothings who think the world owes them a living”).

Cheers!