The authors are blowing hot air with dash of forced outrage.
It's always easy to find problems with someone else's plan, what are the solutions fellas. More importantly the authors themselves show they haven't got a handle on things when they suggest that the oil price is a result of lower demand. The price of oil is only loosely based on demand at the best of times but in the last few years this has been even less so. Can either of these guys show some evidence that a lot less oil is benign used now then say from one year ago.

Quite simply Rudd is a populist, who likes doing the popular things, he is like a 10 yo who is trying to buy friends with his money.

He has to blame someone for the recession we had to have.

Now he cannot blame the person who keep saying "the inflation genie is out of the bottle" which help the RBA to raised interest rate too far. He cannot blame Wayne Swann, his treasurer who 5 months after the credit crises orignated in Nove 07, was encourage all of us to stop spening, so that the lack of economic activity helped worsen our economy, to the point that we are in a recession.

He also cannot blame his Democrate mates in the US, who told banks to lend to minority, who did not have the ability to repay, which caused the housing bubble and credit crisis in the first place. The smae people who created Frannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the first place. Because by increasing the first home grant, he is doing the same thing in Australia.

So it cannot be Rudd who is to be blamed, so lets blame it on the faceless monster, lets blame it on .... extreme capitalism

No one in this world want to be called an extreme capitalist, so Rudd won't be offending anyone who might vote for him.... and he can blame someone else for the problem

Greg & Daniel,

Is it any less disingenuous of you to couch this piece in terms of a parliamentary question time theatrical attack to make some political point?

Are you suggesting that either that Howard et al wouldn’t do the same? It’s called politics and yes politics sucks. Especially how both sides focus on caricatures of the facts presented in emotional terms of the less informed. Your article does the same to divert attention your self interested motivation.

If you have a real criticism of the substance might I suggest you post it in less biased and hysterical political/self interested terms?

BTW your line about the system working is somewhat hollow given that in essence the crisis causes were two fold an uncontrolled credit bubble and uncontrolled derivatives market (arguably uncontrolled financial industry [aka unregulated capitalism] **created** crisis). Therefore your faux concern for the suffering financial less well off is disingenuous at best and callously/wantonly self-serving at worst.

NB I'm no particular fan of the ALP or Rudd.

The credit crunch was caused by Greenspan who let the money supply rip in the US during his tenure. Finally Americans are waking up to what a disaster he was. The contrast with MacFarlane who raised interest rates and spoke out about the property spruikers in Australia is stark.

With regard to derivatives, Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)wanted impose regulation but again in the late 1990s Greenspan spoke against it (he now admits this was a mistake) and I think the senior bureaucrat pushing for regulation was fired by Bush.

I thought it was a good piece. I have yet to be convinced that governments provide better answers than the market.

As Friedman once said East and West Germany provided one of the few controlled experiments in economics about the effectiveness of socialist planning compared to markets.

Rudd’s main ambitions have always been to appear on the covers of magazines, and to spend more time overseas than he does at home so that he can be seen as a ‘world leader’ as soon possible.

Being Prime Minister of Australia is only a launching pad for his ambition.

Rudd is now showing himself to be more of a Whitlamite than Whitlam. At least Whitlam could, if he wanted to, claim that he had disloyal and devious Ministers who stabbed him in the back. Rudd, a one man band, has no excuse; and his “neo-liberalism” twaddle about a system which gave Australia the best times it has had for many a year, just highlights the silly man’s economic illiteracy. Even Hawk and Keating must be shuddering: they never believed in this crap.

It is now possible to envisage a clandestine visit to the Governor General to try a Kerr on Mr. Rudd.

This is the best article yet on the most dangerous and incompetent Prime Minister we have had since Malcolm Fraser. It should be taken very seriously.

I don’t know Leigh, I think it is too late; it is a pity that we cannot convert Kevin’s Ego into ability ,then we might just have a chance , but his Ego is just so far above his ability , all the Narcissistic contempt he conjures up in his own mind of everyone , is grim reaperish in stature and execution .
He is off with the pixies – and seminally on his way, Mr Rudd is content on the label of National destroyer- in Socialist circles , it is the equivalent of Victoria Cross ; He has managed to quell the evils of Capitalism , The Socialist Enemy” , and in record time- unchallenged.

Just when you thought it was enough bad news of fiscal and social decimation – But wait - And there is more;
This is only one tier of the Psychopaths Lottery; you still have to live with the legacy of State Labour Government Psychopaths; -
You may now know it is over- and good luck. You will need every single ounce of it.