Why is it so impossible to conceive of 'extremist capitalism' yet in the same breath run away with hysterical fear at those evil government bureaucrats taking over our free will and limiting our freedoms?

Surely both extreme capitalism and communism, are equally undesirable. A system where there is no balance of power, that is, distribution of power between governments (the people) and the private sector sets itself up for failure.

Even, Greenspan admitted he had "put too much faith in the self-correcting power of free markets" to quote the New York Times article below.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/24/business/economy/24panel.html?scp=2&sq=alan%20greenspan&st=cse

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/23/AR2008102300193.html

Rudd is a politician - while not averse to a photo opportunity he no more postures than Turnbull - so it is not the posturing that is of concern but which side they hail from it would seem.

Posturing comes with the job and while we might all wish for a low key 'non saviour' style in a leader (thinking of Lindsay Tanner, a Nick Minchin, a Fred Chaney or a Bob Brown) it cannot be guaranteed in politics.

Any politician might appear as a saviour when compared to a Bush or a Howard which will be emphasised by the media and public expectations alike. After a drought even a drop of water is appreciated.

Rudd was elected on a lie.

Me tooism. He was going to be just like John Howard. That was the only reason Rudd was elected by many who switched sides.

I think it unlikely Rudd will face the polls as PM. The stonewall silence from his Labour colleagues is deafening. Not one has come out in support of Rudd's 'thesis'. Why would they? Any future labour leader will have to repudiate all Rudd has espoused before any elector will believe any labour leader as fiscally conservative or as steady as John Howard. Australians just don't knowingly elect socialist and fiscally irresponsible leaders

Rudd has painted not only himself but the whole labor party as closet socialists ready to attain power in any fashion. He's also tainted them as supporters of wasteful big spending sprees.

Every labour member would be dreading the next election, for they are now seen as supporting big spending and total government control socialist attitudes ... that have never worked anywhere.

The next election will be interesting without Rudd for he won't have wide enough support to survive his now certain 'Ides of March' moment.

Turnbull's stalling of the next 'big spending stimulus' package was astute after Rudd spilt his guts with his socialist cant. He now doesn't have to do much other than point to a wasted $22 billion dollar surplus, mounting state and federal deficits, rising unemployment, rising business interest rates, rising consumer inflation, falling asset values, ineffective state and federal service provision, a failing 'education revolution, silence from Garrett on environmental issues including whaling, Rudd's troop withdrawal in the face of certain victory in Iraq and his involving us further in the unwinnable crap of Afghanistan, reversal of labour laws to 1970's state, reversals over his Emissions Trading scheme ... oh God the list as Jack Johnson says 'goes on and on, and on and on'

And what about his hailing of and kowtowing to his commie heroes in China? What terribly bad judgement that was.

Hugo Rudd is a big fat liar ... without the oil reserves ... and uncorruptable electrol system.

Pelican

Greenspan might be a doubting Thomas about "the self-correcting powers of the market" but paradoxically he still remains a strong believer in them. The last paragraph of the NYT article, Greenspan's quote , tells it all.

It is always intellectually foolhardy to quote one out of context.

http://kotzabasis.com

Could it be that we now have a carefully chosen political activist Governor-General to obviate any possibility of 'The Dismissal' being repeated?

Another Neo-Liberal apologist with nothing to offer but sniping!
If they had any *real* argument then I expect we would have heard it by now. (Fact is any remnants of a "philosophy" of the Right is in tatters.)
The Neo-Libs have been caught red handed at the scene of the crime this time. They didn't hand-off the economy to Labor quite quickly enough to avoid the blame...but still they try!
How many of these "pump and dump" cycles must we live through before the pattern is seen?
Seems the best they can do is get back on the anti-intellectual bandwagon so beloved of the Right

What people have to realize about Kevin Rudd is that essentially he is a decent bloke. He has a guiding philosophy that is fundamentally sound, and goes to church on a Sunday. We have seen plenty of comments harking back to the 70s and 80s, when the very fabric of Australian society was ripped apart by lawyers of both political parties. KR is not a lawyer. For the first time in sixty years we have a man as PM who is not a lawyer.

Big Business which can afford to pay lawyers has been rampaging around Australia for far too long. The accountability that was built into the system, until 1970s, when it was removed by the Liberal Party, is showing signs of being restored. KR through Chris Bowen has amended the Trade Practices Act 1974 to eliminate the unconstitutional word Court, from the Act and substitute the word court. You see KR understands that the Constitution is not simply an Act to be ignored, as most lawyers understand it, but is the fundamental document governing the Commonwealth.

While the words Court and Judge, which do not appear in the Constitution have been allowed by the Liberals to creep into the law, and into Statutes, the criminals who have failed to obey the Constitution and also failed to apply the Trade Practices Act 1974 or allow anyone to take advantage of it, can expect to be deposed.

Labor Government, between 1993 and 1996, introduced all the reforms that would have stopped the global meltdown in Australia. The Liberals through Courts and Judges, prevented them from being applied. The Labor Party introduced the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights but because the Liberals continued Courts and Judges, the one man bands of atheist government have refused to accept Parliamentary authority. The High Court is also unwilling to accept Parliamentary Authority, and the High Court in 2004 should all be indicted. If Judges wont obey the Law, they are unfit to rule. Since 1970 the Commonwealth has been dysfunctional. KR will probably make it work as it is supposed to work.