I enjoyed keith's comments. I guess those "academic's" don't know much. Even with their degree's they can't tell apple's from orange's. Went all the way to year 12, did we, keith? I have great faith in your opinions...sorry, opinion's.

ShazBaz001,

So,you don't care about private debt,it's harmless ask the Americans. Do you really blame the Rudd government for the present crisis?Amazing! Have you ever heard of the post hoc,ergo propter hoc fallacy?
I've long suspected that a significant proportion of voters would follow this line of "logic", it's what the Liberals are hoping. It's probably due to the, one week time horizon, many people seem to employ.

Imagine a world where everyone who could work, and wanted to, is given work or the capacity to create work for a living wage.

That's my vision for mankind. The Millenium goals of the UN seek to bring billions of people out of poverty through fair trade and well targetted infrastructure investment to boost productivity.

But is it achievable? Boom and bust cycles highlight the consequences from blind greed. 1929 and 2008 have a lot in common. The 'great recession' gives our national leaders the opportunity to address the root causes of catestrophic systems failure. But any likely agreement will be to the lowest common denominator around which a concensus can be found.

Sadly it will take many more boom and bust cycles before the global community has the kind of governance that the world so desperately needs to meet the many global challenges to our quality of life.

The author asks: Can we do anything (other than devise a “stimulus package”) to more effectively address the present problem?

The answer must be: Yes we can. Rudd could initiate a structural overhaul of our wasteful, overgoverned federal system. The savings would be $30 billion each year without state governments, saving a long suffering population from their conflicting laws and bloated and unsustainable bureacracies that produce sub-standard service.

Can we do anything to stop a global financial crisis recurring?

The answer could be: Unless the G20 deal can effectively deal with the root causes of the crisis, the answer will be no. The next bust will be just around the corner.

Sancho

I have only five words for you. Go figure.

George Bush, Yale and Harvard Degrees.

I have rarely read such a demoralising, defeatist article by an University of Queensland tutor of Economics. As a true-blue Rudd apologist, his integrity and academic independence compromised, his article is skewed-wiffed. All of which is understandable - his future depends on Govt largesse. Universities are one of the greatest beneficiaries of Kevingate's " educational " splurge.

In gross denial, he should be teaching ethics instead.

The Wizard of Oz - Keveingate"s $10.4 B orgy in Dec,followed by a bacchanalian $ 42 B this semester. Presumably to assuage poverty, burgeoning employment, failing Business's, and abysmal consumer confidence etc. It just didn't end there as Richardson rightly knows. His hastily conceived Bill floundered in the Senate. Xenophon was awarded $ 1 B for the Murray / Darling river scheme. Senator Fielding $ 500 M, and the Greenie's Brown's cabal wrangled $ 800 M to build Aust's most enviornmental hazardous Pulp Mill. Tasmania's 12,000 unemployed received bogus ' mickey-mouse ' job creation schemes and enriched Theresa Rein's employment services big time. Brown's party was guaranteed certainty in the next Federal election. Greenie preferences always go to Labor. What a sham. Our spen-thrift populist messiah squandered $ 54.7 B already. In the pipeline for more-of-the-same are Labor States, Qld, NSW, TAS and WA. Broke, deficit laden and severly in hock, their economic survival depends on it. Rudd promises $ 250 M to boost Anna Bligh's election survival this Saturday.

It doesn't take an Economic guru to throw money willy-nilly when it isn't yours. Specially when his predecessor JH created a $ 20 B surplus. Any clown can big note, rain manna from Heaven.

Richardon claims US Banks were forced to lend home owners money etc ? His naivete makes me blush. The Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac debacle is the quintessence of unbridled greed. Puts ponzi fiend Madoff to shame. The Security Exchange - America's Fiscal watchdog were in cahoots with Wall St tsars, aiding / abetting the creation of wealth through myriad unheard of transactions, the likes of which our Banks would never condone. In Oz, the Banks retain your mortgage, collateral, deeds until settlement. F & F bundled thousands of loans into attractive packages which were sold off, not once, but 3-4 times again, generating unheard of profits. The SEC permitted and even sponsered the shenanigans in the name of American entrepreneurship !

BR:
. Can we do anything other than devise a stimulus.
. Can we do anything to stop it reoccuring
There is such a thing as priorities. Infrastructure is paramount. Since Federation, we have been appalling negligent because of self-seeking egotistical Leader's lacking vision. Two WW, Depression, recessions,pretentious immigration policies, and internecine Political squabbling.
The Defence Budget is a drain on resources. Our deficit 9% of GDP and exacerbating like a loose cannon. Our annual growth 1.2 %. Govt spending 48 % of GDP and substantially increasing ( ABS statistics 2008 ) Our National and personal credit debt exceeding $ 138 B.Funds can be injected into the Economy in myraid ways.
Q2. Depends on what BR is referring to. Is it the Recession or the Wizard's charitable freebie ?

" Oz is powerless. If China doesn't want our coal, there's not much we can do about it ?."
Any school boy will tell you, to succeed, one has to diversify. Don't put all your goolies in one basket.Secondly, international contracts are subject to vagaries of the market. Thirdly, there's the derivative market, where big business, ie Qantas, Virgin,etc hedge their bets.

Aust's RBA have been hedging derivatives for decades. The aussie dollr has been hedged in the exchange market for yonks. If Aust posessed the nous,they could have hedged against our export commodities.