Lazy language equates with a lazy intellect and George Bush speak reflects the orgy of the "greed is good philosophy" that has now torn their country asunder.

The once can do happy country is now in serious debt.US Govt debt is $4.7 trillion,private debt is $7 trillion.Each American owes over $35,000.00.Each Australian owes $28,000.00 in private debt.Our realstate is also over valued by at least 15%.

This philsophy of free trade and having an imbalance of terms of trade just to have cheap consumerables is surely flawed.

Every household must balance incomings with outgoings.Why don't we do the same with our terms of trade?Both Aust and the US have economies based on services and let others make our consumerables.This makes us very vunerable since when things get really tough,discretionary spending on non survival services soon evaporates.Where are our manufacturing industries that provide basic necessities?

Every country should be allowed to balance their terms of trade,since the debt cycle only enslaves the masses,while the financial system just finds a new wall upon which to urinate the toils of honest hard working people.

Don't you think it's a little ironic how we all accept the words and opinions of economists without looking at their motivations...in the USA the same people profitting from this situation greatly are the ones who advise and create philosophical arguments for why they are 'correct' about markets and speculation, the ones who create and fund thinktanks dedicated to the promotion of their economic 'credibility'.

There is a fair amount of truth in what you say Steel.Self interest does makes people distort the reality and this does also apply to climate change.

Globalisation was to be the remedy to poverty and make our lives better also.No one forsaw that limited energy and resources would have the reverse effect whereby living standards would fall.

I think we have to move away from the power of Multi-Nationals determining most economic policy and begin to make decisions in terms of the national interest,that serves the wants and needs of all citizens.

It does not mean more Govt intervention.It is just a matter of changing the rules.The function of Govt is to be a referee and not player in the real world of productivity that raises all our living standards.

If we are going to have free trade then consideration should be given to a poor country's cheap labour and tarrifs applied accordingly.The reduction in tarrifs have seen most of our industries move off shore.We have a $600 billion deficit in our terms of trade.Are the cheap often inferior products really worth it?

“This philsophy of free trade and having an imbalance of terms of trade just to have cheap consumerables is surely flawed.”

Why on earth should you think a free trade agreement is the cause of all ills?

The point is a trade-balance is produced by eqach nation exercising and benefiting from its own natural advantages as alter native to the cost of imports subsidising even the most incompetent local manufacturer to earn a living (through quotas and higher tariffs), all at the cost of the consumer.

The Americans would be in deeper pooh if they were operating as a “protectionist” economy.

Trade is trade, real estate is real estate, I watch my house price and do not gear it up to fund “toys” when I want money for business I use some spare finance which is available and secured on my existing property , alternatively, for really short term, I can run it onto a credit card or longer term arrange something based on my borrowing history with my bank. The skill is how to treat ones “debt” as a temporary thing, not a permanent one.

“Globalisation was to be the remedy to poverty and make our lives better also.No one forsaw that limited energy and resources would have the reverse effect whereby living standards would fall.”

Again, you take two separate events and imply a dependency between them.

“Globalization” has an indifferent influence on global oil prices, similarly, “global warming” (if it exists) is not a consequence of free-trade.

“The function of Govt is to be a referee and not player in the real world of productivity that raises all our living standards.”

Exactly, and they should keep their noses out of pretending they can fix market corrections to suit their agenda. The problem is, politicians always over emphasise their own importance and understanding in the name of acquiring more power.

Reagan was for small government, I only hope both McCain and Obama have read the same books as Reagan.

Col,Globalisation is all about multi- nationals limiting competition.They want fewer competitors and larger margins by playing off the labour of rich western nations to that of poor third world nations.The important factor that these greedy oppressive companies fail to realise is that,once you have enslaved people via long hours of endeavour and mortages,they lose the ability to be creative and add to the general productivity for the benefit of society and themselves.

Our whole system is failing because the rules of international economics are not fair nor clearly defined.People who produce the goods should be paid enough to consume them.The level playing field is neither real or obtainable.In many poor countries people work long hours for subsistance wages.Aborigines on the coastal regions of our country 200 yrs ago worked 3hrs a day for their needs.I work at least 12 hrs a day with a whole lot of stress and feel that I'm just a slave to both the banks,insurance companies,lawyers and lazy Govt.

You have not addressed the balance of trade deficits both here and in the US.It is not sustainable,unless we learn to live in poverty like the third world countries from which we import these cheap consumerables.

" No one is exempt from the call to find common ground.
In the end a sense of mutual understanding isn't enough.After all, talk is cheap; like any value, empathy must be acted upon.Where does America want to put their time,energy and money?Those are the true tests of what we value, regardless of what we like to tell ourselves. If we aren't willing to pay a price for our values,if we aren't willing to make some sacrifices in order to realize them, then we should ask ourselves whether we truly believe in them at all.
By these standards at least,it sometimes appears that Americans today value nothing so much as being rich, thin, young,famous,safe, and entertained.We say we value the legacy we leave the next generation,then saddle that generation with mountains of debt.We say we believe in equal opportunity but,stand idle while millions of American children languish in poverty. We insist that we value family,but structure our economy & organize our lives so as to ensure that our families get less and less of our time.
Yet a part of us knows better.We hang on to our values,even if they seem at times tarnished & worn;even if,as a nation & in our own lives,we have betrayed them more often than we care to remember.What else is there to guide us?Those values are our inheritance,what makes us who we are as a people,& although we recognize that they are subject to challenge,can be poked & prodded,debunked &turned inside out by intellectuals & cultural critics,they have proven to be both surprisingly durable & surprisingly constant across classes,races, faiths,&generations.We can make claims on their behalf,so long as we understand that our values must be tested against fact & experience, so long as we recall that they demand deeds and not just words.To do otherwise would be to relinquish our best selves."
The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama
Posted by J.L.S. at 10:26 AM
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Canada holds more oil than Iraq's proven reserves of 112 billion barrels.It even holds more oil than Saudi Arabia's 250 billion barrels.In fact, Alberta's oil sands deposit contains between 1.75 and 2.5 trillion barrels of oil,approximately 200 billion barrels of which are recoverable with current technology. That is enough oil to supply all of Canada's petroleum needs for the next 475 years.In fact that is enough proven reserves to supply all of North America's petroleum needs for the next forty-seven years,without using a single drop of oil from another source.The volume of recoverable oil in the sands is so large that when technological advances prompted the Alberta Energy Utilities Board to include the oil sands as part of Canada's "proven reserves" in 2002, OPEC's share of world petroleum reserves dropped dramatically from 79 to 68 per cent.

Msanne you are a wealth of information.It is time for ordinary Merrycans to put that beady eyed imbecile Bush and his administration to the sword.He is the most dangerous president you've ever had.The republicans will be tempted to go to war with Iran as both a distraction to home woes and to secure more oil wealth.The tiger is most dangerous when wounded.The US presently is the most dangerous country on the planet.Perhaps the rest of the free world needs to come to it's financial aid and make it secure for all our sakes.

The Hollywood Worshippers of image without substance must learn quickly and take control of their own destinies.