Paull "I usually agree with you on economic matters, however I wonder how you can suggest that we should let the banks etc collapse when it could lead to a collapse of the entire financial system"

the Collapse of the entire system, I am not sure that would have been the outcome.

I certainly prefer the recent words from GWB that they consider the US funding to be tactical and not strategic and are seeking to have it repaid and the SU government interest in banking removed.

Governments have too much influence and power over what we do.

Whilst some might like the idea of a safety net, one wonders what would happen if government stayed out of it compeletely?

For the USA, instead of encouraging or organising loans for people who banks would not normally extend to, if they left it in the hands of the bankers to resolve and balance the "opportunity" with the "risk" on a case by case basis?

I recall in UK the government got involved in managing mortgages during a credit squeeze, which meant when I moved house to work in London, I could not get a conventional mortgage because all available funds were only available for first time buyers (Duhhhh) and those like me had to find alternative solutions to our borrowing needs.

It was all a load of bollocks, "government" by stupid dogma and decree and bugger individual merit.

Paul.L.Permo Drive an Aust invention has recently had a propsed grant of $5 million cancelled by the Rudd Govt.Similtaneously Toyota has been given 20 times this amount for the development of their Prius which is not fully developed.The US Govt want Permo Drive which is proven technology that makes diesel motors 20% more efficient by recycling brake energy.The Rudd Govt just ignores the reality.It will be financed by foreign forces.

There are numerous examples of Aust inventions being bought by foreign powers because our Govts are just too stupid and lack the capacity to recognise real innovation.We were recently leading the world in solar technology but our Aussie born chinese star was offered a deal he could not refuse by China and we just sat idlely by consumed by our impotence.

We were the leaders in computer technology in the 50's,nothing came of this because Govt is just too self serving and focused on short term advantage.

I know people who are competing against the likes of Taiwan in machining,they will spend hundreds of thousands on a few machines that have to run 24/7 with almost no profit.Even with low tarrifs they have our Unions ,OH&S the legal disease,insurances,Govt regulation and taxes that don't exist in these Asian countries.The only advantage they currently have is language ,being local and perhaps quality.

Regardless of the classification of current account deficits and our terms of trade,we are in serious debt no matter how much spin we conjure up to justify our stupidity.

*There are numerous examples of Aust inventions being bought by foreign powers because our Govts are just too stupid and lack the capacity to recognise real innovation*

Arjay, what you are saying is that Govt should have the talent to
pick winners and I have yet to see any Govt officials with that
ability. Usually it lands up with lots of taxpayers money, being
peed up against walls.

There is quite a bit of venture capital in Australia, but you need
to have a good story to tell and to tell it well. Personally I
prefer investors to make those judgements, where their money is
on the line, then some Govt. bureaucrat spending my money and he
risks nothing.

As Kerry Packer pointed out, Govt has yet to show that if we
give them any extra, that they will spend it wisely.

Yabby,
Kerry Packer at least had the power of choice as to whether he paid his share of taxes and it seems that he preferred that his money went toward Accountants fees rather than to the community that financially supported his business interests.

No matter, we paid the bill for his share ourselves.

Arjay is sadly correct about the trail of lost opportunities - as well as semiconductor and computer technology to aeronautics and black-box flight recorders, the story is always the same. How much drug research have we given to the big Pharmaceutical companies for free to develop into expensive drugs to sell back to us over the years?

Then again, who in Government is qualified to make such decisions?

Rache “his money went toward Accountants fees rather than to the community that financially supported his business interests.”

Accountancy is a recognized and honourable profession.

The costs of acquiring professional business advise is an historically recognized and legally deductible expense of business.

Lord Chief Justice Denning (at a time when the UK House of Lords was still the Supreme court of Australia) is on record for declaring
(paraphrase) Taxation is an imposition and of every individual is entitled to engage in whatever legal arrangements avoid or minimize their liability to pay tax (tax avoidance is not tax evasion).

So I fail to see what criticism you can possibly make of Kerry Packer for doing everything he did to avoid paying tax, particularly as he is no longer alive to challenge you.

As to the loss of Australian innovation to Australian manufacturing, well its like this

I supply services to (among other sectors) Australian manufacturing and have been here long enough to understand, Australia has both a physical problem and a perception problem.

The physical problem is Australia has a domestic population of 20 million, USA has a domestic population of 300 million.

Physically, the economies of scale and the market opportunity which anyone, balancing the risks of a commercial venture, will realise them more readily in a market 15 times the Australian size and hence reducing their risks on innovation in “getting it to market”.

Perceptively, much of Australia’s manufacturing has been set up as the subsidiary of overseas entities. Much of the belief of Australian manufacturing is entrenched in the misperceived belief that they are here to service only the local market. Few have invested in acquiring real understanding of overseas markets.

Regardless of that and independent of innovation, we have a massive opportunity in the business of secondary processing of the stuff we presently sell as raw material, however, a lot of wussies play the “environmental” card against some of these secondary processes, so less demanding overseas nations benefit from Australia’s intransigent attitude and inability to challenge the tree huggers and similar travelers.

*No matter, we paid the bill for his share ourselves.*

Rache, I once saw somewhere how much tax that Kerry in fact still
paid, despite minimising his tax. It was still in the hundreds
of millions of $, so I doubt that you paid for his share :)