With all the pandemonium over the coming Federal Budget and the continuing problems emerging both directly and indirectly as a result the Global Financial meltdown,....could this be an opportune time for the Rudd Government to formulate and present a Bill for the implementation of Wage and Price Control ( as a single Bill, not a two part Bill as was Gough Whitlam`s attempt ) which may well help to stabilize what is fast becoming a very shaky future economy?

I realise that when the subject of Wage Control is mentioned, there is an immediate howl of protest by the "vested interest" groups, who themselves are the recipients of regular and very lucrative wage or salary increases, and human nature being what it is, most people would immediately opt for Price Control without the essential burden of Wage Control, ( as happened with Gough`s attempt ), however commonsense necessitates that any move in this direction must combine the two issues together to achieve any real benefit in the long term!

The mindset of the masses has been for a very long time ingrained with the belief that we HAVE to have inflation to make the world go round!....this is simply "fat cat" propoganda, ensuring that the people at the top of the heap continue with their obscene profiteering. The result of this "greed syndrome" has been finally realised with the Global Financial meltdown, and if we are to continue along this path of "greed is good", we will inevitably see more and more collapses and financial trauma, which as has been observed, continues to have a devastating affect on the little people at the bottom of the heap, as well as the national economy!

It is Time!

“Wage and Price Control”

Well its failed before and Krudd seems hell bent on implementing every failed socialist policy of the past, so maybe “It is Time” again for this piece of Keynesian theoretic dementia.

Then we can get back to sensible and prudent liberal fiscal management, where people decide for themselves what to buy and what job to do at prices which they negotiate, instead of expecting the government to decide everything for them.

The comment “The mindset of the masses ….”

Should be modified to say “…..has been for a very long time ingrained with the belief that we HAVE to have big and powerful government to make the world go round!....this is simply "fat cat" propaganda”

Leave decisions with individuals, they are closer to the circumstances of their own lives and more able to respond to them… government is a useless way of delivering anything because the fat-cat bureaucrats just add to the cost without contributing anything to the benefit.

It has been tried by most countries at least once, and has managed to fail every time.

Not even Krudd would be silly enough to drag up that old socialist dinosaur.

In theory wage and price control sound feasible and even desirable, but in practice it does not appear to work very well. There are other mechanisms to control inflation and wages that are fairer and allow some flexibility in the event of changing circumstances.

You would have to achieve close to universal agreement among workers, producers, and manufacturers on the value of their labour or products.

Too many vested and self interests for it to work.

Consumers wield more power than we credit.

Much as I dislike a lot about our capitalist system, I must agree, any attempt to impose such controls is like putting concrete in a tumble-dryer, the end product is useless, and it wrecks the machine in the process.

The problem is that whilst we say that " Wage and Price Control" cannot work, we have no other option then to continue down the same old dreary road of " the dog chasing it`s tail " with price increases followed by wages demands in a never-ending spiral of ever increasing profit making by big business, company directors, CEO`s, Politicians and a plethora of other vested interest groups.

We only have to take note of recent public exposures of the gross profiteering by the countries largest supermarket chains, in areas such as meat purchasing,....the price they are paying the farmers and the obscene prices that they are charging the consumers for meat products that look magnificent in the display case, but taste like crap when they are consumed ( or fed to the dog!).....we ask why this is happening, but we get spurious answers in reply,.... the truth is that gross profiteering again is responsible for this situation of poor quality meat in the display cabinets,....profit made by our "quality" meat being shipped overseas and sold to the customer who is prepared, or can afford to pay a lot more for the product than the Australian consumer!

I am not opposed to an overseas market, however for too long now we Aussie consumers have subsidized the Export market by allowing our prime produce to go overseas whilst having to make do at home with a second or third grade product, at a first grade price!

I do believe that the consumers of this country should get the first bite at the apple and the surplus or glut product should be exported to those countries in need,......if our current overseas recipients think that our surplus product is not good enough for them,.....tough titties,...they have had it too good for too long anyway!

Perhaps you answered your own question as to the efficacy of wage and price control when you referred to Whitlam. We all know what Whitlam did to the economy. Wage and price control is a socialist thing that stunts the economy without doing much for the lower paid.

You also mention greed. From your "howls of protest" from "vested interest" groups, you seem to be attributing greed only to the 'rich and powerful'. Don't forget the greed and demand for immediate satisfaction from the hoi polloi. Rabid consumerism has increased prices. If we all decided against buying uneccessay 'luxury' goods for a while, we would have the best price control possible.

I think that we have to leave the market system as it is, without undue government interference. We, as consumers, have to play our role in the system by denying the rip-off merchants our money untile they do something about their prices - which they must if they want our custom.

Too many people damn the free market system without trying to play their essential role in it. The system is the least-bad one we know of, and does not necessarily need to be run by the top end of town. Customers are essential for business, and they are the ones with the real power - if only they would give up their need for instant gratification and exercise that power.

On the other hand, there needs to be some investigation into the pricing of the necessities of life, such as food and basic clothing. We cannot stop buying these things. However, we have seen the inability of the ACCC to deal with supermarkets who now, it seems, are paying farmers less for their produce than they did 10 years ago, while charging the customer more than they did 10 years ago. It has been suggested that, at the rate primary producers are dropping out of the market, Australia will not be able to feed itself sometime in the future.

The basic thing nobody asks is why do people take drugs of any sort? Why do we have these accessories to normal living to live? I mean, is there something wrong with society that's making us so pressurized, that we cannot live without guarding ourselves against it?

cart

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" the dog chasing it`s tail "

so wages and price control makes a dog chasing its tail illegal... I will now try to find a dog who complies.... somehow I think I will have a long search....

"gross profiteering by the countries largest supermarket chains, in areas such as meat purchasing"

I recall the complete failure or any attempt by ACCC, and the Keating government of the time to prevent the merger of Coles / Myer and Woolworth / Safeway (actually I think Keating was all approval.. typical of that short-pant economist). The concentration of purchasing power into fewer wholesale buying groups and distribution through their own controlled retail outlets is the problem with the "profiteering" which Cuphandle mentions...

To address it requires two things...

1 Proper review by a Monopolies and Mergers commission (UK Term... ACCC in Aussie and Federal Trade Commission in USA)

2 Breakdown of mega groups... as the FTC have been trying to do with Microsoft, did do in USA with the Funeral Service Monopoly,and historically did with the Standard Oil / Rockafella Cartel back a hundred years ago, in USA.

Which has nothing whatsoever to do with Wages and Price controls.

Leigh (Mr Right) agree with your response...

cart I think you are on the wrong thread