Good point rechtub, things are looking bad for business but WOW and D.S. both rely, as does most of the retail sector on the importation of cheap foreign product to conduct their business. They are only merchants and as such do nothing to create wealth but simply exploit the cost differential between our economy and those of the poorer countries. I can state categorically, that most of what is offered in our retail sector has been produced in free market zones in south-east Asia with labour costs of about $2 a day. The de-regulation doctrine instituted by our previous federal government’s directly resulted in allowing the flood of cheap product into our retail sector which obviously undermined our manufacturing base. The other downside to this loss was that our unemployment numbers rose dramatically and now hover around 700000 people on the dole. The Australian labour force cannot compete in this extremely uneven playing field; consequently we no longer produce our own wealth and rely on buying cheap product into the country to sustain our standard of living. This situation would not be so bad if indeed our state governments had handled the responsibility of managing the exploitation of our natural resources in a manner which enriched the Australian economy more equitably. If we are riding high on the back of the mining boom the why is the country getting deeper into dept. Perhaps our multi-billionaires and the rest of the mining industry will agree to paying the taxes due to this country instead of hiding their incomes in offshore tax havens.
DEN71

So who pays to keep them, us!
rehctub,
of course. we can invest the money we spend on waste, on them instead. Can't see the problem ?
Every hanger-on bureaucrat's pay cut by 10% , flat tax 20% & you'll have more money than you can poke a stick at.
The reason why economies are so stuffed is because they're run by economists.

instead of hiding their incomes in offshore tax havens.
DEN71,
Offshore havens don't have the insane rules & regulations we have in hangers-on countries pretending to be democracies.
Anyone with money & an ounce of sense will tell you that those countries are only good for exploitation but not investment.
You want money flowing to these shores ? Change Government ! Simple.

579 If it's not essential, people are not buying. A shock-wave went through the community, when America and Europe collapsed. And there may never be a recovery, consumer confidence went through the floor.

That was only what started it, the real confidence hit came from successive labor blunders, createing poorly run schemes, providing faulse hope for workers, encouraging them to buy homes, only to stuff the whole thing up, not once, not twice, but as many as ten times in the past four years.

One of the main factors in consumer spending, is the knowing that what they spend, can be replaced.

This replacement factor relies on job security and, when the government places to many hurdles in the way of business, they to tend to loose confidence, the difference being, their spending creates jobs, rather than just feeding them.

Now someone mentioned that I appear happy about it all, well I can assure you I am far from it.

I just wish governments would listen to people who know what's going on, rather than base their assumptions on what has happened in the past.

Even now we have a business forum, including business leaders, aimed at fixing what labor has broken, but the sad part is, that had they held their forum before pulling the trigger, we may not be in this position.

You know there is a huge problem when our dollar is where it is, these retailers buy from the $2 a day countries, yet they can't survive.

Abbott is wanting to load up business with a parental leave scheme funded by business. Capped at 150,000 / couple.
So lets not blame Labor conclusively.
The commodities from the $2/ day countries are over represented. It's about time there was a pull back, all that is doing is supporting jobs in a foreign country. These type of retailers are not a necessity.
190,000 jobs on offer as of 8.3.12 says it all.
An inquiry into business is in line with an election 15 months away.

I don't see why the present situation in the economy, is such a bad
thing. Australian private debt is way too high. Finally people are
putting something away for a rainy day and paying off debt.

We live in a market economy, so industry needs to adjust to consumers
and not the other way around. IMHO we have been massively overserviced
by retail, as any old fool can rent a shop and flog their
wares. Our retailers have been buying cheap and flogging expensive
for years, now consumers are waking up that they have been ripped
off, as the internet exposes the rip offs. So the gravy train for
retail is ending, it will have to become competitive and alot of
shops will have to close. So be it.

Meantime there are plenty of jobs, for those who bother with a
qualification. I just had a look at the West job ads, they are
looking for IT people, welders, mechanics, electricians, plumbers,
welders, truckies, the list goes on and on. If people prefer the
dole to obtaining a skill, well so be it. Perhaps they have just
had it too good for too long. That is really our problem in Australia,
we have made working optional, for the gravy train is
large enough, that plenty need not bother.