Pericles;
Well I would not press that globalisation won't work in a low or zero
growth economies.
We will have to wait and see I guess.

You said;
I could make an equally convincing case that the recent decline in
growth was caused by the GFC,

Well actually the GFC was caused by the end of growth of oil production in 2006 !
That is the date of conventional crude oil peak.
The International Energy Authority in their 2010 Outlook report
said so and it was spot on for several predictions of oil field
experts including Colin Campbell, Kenneth Deffreys and Jean Laherrer.
The oil price rose during 2005 to 2008 when it reached $147 for WTI
in July and the economy crashed in September.

The petrol in the US got to $4+ during 2007 & 2008 and all those car
commuters had a choice, buy food, buy petrol or pay the mortgage.
The housing crashed and took those CDRs and a few banks with them.

In 2010 fracking got seriously underway because the oil companies
knew they were in a bind and had to find new supply.
Fracking had been used for 30 years to a small extent but it is an
expensive process and currently has a well head cost about $70 to $80.

This has enabled the present very weak growth to continue but if you
read Jean Laherrer's report you will realise it cannot continue.

http://tinyurl.com/n7arawv

There is a link on the above page to his original report.

Somewhat related to what we have been discussing about globalisation.
The export of our natural gas production.
Here is an article related to whether the US will export crude oil and
using the UK's experience with export and whether it was worth it.

I can see a similar situation with our export of gas.
Under the WTO and the incoming trade agreement, the TTP,
Trans Pacific Trade agreement soon to be signed we could be sued by
foreign companies if we refused to export gas.

So I think this article which is about oil has lessons for our gas export.

http://www.resilience.org/stories/2014-02-04/u-s-crude-oil-exports-really-a-look-at-the-uk

Bit long that, try this;

http://tinyurl.com/l7n3vnx

While I placed great importance on my thread about Union corruption I give this thread equal billing.
We do need to look at our trading future.
I have just read an American financial wizz, who among other things predicted the 2008 crash.
He warns that China will find trouble next year and too that we will suffer.
He tells us he thinks 50 percent will be wiped of our housing prices in a burst bubble.
So watching our spending personal at least matters.
Reforms must come that increase productivity in this country .
A given truth but it seems not the time to risk markets but to look for more that help us grow.

Individual
The hawke/ Keating government, floated the dollar, opened the economy to global competition, cut tariffs across industries, introduced banking competition, introduced telco competition, eviscerated the unions, removed free tertiary education, privatised the cba, and others, introduced compulsory super to unburden the public expense for a growing number of retires.

Is there a coalition government who could have even dreamed of implementing a fraction of these changes?. Your display of partisan cheer leading is entirely disconnected from any fragment of reality. The hawke / Keating government had its failings, the Rudd / Gillard government even more so. But no coalition government holds a candle to hawke/ Keating. The preceding coalition Fraser government is by comparison a rabid communist cabal.

On the other hand, the Howard government, can claim it found Australia's true calling by stripping us into one big global quarry, delegating all foreign policy to Washington, whilst domestically concentrating media ownership, enabling cartel domination by Coles / Safeway and the banks, casualizing the workforce. Ostensibly reducing the number of public servants but overseeing the introduction of even greater wastage by public funds being directed to egregious consultancies and contracting of anything and everything.

As for Abbott , playing chicken with the automative industry, lets see how this plays out. Negotiation, bluff and bluster is all part of the political landscape. But if in the end Australia loses its automotive industry entirely, Abbott will oversee a one term government. Put simply the loss of the automotive industry would be a catastrophic disaster - an act of political and economic vandalism.

Right now neither the coalition or the ALP is fit to govern.

Yebiga, everything you said could be true or false, it does not matter a fig.
The game is now operating under different rules.
It is no longer business as usual !

Conventional crude oil peaked in 2006 at about 82 Million Barrels a day.
It is now down to 72 MBD. FRacking for tight oil has buffered it up to
meet demand, albeit at much higher price.
Tight oil is now peaking and will start declining this year.
That means all oil will start declining, unless Iraq can perform a
miracle.
All this depends on interest rates in the US remaining very low.
If interest rates rise the tight oil finance will disappear and it
will be every country for itself.

The pressure this will put on politicians will be enormous.
Can you imagine the demand for fuel when Australia goes onto strict
rationing, provided we can get a guarantee that the oil we sell can
be refined to petrol & diesel just for us ?
We may be able to barter gas for petrol & diesel.

About the first thing that will happen is that all international
trade agreements will go straight into the bin.
This especially applies to Australia because we will be at the mercy
of world markets to get our 1 MBD and we really are small cheese in
that scramble.

YERBIGA welcome I see the total truth in your post others highlight Individual, will never agree.
You and I know apart from 2010 to 2013 the ALP best serves on a too party system near or just over half our population.
Yet street corner sprooker,s here talk of us as if we are vermin.

Recent research information on the type of people who vote one way or the other was interesting.
To say the least conservatives it said are more likely to fear things that do not exist.
A great site OLO but we, who are not just right of far right are thin on the ground.