Rinky-Dink ’Roo-Infested Didgeridoo Mill On The Other Side Of The World - Indeed - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: SgtRock
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 24, 2012, 08:02:59 pm
content: Greetings EEVBees:--Please see the below link to a Mark Steyn (Adopted Naturalized Yank and Former Canadian) column about why the Australian economy, is the only one of the "Western" economies to show any sign of common sense."Well, what does some rinky-dink ’roo-infested didgeridoo mill on the other side of the planet know about anything? Fair enough. But Australia was the only major Western nation not to go into recession after 2008. And in the last decade the U.S. dollar has fallen by half against the Oz buck: That’s to say, in 2002, one greenback bought you a buck-ninety Down Under; now it buys you 95 cents.""If Greece has been knocking back the ouzo, we’re face down in the vat."http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/294304/sun-also-sets-mark-steyn--I usually stick to things which have a direct connection to electronics, but this column points out the stupidity of the European and Yank approach to economics, versus the Australian one, so colorfully, that I had to share it. Indeed gone are the days when I thought, that the US was a bastion of Capitalism and Canada and Australia were eaten up by socialist termites. We Yanks (at least the honest ones) are eating crow pie now, though needless to say many of us did not vote for the utopian juggernaut. Lest anyone think I am being overly partisan, please note that the Republicans come off nearly as insanely stupid and the Democrats, and maybe more so considering that they claim to be for fiscal restraint."When people thought the Earth was flat, they were wrong. When people thought the Earth was spherical they were wrong. But if you think that thinking the Earth is spherical is just as wrong as thinking the Earth is flat, then your view is wronger than both of them put together."Isaac Asimov 1920 - 1992

author: vk6zgo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 25, 2012, 06:47:12 am
content: I can give you the answer in two words: Natural ResourcesAustralia is in the fortunate position of having enormous quantities of minerals which are needed in other parts of the world.We also have a relatively small,reasonably well educated population,(about the same in number as Greece or the Netherlands),occupying a country as large as the contiguous states of the USA.Unlike the USA,we don't have to be "The world's policeman",so it is reasonably easy to keep our debt within bounds.With the "mineral thing",though,we have largely hitched our wagon to the "star" of Chinese Industry.If China sneezes,we will come down with influenza!If you listen to the Leader of the Opposition ,& some of the Tories on this forum,"We'll all Be Rooned before the year is out!"So there's a second opinion!In my opinion,the USA will survive the present crisis,eventually things will sort themselves out.Bad times? Yes,but not 1920s--30s bad times!!

author: ciccio
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2012, 11:33:48 am
content: I do not understand economy very well, but I believe that myself, or my accountant, or most of my friends and colleagues, could have done better than the professors who have the control of economics (and politics) in EU and USA.My grandfather told me: never, never, never make a debt to get the money to pay another debt: you'll end up swimming in the shit. That what they are doing now, and that is our destination: a sea of shit.Maybe Australia has less professors in the key positions, or better common sense in the population...Sad regards.

author: nanofrog
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2012, 04:04:47 pm
content: Quote from: SgtRock on March 24, 2012, 08:02:59 pmThis is what I've noticed as well. They blab on about fiscal responsibility, then spend recklessly.Sadly, it seems corporations have bought and paid for enough politicians that party affiliation doesn't matter anymore, as they're serving corporate interests rather than the American People.

author: westfw
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2012, 04:16:51 pm
content: >> Australia was the only major Western nation not to go into recession after 2008.No offense intended, but I thought Australia was pretty much on the brink of recession well before 2008, and pretty much remains there now.http://catallaxyfiles.com/2011/09/07/is-australia-in-recession/for example.(Don't know why. The people in high-tech form Australia that I've worked with have been nigh-on brilliant, and I spent some time suspecting Australia would become one of the new high-tech superpowers. Then I read what the business people had to say. Sigh.)

author: vk6zgo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 27, 2012, 04:35:47 am
content: Things are not all that bad,or all that good,We don't have people starving in the streets,but the roads aren't paved with gold,either.Australia has done better overall than other countries.I wouldn't place a lot of credence in the stuff that businessmen peddle--they are wrong more often than they are right.I would like to see them stop moaning & try to make their businesses work better,rather than blaming everybody but themselves when things go wrong.But that won't happen,because very few of them have any real understanding of the business they are in.

author: siliconmix
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 27, 2012, 07:31:33 am
content: Quote from: vk6zgo on March 27, 2012, 04:35:47 amdo you have homelessness ?

author: graynomad
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 28, 2012, 09:08:04 am
content: QuoteYep, in the cities just like everywhere else I assume. Don't ask me for figures though as I wouldn't have a clue.And as a rule we spend too much as well, both personally and as a country, but so far we've got away with it due I suppose to the minerals referred to above.OTOH we're loosing our manufacturing like there's no tomorrow and the farmers are ploughing their crops in because the supermarkets buy cheaper from Brazil et al.So if the excrement ever comes in contact with the rotating cooling device we will have forgotten how to make anything and won't be able to feed ourselves.It's a good place to live but it ain't perfect.______Rob

author: siliconmix
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 28, 2012, 10:42:51 am
content: not so bad in oz being homeless at least it warm.i met an old school friend on facebook (not with facebook anymore) spoke to him for a few months.turns out he's homeless.he had about 200 friends more than me.

author: graynomad
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 28, 2012, 11:48:56 am
content: Yeah it's much easier to be poor when it's warm.______Rob

author: Unknown
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 28, 2012, 12:06:25 pm
content: Quote from: vk6zgo on March 25, 2012, 06:47:12 amA pretty accurate summation.QuoteIf we (Australia) follow along the current path some degree of ruin is inevitable! Basing your economy almost solely resource sales is fine while you command the market but if Chinese product has any significant down torn we are left with a bunch of rocks and manufacturing and agriculture sectors ruined by political neglect.QuoteOf course the USA will survive, they can if they put their mind to it actually produce and export stuff. Recovery is already underway, what the US is suffering is a correction. The US will recover long before Europes legions of paper shufflers and number changers.QuoteNot really bad times at all. But certainly tough times, more due to a clueless stand for nothing government held to ransom by a bunch of green lunatics,than by any global crisis.When GFC hit Australian government had a decade worth of savings to soften the blow, most of this was squandered in 18 short months. If GFC II hit tomorrow Australia would be hurt badly.Australia is bloody wonderful place to live, but it is becoming an ever more difficult place to operate and grow a business. Thankfully we are 17 odd months away from redressing that trend.All the shiny suits and analysts in the world (you know the ones that missed onset of a GFC completely) won't change the basics of Grandma economics.- You can only legally sell a commodity once- You cannot spent what you don't earn- If you run up a messload of debt you'll go without for an eternity paying it off- If you want to earn more you have to produce more- If you don't plan for rainy days during sunny days you go without all through the wet.No amount of chart's. forcasts, predictions or pointy head analysis can change the basics. Never could never will!

author: Unknown
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 28, 2012, 12:20:05 pm
content: Quote from: vk6zgo on March 27, 2012, 04:35:47 amDepends on which businessmen you are referring to. If it's washed up retail moguls down to their last few million who'd assumed the internet was just a fad, then I'd agree. If you are referring to the legions of have a go business people who fund much of the nation then your talking rubbish.QuoteNot sure if that last statement was naive or just plain ignorant. Ever run a business?If you had to stump up for an extra 3% super for your workforce, in a difficult financial climate, at the whim of moronic politicians maybe you'd be a little snaky too. Especially when said moronic politicians sell it as something THEY have done for the nation.Carbon taxes, mountains of expensive malarkey under the guise of safety, if you had to cop it you'd be complaining too or ding what the silent business majority is doing and move your enterprise offshore.

author: vk6zgo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 28, 2012, 02:43:41 pm
content: Unc,you must watch your blood pressure!Yeah.of course there are plenty of business people out there who just get on with things & don't moan,but they are the ones that have a bit of a handle on what their business is about!I have run a business-------Once!It was a corner Deli,& it was a big mistake------Oh,Boy! Was it ever a big mistake!!I have worked in a number of businesses over the years,& watched idiots throw away money with the most stupid of decisions.When you see halfwit CEOs go from one company to another in the TV industry,destroying perfectly good organisations,then when somebody with a brain among the shareholders gets enough support to "give them the bum's rush",still walk away with a golden handshake,it shakes your faith in business!During the '80s & '90s ,we got a lot of people racing around,wanting to completely change a company's orientation.If you dared to say "What about our existing customers?",they would spout such crap as the "Buggywhip maker analogy".If you persisted,you would be regarded as having a "negative attitude to change".Yes,I would say many businessmen get things wrong!And that segment of the business community usually have the biggest mouths!Don't worry,Unc,your mob will get back in next election,& all will be sweetness & light!

author: Unknown
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 28, 2012, 03:01:01 pm
content: Quote from: vk6zgo on March 28, 2012, 02:43:41 pmThey certainly will! The sooner the better! The only worry being that there will be little effective opposition to keep them on their toes!Still anything that will remove the influence Barking Bob and his Dr's wives greens has to be in the best interest of the nation.

author: Unknown
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 28, 2012, 03:05:29 pm
content: Quote from: vk6zgo on March 28, 2012, 02:43:41 pmOdd then, that after all that you'd favour politicians that do the same thing with taxpayer funds, on a national scale.

author: Time
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 28, 2012, 03:36:31 pm
content: the 1:.95 for AUD:US is a weak argument. In terms of global market the US dollar is still the safest investment. The US debt is still the safest debt in the international market. 43% of all cross border transactions in the world are made with the US dollar. 61% of foreign currency reserves are in the US dollar. The runner up to this is the Euro at less than 30% of the reserves.Accusing Obama of running up the debt is just an example of the simplistic naive republican view, totally lacking in any kind of fiscal insight or logic. He didn't authorize 2 major wars and than huge tax cuts. He didn't allow the prescription drug price gouging legislation that cost as much as a war. Obama was put behind the wheel of a bus that was careening down a hill on fire.On a side note, if you don't think Australian politicians aren't in bed with the US and make their foreign policy and major economic decisions independent of US advisement and approval than I envy you for not being burdened with such political insights.

author: SgtRock
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 28, 2012, 04:40:27 pm
content: Dear Time:--With regard to the National Debt, please note that Steyn did not make any accusations. He merely stated facts which are part of the public record. Also please note that the US invaded Afghanistan within a week of 9/11, because of the role of the Taliban, al-Qaeda and OBL. Even President Obama has supported this war and called it the "Good War". Of course President Bush (the younger) is responsible for the Bush tax cuts as is President Obama who signed a bill, which was approved by a majority of Democrats, to extend the "Bush" tax cuts. So now they are the Obama tax cuts. Please note also, that increasing a given tax rate does not automatically, always increase revenue, as they are finding out in the UK. Also please note that Bush is not getting a pass on his non-war spending, the majority of which was spent on liberal programs, like the Drug Bill, the Agriculture Bill and the Education bill, all of which had overwhelming Democratic support. Bush must also bear much of the blame for the anti-capitalist and fascistic TARP Program, which baled out businesses that should have been allowed to fail. The TARP Program was frenziedly supported at the time by almost all Democrats, not least of which was the Democratic presidential candidate. In my original post, I mentioned, that perhaps the Republicans deserve more blame because they claim to be for financial restraint.--I must respectfully disagree with the notion that the present administration can tax and regulate the US into financial prosperity. As Steyn notes the next administration, even if it is Republican, will likely lack the intestinal fortitude to do anything but kick the can down the road, until the world markets lower the boom.--In my view the Australian economy is not due to "raw materials" which the US has also, but is more likely due to the fact that the Australian people are less inclined to believe what comes out of their television sets, and newspapers. Pass the Ouzo."When people thought the Earth was flat, they were wrong. When people thought the Earth was spherical they were wrong. But if you think that thinking the Earth is spherical is just as wrong as thinking the Earth is flat, then your view is wronger than both of them put together."Isaac Asimov 1920 - 1992

author: Teknotronix
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 28, 2012, 05:46:13 pm
content: Quote from: Time on March 28, 2012, 03:36:31 pmI can't really see how the US dollar is a safe investment considering how much they dilute its value with the notion of just printing more of it. When the debt needs to be repayed, just watch as they effectively reduce their liability by inflating the markets, in turn wiping more value from the currency.

author: SgtRock
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 28, 2012, 06:03:23 pm
content: Dear Tecknotronix:--Well said, Sir. People are always telling me about the price of gas in the US, and blaming the evil companies. I like to point out that, if you plot petroleum against gold, the thing that is moving for the most part is the US dollar, downward. I hardly think that the global currency markets are supporting the idea that the Greenback is still the safest investment. The Democrats are robbing the store. The Republicans are in the parking lot with the motor running. If I were not 64 years old, I would be trying to emigrate to the land down under. Good on ya.“Horse sense is the thing a horse has which keeps it from betting on people."W. C. Fields (William Claude Dunkenfield) 1880 - 1946Best RegardsClear Ether

author: Teknotronix
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 28, 2012, 06:07:09 pm
content: Investment in a currency that is manipulated in this fashion is analogous to a business that says as soon as your shares have any capital gain, we are going to leverage against that, never pay you a dividend and dilute you off. Personally that's not a business I am investing in.Yeah, the push for gold or another value control mechanism is something that is being looked at globally. If other economies ditch the US dollar as the leading control mechanism, and turn to more non-volatile options, long term their stability might increase and leave the US in their dust. China comes to mind.

author: Jeff1946
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 28, 2012, 09:58:39 pm
content: Had a nice 5 week visit last year. Shockers pack of cigarettes $A 16 ($17 USA $). Couple of French girls I met were rolling their own. Minimum wage was about $16 also which I believe accounts for the high cost of restaurants and other stores in the service industry.

author: vk6zgo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 28, 2012, 11:54:10 pm
content: Quote from: Uncle Vernon on March 28, 2012, 03:05:29 pmInterestingly,Unc,in your earlier post,you sought to question my qualifications to make a comment about businessmen by asking:"Ever run a business?".I might ask" Ever run a country? "--I certainly haven't,& I have no insight into the circumstances or restraints under which Julia Gillardor Tony Abbott must operate.Of course,Tony might not make it,there are still a lot of people in the Liberal Party who think they "have a Field Marshal's baton in their kitpack".---Julie Bishop,perhaps?In closing,I am as old as dirt,& ever since I could read,businessmen have been crying out "The sky is falling!!"Well.the sky is still there,& there still are businessmen!PS: this is interesting,Unc!Here we are having an argument about Oz politics,whilst at the same time,the Sarge & others are having a parallel unconnected argument about US politics----Bugger it! Let's go & bitch about Electronics Newbies instead,--It's more fun!

author: Teknotronix
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 28, 2012, 11:59:22 pm
content: Quote from: vk6zgo on March 28, 2012, 11:54:10 pmWell all of the chatter is relevant. The term "global economy" is very much a reality so all these concerns are connected in some way.As for the your "sky is falling" comment, you are completely right. No matter how bad an economy is performing, the money is somewhere, its just a matter of time before it becomes available again. Wash, rinse, repeat.

author: SgtRock
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 29, 2012, 07:22:38 am
content: Dear Vk6zgo:--You stated:"Here we are having an argument about Oz politics,whilst at the same time,the Sarge & others are having a parallel unconnected argument about US politics----Bugger it! Let's go & bitch about Electronics Newbies instead,--It's more fun!"--Please consider reading my original post with which I started this thread. I cited (and cite again below) a post by Mark Steyn, the point of which is that the US and European economies are in the dumper while the Australian economy soldiers on. So, I am unable to see how mentioning (briefly) the spendthrift, pie in the sky, policies of both major US political parties (a pox on both their houses), is parallel, unconnected, or in any way off topic. Nor do I think it is just to accuse me of hijacking my own thread. I responded to Time only to make the point that, responsibility for the eventual catastrophic financial collapse of the US economy, due to horrendously prodigal spending, in pursuit of a utopian welfare state, is going to require a lot more villains than just George Bush.http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/294304/sun-also-sets-mark-steyn--With regard to the comments by our esteemed avuncular curmudgeon, let me say that I find myself in accord, and I thank him for not comparing me to a chimpanzee, or recommending that folks put me on ignore, as per usual."But leave the Wise to wrangle, and with meThe Quarrel of the Universe let be:And, in some corner of the Hubbub couch'd,Make Game of that which makes as much of Thee."Omar Khyayyam" 1048 1131Best RegardsClear Ether

author: vk6zgo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 29, 2012, 08:39:32 am
content: No,Sarge,I wasn't really criticising you,but Unc & I had drifted off a bit.Unc has made some very valid points ,which show that all is not "sweetness & light" here down under!I agree!Where we differ,is in the part of the Political spectrum we inhabit.I feel,though,that if the conservative side of our political system had been in power after the election in late 2007,many of the same outcomes would have occurred.In other words,the fact we rode through the GFC is more due to the fact that China,as our major minerals customer rode through it .Demonising one side or the other of politics,whether Julia Gillard,Tony Abbott,or George W Bush,for that matter,doesn't really get to the core of the matter.I don't know the answers for this country,or the USA,anyhow!Any political party in Australia has the problem that you can win an election in an "avalanche",where you have a commanding majority of seats in the House of Representatives,but you may only have a few % majority inoverallvotes.This is due to our "one Member electorates",where a popular Member may receive an overwhelming number of votes,but those votes in excess of the number needed to elect him/her,stay in that electorate ,& don't count towards the party's overall majority.In other words,a majority in Parliament is a majority of electorates won in the election.As an example,on many occasions, Prime Ministers have had large increases in their own seat,while the overall numbers of seats wonmay have fallen.You can,in fact lose an election with your overall vote at 53% & the other Party at 47%.Overall votes don't count in electing a Government,but they do count in "winning the hearts & minds of the people".Governments of whatever flavour must operate with that in mind,& not upset too many of the people who voted against your policies,because they can be pretty "bloody-minded" & obstructive to the progress of a legislative program.Not wise to alienate the Unions or the Farmers!Then there's the Senate!But I won't go there!(Nobody would elect me anyway!)