I heard in another thread that the Australian economy is taking a downturn. I'm curious to know why? Mismanaged? In what way? Who's if anyone's fault is it? Is the current Prime Minister really a Bush ally? Am I hearing things?

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Is our children learning? -George W. Bush

"I think—tide turning—see, as I remember—I was raised in the desert, but tides kind of—it's easy to see a tide turn—did I say those words?"—Washington, D.C., June 14, 2006

"[T]he illiteracy level of our children are appalling."—Washington, D.C., Jan. 23, 2004

I haven't heard this? As much as the Howard government is generally despised at home, his management of the economy is nothing short of brilliant. It might surprise many in the US to know that Australia does not have a national debt. Yup, we owe $0 - nothing, not a drop! This is why we've received tax cuts each year for the past five years, as we have produced surplus budgets every year due to revenue exceeding debts. Granted our interest rates have gone up in the past year, but they are still among the lowest in the world, and they have been deliberately risen by the Federal Reserve Bank as a means of slowing the growth of the economy. Still, like any boom it can't continue forever....

Part of our growth though is being fueled by the dramatic demand for natural ore deposits from China and India, which is driving a huge natural resources boom, particularly in Western Australia. The value of our national mining exports have increased four-fold over the past year alone.

Yes, reino, John Howard is a close ally of President Bush.

Noahath, economics is not my strong point. But doesn't Australia have a huge foreign debt?

Also, in part, our strong economy belies a few facts, such as the cut backs in social services, education and other areas of government spending.

We will see the true effects of these cut backs when a recession hits us, reino.

Tethys

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-- Harry S. Truman

Hi Tehys,

Nope, the Treasurer announced at the end of last year that Australia is now officially debt free. However, we have a large a mount of personal debt, ie what Australian's as individuals owe; but in terms of what we owe as a nation, we owe zero.

I also totally agree with what you've said; that this economic growth has come at the expense of pretty much every social programmatic aspect of the country. We have a health crisis, a water crisis, an education crisis, and energy crisis, et.al.

Interesting. So personal debt is enourmous? Sounds like folks down under don't know how to manage their spending on a personal level. And neither do Americans.

__________________
Is our children learning? -George W. Bush

"I think—tide turning—see, as I remember—I was raised in the desert, but tides kind of—it's easy to see a tide turn—did I say those words?"—Washington, D.C., June 14, 2006

"[T]he illiteracy level of our children are appalling."—Washington, D.C., Jan. 23, 2004

You're quite right there. I think it's a lot to do with our level of affluence and a sound economy in that people feel the need to have everything now, rather than save for it.

The average american spends 101% of his income. So don't feel bad. I only spend 60% of mine.

__________________
Is our children learning? -George W. Bush

"I think—tide turning—see, as I remember—I was raised in the desert, but tides kind of—it's easy to see a tide turn—did I say those words?"—Washington, D.C., June 14, 2006

"[T]he illiteracy level of our children are appalling."—Washington, D.C., Jan. 23, 2004

Noah, so you believe what Peter Costello tells you? You haven't heard of creative accounting? They do the same with a Federal Budget.

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Lucky is he (sic) who has been able to understand the causes of things
Virgil