Comments on: Jim Turnour on Political Leadership and Much More

By: Jennifer Marohasy » Australian Parliamentarian, and Sceptic, Banned from Tabling Climate Data

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 08:55:48 +0000

[...] correctly pointed out in the comments following the original posting, my brother Jim Turnour, also a member of the Federal Parliament, has a Batchelor of Agricultural Science. He actually [...]

By: rog

rog — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 09:46:04 +0000

Anyway, anybody who puts their hand up as the elected representative of a community has already earned my tick of approval, irrespective of their how they dress.

Its a thankless task

By: Alex McAdam

Alex McAdam — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 23:20:15 +0000

Then I guess we don’t have to worry about CO2 emissions beyond 2015, eh?

Not big trouble, just a realignment of the economic song lines after a few decades of unrealistically cheap energy and cheap food. Of course, if you have covered your back yard with concrete then your food bills might get a bit sensitive.

And remember, town planners have been in complete control of the housing industry world wide for the past three decades and look what they have delivered. An undersupply of too much house at a cost that the average couple cannot stay married while trying to pay off.

Planned poverty.

By: rog

rog — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 23:10:01 +0000

Idiot

By: Truxter

Truxter — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 22:58:22 +0000

Don’t believe one optimistic word from any public figure about the economy or humanity in general. They are all part of the problem. Its like a game of Monopoly. In America, the richest 1% now hold 1/2 OF ALL UNITED STATES WEALTH. Unlike ‘lesser’ estimates, this includes all stocks, bonds, cash, and material assets held by America’s richest 1%. Even that filthy pig Oprah acknowledged that it was at about 50% in 2006. Naturally, she put her own ‘humanitarian’ spin on it. Calling attention to her own ‘good will’. WHAT A DISGUSTING HYPOCRITE SLOB. THE RICHEST 1% HAVE LITERALLY MADE WORLD PROSPERITY ABSOLUTELY IMPOSSIBLE. Don’t fall for any of their ‘humanitarian’ CRAP. ITS A SHAM. THESE PEOPLE ARE CAUSING THE SAME PROBLEMS THEY PRETEND TO CARE ABOUT. Ask any professor of economics. Money does not grow on trees. The government can’t just print up more on a whim. At any given time, there is a relative limit to the wealth within ANY economy of ANY size. So when too much wealth accumulates at the top, the middle class slip further into debt and the lower class further into poverty. A similar rule applies worldwide. The world’s richest 1% now own over 40% of ALL WORLD WEALTH. This is EVEN AFTER you account for all of this ‘good will’ ‘humanitarian’ BS from celebrities and executives. ITS A SHAM. As they get richer and richer, less wealth is left circulating beneath them. This is the single greatest underlying cause for the current US recession. The middle class can no longer afford to sustain their share of the economy. Their wealth has been gradually transfered to the richest 1%. One way or another, we suffer because of their incredible greed. We are talking about TRILLIONS of dollars. Transfered FROM US TO THEM. Over a period of about 27 years. Thats Reaganomics for you. The wealth does not ‘trickle down’ as we were told it would. It just accumulates at the top. Shrinking the middle class and expanding the lower class. Causing a domino effect of socio-economic problems. But the rich will never stop. They just keep getting richer. Leaving even less of the pie for the other 99% of us to share. At the same time, they throw back a few tax deductible crumbs and call themselves ‘humanitarians’. Cashing in on the PR and getting even richer the following year. IT CAN’T WORK THIS WAY. Their bogus efforts to make the world a better place can not possibly succeed. Any ‘humanitarian’ progress made in one area will be lost in another. EVERY SINGLE TIME. IT ABSOLUTELY CAN NOT WORK THIS WAY. This is going to end just like a game of Monopoly. The current US recession will drag on for years and lead into the worst US depression of all time. The richest 1% will live like royalty while the rest of us fight over jobs, food, and gasoline. So don’t fall for any of this PR CRAP from Hollywood, Pro Sports, and Wall Street PIGS. ITS A SHAM. Remember: They are filthy rich EVEN AFTER their tax deductible contributions. Greedy pigs. Now, we are headed for the worst economic and cultural crisis of all time. Crime, poverty, and suicide will skyrocket. SEND A “THANK YOU” NOTE TO YOUR FAVORITE MILLIONAIRE. ITS THEIR FAULT. I’m not discounting other factors like China, sub-prime, or gas prices. But all of those factors combined still pale in comparison to that HUGE transfer of wealth to the rich. Anyway, those other factors are all related and further aggrivated because of GREED. If it weren’t for the OBSCENE distribution of wealth within our country, there never would have been such a market for sub-prime to begin with. Which by the way, was another trick whipped up by greedy bankers and executives. IT MAKES THEM RICHER. The credit industry has been ENDORSED by people like Oprah, Ellen, Dr Phil, and many other celebrities. IT MAKES THEM RICHER. Now, there are commercial ties between nearly every industry and every public figure. IT MAKES THEM RICHER. So don’t fall for their ‘good will’ BS. ITS A LIE. If you fall for it, then you’re a fool. If you see any real difference between the moral character of a celebrity, politician, attorney, or executive, then you’re a fool.. WAKE UP PEOPLE. THEIR GOAL IS TO WIN THE GAME. The 1% club will always say or do whatever it takes to get as rich as possible. Without the slightest regard for anything or anyone but themselves. Reaganomics. Their idea. Loans from China. Their idea. NAFTA. Their idea. Outsourcing. Their idea. Sub-prime. Their idea. High energy prices. Their idea. The commercial lobbyist. Their idea. The multi-million dollar lawsuit. Their idea. The multi-million dollar endorsement. Their idea. $200 cell phone bills. Their idea. $200 basketball shoes. Their idea. $30 late fees. Their idea. $30 NSF fees. Their idea. $20 DVDs. Their idea. Subliminal advertising. Their idea. Brainwash plots on TV. Their idea. Prozac, Zanex, Vioxx, and Celebrex. Their idea. The MASSIVE campaign to turn every American into a brainwashed, credit card, pharmaceutical, love-sick, couch potatoe, celebrity junkie. Their idea. All of the above shrink the middle class, concentrate the world’s wealth and resources, create a dominoe effect of socio-economic problems, and wreak havok on society. All of which have been CREATED AND ENDORSED by celebrities, athletes, executives, entrepreneurs, attorneys, and politicians. IT MAKES THEM RICHER. So don’t fall for any of their ‘good will’ ‘humanitarian’ BS. ITS A SHAM. NOTHING BUT TAX DEDUCTIBLE PR CRAP. In many cases, the ‘charitable’ contribution is almost entirely offset.. Not to mention the opportunity to plug their name, image, product, and ‘good will’ all at once. IT MAKES THEM RICHER. These filthy pigs even have the nerve to throw a fit and spin up a misleading defense with regard to ‘tax revenue’. ITS A SHAM. THEY SCREWED UP THE EQUATION TO BEGIN WITH. ITS THEIR OWN DAMN FAULT. If the middle and lower classes had a greater share of the pie, they could easily cover a greater share of the federal tax revenue. They are held down in many ways because of greed. Wages remain stagnant for millions because the executives, celebrities, athletes, attorneys, and entrepreneurs, are paid millions. They over-sell, over-charge, under-pay, outsource, cut jobs, and benefits to increase their bottom line. As their profits rise, so do the stock values. Which are owned primarily by the richest 5%. As more United States wealth rises to the top, the middle and lower classes inevitably suffer. This reduces the potential tax reveue drawn from those brackets. At the same time, it wreaks havok on middle and lower class communities and increases the need for financial aid. Not to mention the spike in crime because of it. There is a dominoe effect to consider. So when people forgive the rich for all of the above and then praise them for paying a greater share of the FEDERAL income taxes, its like nails on a chalk board. If these filthy pigs want to be over-paid, then they should be over-taxed as well. Remember: The richest 1% STILL own 1/2 of all United States wealth EVEN AFTER taxes, charity, and PR CRAP. A similar rule applies worldwide. There is nothing anyone can say to justify that. Anyway, there is usually a higher state and local burden on the middle and lower classes. They get little or nothing without a local tax increase. Otherwise, the red inks flows. Service cuts and lay-offs follow. Again, because of the OBSCENE distribution of bottom line wealth in this country. I can not accept any theory that our economy would suffer in any way with a more reasonable distribution of wealth. Afterall, it was more reasonable 30 years ago. Before Reaganomics came along. Before GREED became such an epidemic. Before we had an army of over-paid executives, celebrities, athletes, attorneys, investors, entrepreneurs, developers, and sold-out politicians to kiss their asses. As a nation, we were in much better shape. Lower crime rate, more widespread prosperity, stable job market, free and clear assets, lower deficit, ect. Our economy as a whole was much more stable and prosperous for the majority. WITHOUT LOANS FROM CHINA. Now, we have a more obscene distribution of bottom line wealth than ever before. We have a sold-out government, crumbling infrastructure, energy crisis, home forclosure epidemic, 13 figure national deficit, and 12 figure annual shortfall. The cost of living is higher than ever before. Most people can’t even afford basic health care. ALL BECAUSE OF GREED. I really don’t blame the 2nd -5th percentiles. No economy could ever function without some reasonable scale of personal wealth and income. But it can’t be allowed to run wild like a mad dog. ALBERT EINSTEIN TRIED TO MAKE PEOPLE UNDERSTAND. UNBRIDLED CAPITALISM ABSOLUTELY CAN NOT WORK. Bottom line: The richest 1% will soon tank the largest economy in the world. It will be like nothing we’ve ever seen before. and thats just the beginning. Greed will eventually tank every major economy in the world. Causing millions to suffer and die. Oprah, Angelina, Brad, Bono, and Bill are not part of the solution. They are part of the problem. THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A MULTI-MILLIONAIRE HUMANITARIAN. EXTREME WEALTH MAKES WORLD PROSPERITY ABSOLUTELY IMPOSSIBLE. WITHOUT WORLD PROSPERITY, THERE WILL NEVER BE WORLD PEACE OR ANYTHING EVEN CLOSE. GREED KILLS. IT WILL BE OUR DOWNFALL. Of course, the rich will throw a fit and call me a madman. Of course, they will jump to small minded conclusions about ‘jealousy’, ‘envy’, or ’socialism’. Of course, their ignorant fans will do the same. You have to expect that. But I speak the truth. If you don’t believe me, then copy this entry and run it by any professor of economics or socio-economics. Then tell a friend. Call the local radio station. Re-post this entry or put it in your own words. Be one of the first to predict the worst economic and cultural crisis of all time and explain its cause. WE ARE IN BIG TROUBLE.

By: Ian Mott

Ian Mott — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 15:15:04 +0000

Jen, it would be a proud moment for any family and nothing can take that away from you. But can we conclude, from his politics, that your brother was out feeding the chooks when your mum dished out the brains?

The single most important attribute needed for a person to gain party pre-selection is an enduring capacity to sell raffle tickets and eat rubber chicken dinners. The bozo that keeps comming back for more and more is usually the one that gets the nod.

And there must be something in the parliamentary water supply that turns perfectly functional brains into a mush of platitude and cliche.

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 12:02:03 +0000

Luke, next thing you are going to blame farmers for not cutting down trees. why don’t you read the entire piece by Sinclair.

By: Luke

Luke — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 11:34:55 +0000

Yep and who made the loans. End of story.

By: rog

rog — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 11:02:53 +0000

Banks were discriminating on risk and blacks were high risk – populations were delineated by suburbs (red lines). In an effort to promote equality the govt mandated loans to high risk and against redlining.

The central bank (Fed) purposely lowered interest rates to increase liquidity so more people could buy more stuff with less money on few assets.

Loans were made to those who had no chance of repaying them and defaults were limited to the property, banks could not claim access to other lender assets.

Money was lent on next to nothing repayments (honeymoon period) making debt relatively easy to manage.

Banks then bundled up these high risk loans into packages and sold them on as performing assets.

When interest rates went up and honeymoon periods ended lenders were unable to met repayments and defaulted.

Financial institutions realised they had subprime in their portfolios and suffered.

The govt regulated the market for political social engineering purposes, voila you have meltdown of the subprime.

End of story

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 10:01:23 +0000

On financial markets and the subprime, Sinclair Davidson has some interesting insights:

“In 1992, the Boston Federal Reserve published a working paper, subsequently published in the prestigious peer-reviewed American Economic Review, which provided empirical evidence showing that banks were discriminating against minorities on the basis of race. It subsequently transpired that the data used in the 1992 Boston Fed paper was deeply and fundamentally flawed.

The damage, however, had been done. The Boston Fed published a document entitled “Closing the gap: A guide to equal opportunity lending” (PDF 240KB); it is still available on their website. This is a document refers to underwriting standards that are “arbitrary or unreasonable”. For example, “Policies regarding applicants with no credit history or problem credit history should be reviewed. Lack of credit history should not be seen as a negative factor.”

Fast forward to 2008 and financial institutions are being pilloried for poor lending practices, yet they were sanctioned by the financial regulator in 1993.

Sloppy research leading to bad microeconomic policy is only part of the story. The other part of the story was occurring in the macroeconomy. Restrictive housing policy caused housing prices to rise. These artificial price increases were related to restricting the amount of land that was available for new housing. Similar restrictive policies are being followed in Australia.

Of course a large contributor was the level interest rates in the first half of the decade. John Taylor of Stanford University – famous for his Taylor Rule that very accurately models the US Fed Funds rate – has argued that US interest rates were far below what they should have been and this caused over-investment in the housing market and over-pricing of the housing stock. This type of argument is consistent with business cycle theories originally posited by Ludwig von Mises and Friedrich von Hayek.

The supply of funds into the housing market also had the effect of reducing loan delinquency and foreclosure rates. This distorted downwards estimates of risk and risk premiums leading to mispricing in the secondary markets. As interest rates increased ad eventually housing prices decreased so it all unravelled.

There are many lessons to be earned from this sorry story. Most importantly government intervention always has unintended consequences. Anti-capitalistic bureaucratic prejudice led to the view that financial institutions would discriminate against minorities. Sloppy research then led to a justification for further government intervention…