Tone for treasurer!
Economics - - Posted on April, 27 at 6:10 pm by Ken L
Thanks to the people skills for which he is well known, Tony Abbott is the shadow minister for family and community services. But it appears he thinks he has a treasurer’s baton in his knapsack and keeps making public statements about things that are not quite within his portfolio.
Swan to blame for rates rise: Abbott
The Federal Opposition’s family and community services spokesman, Tony Abbott, has accused Treasurer Wayne Swan of driving up interest rates.
The National Australia Bank (NAB) and ANZ have both announced they will raise their rates, even though official rates are staying on hold this month.
Mr Abbott says the Treasurer is to blame.
“If anyone has created the current inflation, it’s Wayne Swan, with his wild and irresponsible talk,” he said.
Wow!!!! Wayne Swan has hidden powers that mortal men can only dream of. “Look mum, I’m creating inflation just by talking”
Seriously, I’ve never understood why people either like or admire Abbott (or Hockey for that matter). They both strike me as not-especially-bright political bullyboys who will place expediency over principle any day. And as for Abbott’s contributions to economic policy discussions - Malcolm Turnbull must wish he would take early retirement and become a Trappist monk.
Posted in Economics |
April 27th, 2008 at 6:30 pm
Yes that was absolute nonsense from Tony Abbott. Don’t forget that Malcolm Turnbull was saying the same sort of thing a couple of months ago.
April 27th, 2008 at 7:02 pm
Not a single Australian is responsible for interest rates. Never were, ain’t now, never will be. No Prime Minister, politician, Treasurer nor anyone else has one iota to do with rates.
Just as Howard had zilch to do with low interest rates, equally was Keating and his gov’t not responsible for record high rates. No, it’s not the opposition’s fault nor that of the imcumbent government or any past government. Nor the states. The Treasury’s got f’all say in the matter and the people have nil.
It all emanates from global interest rates; driven primarily by the US economy and its rates of the day, plus its mighty stock market. Other areas like Europe also figure greatly in this.
Australia constitutes way less than one percent of the world’s economy and whatever the vagaries of its national events and vicissitudes of its markets and economy, they just doesn’t amount to a fart in the wind on a global scale and never will.
So our media and pollies can waffle and rant about our interest rates, inflation, employment etc. till they go blue in the face, and we can curse our treasurers and everyone else till we’re equally blue, but it still won’t produce truth from falsehood. Today if Wayne Swan thinks he’s steering the interest rates ship then he’s wrong too.
It’s got nothing to do with us and half a percentage point here or there is only minor local fiddling and will never cause a ripple on the mighty world economy. Australians, including dunderhead Abbott and his comedy partner Costello, are merely pretending we’re big shots on the world stage when the truth is that the rest of the world has hardly heard of us and Australian interest rates are about as newsworthy and important to the world as the current state of the rabbit-proof fence.
April 27th, 2008 at 11:27 pm
The trouble with the nostrums of the ‘tin-foil hat’ brigade is that, in the litotes of OZ-speak, “they’re not wrong!”. Doesn’t mean that they’re correct but worth considering nonetheless.
The basis of their claims is that bank credits are created out of thin air and loaned to the lumpen mug for mortgages.
Nothing like the recent (OZ) Reserve Bank, (US)Federal Reserve & the Bank of England acquiring mind blowing quantites of dodgy CDOs in order to allow the private banks to continue lending (what they don’t have).
April 28th, 2008 at 9:48 am
The ABC again. Are people who watch commercial TV news subjected to similar quantities of this nonsense, or is it the sole privilege of viewers of the ABC’s balanced coverage to be subjected to this regular assault?
Do other people get exciting stuff like who’s going to be in this season’s Idol instead of, or as well as, Tony Abbott’s sage advice?
April 28th, 2008 at 9:54 am
I guess with Tony, once a creationist always a creationist.
April 28th, 2008 at 1:18 pm
He he.
And wot the Chance of the Cheque said. The amount of control we have over our interest and inflation rates is pretty small (not zero, but pretty small). We are largely at the mercy of world economic trends and events.
How well would HowardCo have done economically (and hence politically) without the fortuitous huge boom in world demand for minerals and energy? Something the current government will also benefit immensely from.
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(BTW, what has happened to the preview of one’s comment, below the comments box?)
April 28th, 2008 at 3:18 pm
Like management tells the workers anything in this place.
April 28th, 2008 at 5:22 pm
I know,but you’d think it idiosyncratic.
April 28th, 2008 at 8:45 pm
Lyn, the sneaky path to privatisation is full of weeds & nettles…not to mention propagandists & business/political OPPORTUNISTS (as Mars aptly refers to them).
April 28th, 2008 at 10:14 pm
Seeker, I’m w/ you on that. So many external factors dictate our inflation & interest rate levels…for better or worse.
I had to laugh seeing that Knight in tarnished armour, Malcolm Turnbull, trying to SPIN, SPIN, SPIN his way thru the 7:30 Report interview. Kerry seemed on top of things…grinning as he brought a WOBBLE to the SPINNING Knight….just about brought him down on his “distorting” arse. Going by the profuse sweating & inane grin, Turnbull recognised his role has more than a bit of the Jester to it…for the time being.
The Libs & their Enablers one moment DEMAND the govt. keep on GIVING…the next they DEMAND they reign in spending because it will contribute to inflation…the next they WORRY that cutting spending will cause problems…the next…well, you get my drift.
Swann has them doing a mighty dance.
April 28th, 2008 at 10:22 pm
It’s should be easy to understand that the Australian economy can be so easily tossed around by events overseas. We are puny and the best we can do is prepare our nation so that it can better roll with the punches.
But there ARE some things our governments can do to change the way we live. For example, the tax increase on pre-mixed spirits to cut teenage binge drinking is inspired, foolproof stuff.
April 29th, 2008 at 10:51 am
its all part of their standup comic routine preping for the melb festival, why anyone gives them air space is beyond me