pommie bastard

The land of debt?



Australians ran up their worst monthly trade deficit on record in April, buying $3.1 billion more goods and services from the world than they sold, as manufacturers warn that the rising dollar is making exports uncompetitive.

The Bureau of Statistics estimate puts the seasonally adjusted deficit at almost 5 per cent of the nation's gross domestic product, the worst deficit in 32 years of monthly trade data.

Whatever could have gone wrong in April did go wrong: SARS, a higher Australian dollar, drought, war, weak overseas demand and a strong domestic economy," Mr James said.

He warned that while the Reserve Bank would not respond by cutting interest rates, Australia's relatively high rates would keep the Australian dollar uncomfortably high.





http://theage.com.au/articles/2003/0...177670003.html

Don

Immigrants (even Iranian ones) add to Aus GDP and GDP per capita.

The more the better, Aus could easily handle a population of 80 million.

Cheers - Don

pommie bastard

Wrong again most add to its problems , little gets manufactured here and the more people the more needs to be spent on Hospitals , Schools , defence , police and infrastructure.
Not all bring cash.

Rosy

Can`t see your reasoning behind this one Don - PB is right - the more people, especially those who don`t, can`t or won`t work - just increase the need for more public spending.

Bilbo

They'll eventually evolve to produce hyper-saline urine.

Don

Because Aus has the space (yes, ignoring that big bit in the middle) and natural resources to service a much bigger population and doesn't yet have the critical mass to optimise GDP per capita, to fund infrastructure etc.

I'm not suggesting bringing in dole bludgers but the skilled immigration route is there to bring in productive people.

Cheers - Don

Bilbo

80M? Why not 5M?

pommie bastard

The natural resourses are sold off to suppport present population, Australia is not a big exporter of manifactured goods its a primary producer .
This economy requires few workers or can support them

Rosy

Try telling that to someone like Tim Sorrell - a great guy, highly skilled in IT (yes, Australia is "crying out" for IT workers...) but cannot get a job here...

If you`re not aware, Tim was a very valued contributor to this site about a year ago...

Don

That's partly what I mean about Aus not yet having the critical mass. A population of (say) 50 million will have much more diverse industries than a country of 20 million.

Cheers - Don

Don

Don't think Aus is crying out for IT workers any more. That's why IT got taken of the fast-track route. Even good people will struggle to find a job if the industry sector they are in is reducing headcount requirement.

Cheers - Don

Bilbo

Why would that be desirable?

Don

Because GDP per capita will be higher and the economy will be less cyclical.

Cheers - Don

Bilbo

European (& American) styled economies are have been highly cyclic and are likely to continue to be in my opinion. Fewer people means more resources for each: a Luxury vs an Economy.

pommie bastard

You can dream , most industries in this half of the world head for Asia , Australia is the land of middle men.