Re: A Rant About 'Offshoring'!
 

I'm going to read them both as I have an Amazon voucher...

cheers both of you

BM

Re: A Rant About 'Offshoring'!
 

http://www.theage.com.au/news/Nation...219650971.html

Ageing Australia is our 'destiny': Costello
By Daniella Miletic
November 25, 2004 - 10:43AM

Federal Treasurer Peter Costello today said pushing to get more people into the workforce would be one of the ways the government would tackle the future financial burden of a greying population.

Echoing concerns raised by a landmark draft report released by the Productivity Commission today, Mr Costello warned "demography is destiny" and that Australians should be prepared for the economic consequences of a population where Australians aged over 85 are expected to almost quadruple over the next 40 years.

"Australia will have to deal with the ageing of the population and it will have to deal with the major costs that that will bring. We will either deal with it in small leaks early on, or be forced to deal with it in large dislocation later on.

"But we will have to deal with it. Demography is destiny," he told ABC Radio this morning. "We can't walk away from it and we can't change it."

The draft report forecasts a falling birthrate would contribute to an expected double in the population of people aged 65 or more by 2044. A result of this change in demography would be a double in health and aged acre costs from 6.7 to 13 per cent of the economy.

Mr Costello, who today returned from a meeting of the G20 in Germany, said the Commission's report, which said a productivity boost could be achieved by indexing marginal tax to inflation, showed similar results to an earlier government report.

Two years ago Mr Costello looked into the consequences of Australia's ageing population releasing an inter-generational report.

Mr Costello said he would tackle the future inefficiency in the health system by said getting more people into the workforce.

"We have got to try and engage people in society much more because we know that when they retire, their health care goes up, their illnesses go up, in fact these are the areas where we are going to find increasing pressure to fund services," he said.

"We have got to increase participation among older males, we've got to increase participation among women coming back into the workforce, we've got to increase participation among people on disability support pensions.

"We've got to give incentive for people to work part-time, maybe by drawing down on their superannuation over 65," Mr Costello said.

Productivity Commission chairman Gary Banks told ABC Radio: "As we become a wealthier society, as technology improves, we will see the burgeoning of health costs generally, and it will be concentrated for the older age groups," he said.

OzTennis :)

Re: A Rant About 'Offshoring'!
 

:D Au contraire, I would even be delighted with 4/10 Mike. :D

OzTennis :)

Re: A Rant About 'Offshoring'!
 

Let's hope they also enact legislation against age discrimmination in the workplace at the same time, then!

Anya.

Re: A Rant About 'Offshoring'!
 

http://www.theage.com.au/news/Nation...219620513.html

Cost of ageing 40 years hence: $2.2 trillion
By Tim Colebatch
Economics Editor
Canberra
November 25, 2004

The impact of an ageing Australia will cost the federal and state governments a net $2.2 trillion (1 trillion equals 1000 billion) over the next 40 years, the Productivity Commission claims.

It says more old people will demand prescription medicines, hospital beds and places in old people's homes.

Its draft report on the economic implications of an ageing Australia released today essentially repeats the conclusions of Federal Treasury's inter-generational report two years ago, which claimed that the ageing of the population would cost the Federal Government the equivalent of 5 per cent of GDP.

The commission predicts that federal and state health spending alone will almost double in the next 40 years as a share of GDP, rising from 5.7 per cent now to 10.8 per cent.

Economists are sharply divided on how much the ageing of the population will hurt the economy, with many private sector economists issuing scathing critiques of Treasury's doom-and-gloom scenario.

But the commission has adopted it in full, predicting that without tax rises or offsetting reforms, an older population will cost the federal and state governments $55 billion a year in today's money by 2044.

It sees the future Australia as a nation full of elderly pill-poppers who will drive up the cost of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme from about $7.5 billion a year now to more than $50 billion a year in today's money by 2044.

As the number of very old people quadruples, it predicts that hospital costs will quadruple in real terms over the next 40 years, soaring from $2 billion to $86 billion in today's money, and consuming almost $1 in every $20 Australia produces.

But at the same time, economic growth per head will slow to just 1.25 per cent a year, roughly half current levels, as old people leave the workforce and employment growth virtually stops for 25 years.

It sees the future Australia as a nation full of elderly pill-poppers."The commission forecasts that between 2020 and 2045 the total hours worked will rise 3.6 per cent.

Despite labor scarcity, unemployment would remain well over 500,000, fewer and fewer males would be working in the prime years of life, and economic growth would shrink rather than the vast pool of unemployed, underemployed and prematurely retired labor picking up the vacant jobs.

Treasurer Peter Costello welcomed the report.

"The Government's warnings of the need to act now to prevent a long-term fiscal crisis have been endorsed by the commission," he said.

"Unfortunately, our careful budget management has been undermined by opportunistic Labor policy on disability support pensions and the Pharmaceutical Benefit Scheme."

OzTennis :)

Re: A Rant About 'Offshoring'!
 

Course ya can. My 'single' female friends all tell me there is a dire shortage of such services offered for women.

Go write that business plan, Badge!!

(The fireman's uniform will go down a storm, too ;) ).

Anya.

Re: A Rant About 'Offshoring'!
 

And then there's 'Beyond Certainty: the changing worlds of organizations', probably my fave of the 3.

There's such a resonance in: 'We must not let our past, however glorious, get in the way of our future.'

OzT: you might enjoy Handy's book 'Understanding Schools as Organisations.'

Cheers,
Anya.

Re: A Rant About 'Offshoring'!
 

The UK and Australia are both inevitably heading towards higher retirement ages and higher minimum age to draw the state pension. This is largely because of the 'black hole' in private pension schemes and the implications of people living longer (and having to be paid a pension for longer). Private firms are closing 'final salary' pension schemes left, right and centre. Ageism tends to get scant attention compared to other forms of discrimination (without in any way suggesting that other forms should get less attention). As you suggest, policies and attitudes will have to change if people are going to work until later in life.

2,500th post, pretty boring one! :D

OzTennis :)

Re: A Rant About 'Offshoring'!
 

Thanks, a 'handy' book you reckon? :D

'Always make sure you take the spoon out of the sink before you turn on the tap' is a great piece of business and personal advice (prize for anyone who can quote where it comes from).

OzTennis :)

Re: A Rant About 'Offshoring'!
 

A timely piece on the BBC website:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4038069.stm

Re: A Rant About 'Offshoring'!
 

Very interesting article and I can't help thinking that it is the response of the owners of Indian call centres to customer complaints from Europe - 'they just take too long to deal with my request, don't understand me properly, don't know the customs and geography etc of my country'. OK, we'll recruit some European workers. Next thing you know, the Indians who previously took the jobs of Europeans because they get paid peanuts relatively speaking will be up in arms because their work is being outsourced!!! :D

OzTennis :)