The mining boom......
May 27th 2012 | 6:27 am
#61
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Joined: May 2012
Posts: 312
Re: The mining boom......
Dunno, i can't help feeling a lot of this is being overpayed. I do have reservations if it is actually as bad as they make out. Yes, trading in derivatives has been the big joke which has create a slush fund of non-existant money which has been funding the likes of Greece. However a lot of this debt accrued by governments isn't structural, its bank prop ups and the UK for example will get a lot if it back.
For my money the more major worry is Australia's gravy train China is getting a reality check and the other so-called emerging superpower 'India' os going nowhere fast with major bureaucratic problems bringing growth and exports tumbling. The main problem for the UK is the govt full of clowns that ain't got a clue following.There's significant undercapacity in the UK economy at the moment and as soon as that starts getting propelry mobilised, much of the debt will dissapear.
The sooner Greece gets out of the euro the better to make itself competitive, but its not going to happen because the Germans are making hay out of the whole thing. For all the bullshit rhetoric coming out of the IMF and the ECB about austerity German exports are booming. Why because their benefiting enormously from being in a currency unit worth 40% less than what a deustchmark would be worth.
The reason Greece is up shitcreek is quite frankly because their a bunch of lazy ******. Took the missus in the dodecanese islands last summer and you'd go into a shop and the miserable old duffer outside would stay locked in his chair rather than get up and sell you something. 2 nautical miles away over in neighbouring Turkey they were practically manhandling you into their shops.
For my money the more major worry is Australia's gravy train China is getting a reality check and the other so-called emerging superpower 'India' os going nowhere fast with major bureaucratic problems bringing growth and exports tumbling. The main problem for the UK is the govt full of clowns that ain't got a clue following.There's significant undercapacity in the UK economy at the moment and as soon as that starts getting propelry mobilised, much of the debt will dissapear.
The sooner Greece gets out of the euro the better to make itself competitive, but its not going to happen because the Germans are making hay out of the whole thing. For all the bullshit rhetoric coming out of the IMF and the ECB about austerity German exports are booming. Why because their benefiting enormously from being in a currency unit worth 40% less than what a deustchmark would be worth.
The reason Greece is up shitcreek is quite frankly because their a bunch of lazy ******. Took the missus in the dodecanese islands last summer and you'd go into a shop and the miserable old duffer outside would stay locked in his chair rather than get up and sell you something. 2 nautical miles away over in neighbouring Turkey they were practically manhandling you into their shops.
May 27th 2012 | 6:35 am
#62
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Joined: May 2012
Posts: 312
Re: The mining boom......
I disagree with a couple of points you make, although I agree with the sentiment.
1. The big mines will close when they want, irrespective of unions or governments. Goodnight Vienna indeed.
Having a unionized workforce won't help, any more than Red Robbo helped Leyland in the 1970s. - According to the BBC, "between 1978 and 1979 Mr Robinson was credited with causing 523 walk-outs at Longbridge, costing an estimated £200m in lost production".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derek_R...trade_unionist)
2. Virtually the whole country is bottom feeding off the mining boom right now. The shopgirl in a dress shop sells a dress to a secretary in a food company who supplies food to the guy who makes the bolts that holds together a bit of the mine. Its a giant food chain.
In the late 80s I took the controls of the giant coal loader at Gladstone. This fed coal into the waiting ships to take it to Japan. They let me hold the controls under supervision, a bit like taking the wheel of a 747!
The manager said to me - "don't break it, 6% of Australia's GDP goes through those two black handles in your hands".......
Back in Sydney everyone was sipping Chardoney, driving BMWs, and it was being paid for by the coal flowing though those two levers.......
We have been beholden to mining for a long time.
1. The big mines will close when they want, irrespective of unions or governments. Goodnight Vienna indeed.
Having a unionized workforce won't help, any more than Red Robbo helped Leyland in the 1970s. - According to the BBC, "between 1978 and 1979 Mr Robinson was credited with causing 523 walk-outs at Longbridge, costing an estimated £200m in lost production".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derek_R...trade_unionist)
2. Virtually the whole country is bottom feeding off the mining boom right now. The shopgirl in a dress shop sells a dress to a secretary in a food company who supplies food to the guy who makes the bolts that holds together a bit of the mine. Its a giant food chain.
In the late 80s I took the controls of the giant coal loader at Gladstone. This fed coal into the waiting ships to take it to Japan. They let me hold the controls under supervision, a bit like taking the wheel of a 747!
The manager said to me - "don't break it, 6% of Australia's GDP goes through those two black handles in your hands".......
Back in Sydney everyone was sipping Chardoney, driving BMWs, and it was being paid for by the coal flowing though those two levers.......
We have been beholden to mining for a long time.
May 27th 2012 | 9:11 am
#63
Account Closed
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 14,188
Re: The mining boom......
The reason Greece is up shitcreek is quite frankly because their a bunch of lazy ******. Took the missus in the dodecanese islands last summer and you'd go into a shop and the miserable old duffer outside would stay locked in his chair rather than get up and sell you something. 2 nautical miles away over in neighbouring Turkey they were practically manhandling you into their shops.
Perhaps you should review your opinion.
May 27th 2012 | 9:43 am
#64
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Re: The mining boom......
Greek working statistics like the entire economy are a load of nonsense. I'm not sure a Cretans barmans chasing skirt all night in a tourist town is quite the same as an honest days work producing hi-tech for components for the automotive industry...
May 27th 2012 | 9:48 am
#65
(It's not my real name)
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 12,469
From: Ilukapool. WA
Re: The mining boom......
May 27th 2012 | 9:55 am
#66
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Posts: 14,188
Re: The mining boom......
I've come across this before and it comes as no surprise to me. Its the productivity stats that matter and frankly in Greece the reality is pitiful. There's a big difference between working for a hi-tech German engineering firm or any German firm for 38 hours a week and sitting on your arse in a taxi in the greek Islands with the meter running, or having the shopdoors open all hours while you carry on playing backgammon with the shopowner next door. I've known many a folk work for Siemens, bosch, lidl, Aldi et al. Big German companies and it is no picnic and they will all tell you that they get their pound of flesh with every minute of your day accounted for.
Greek working statistics like the entire economy are a load of nonsense. I'm not sure a Cretans barmans chasing skirt all night in a tourist town is quite the same as an honest days work producing hi-tech for components for the automotive industry...
Greek working statistics like the entire economy are a load of nonsense. I'm not sure a Cretans barmans chasing skirt all night in a tourist town is quite the same as an honest days work producing hi-tech for components for the automotive industry...
May 27th 2012 | 10:00 am
#67
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Joined: May 2012
Posts: 312
Re: The mining boom......
p.s The Spanish, Italian and several others productivity stats are absolutely rubbish. What a load of horseshit that article is...
May 27th 2012 | 11:32 am
#68
(It's not my real name)
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 12,469
From: Ilukapool. WA
Re: The mining boom......
I was thinking that. I dunno, but on line, in the media you hear people giving negative stereotypes to the Greeks, like "they don't pay tax" "they are all lazy".
Trying to blame the Greeks as a people rather than the banks and politicians.
Personally, I'm uncomfortable with national stereotypes like: Scottish = drunk, Irish = drunk/violent, Australian = lazy, English = whingers.
Trying to blame the Greeks as a people rather than the banks and politicians.
Personally, I'm uncomfortable with national stereotypes like: Scottish = drunk, Irish = drunk/violent, Australian = lazy, English = whingers.
May 27th 2012 | 4:16 pm
#69
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 4,555
Re: The mining boom......
Management studies have shown that if you take individuals from a low productivity organization and put them in a high performance culture they will change to be like their new colleagues. It is a reason Greeks migrate like the Irish.
I've come across this before and it comes as no surprise to me. Its the productivity stats that matter and frankly in Greece the reality is pitiful. There's a big difference between working for a hi-tech German engineering firm or any German firm for 38 hours a week and sitting on your arse in a taxi in the greek Islands with the meter running, or having the shopdoors open all hours while you carry on playing backgammon with the shopowner next door. I've known many a folk work for Siemens, bosch, lidl, Aldi et al. Big German companies and it is no picnic and they will all tell you that they get their pound of flesh with every minute of your day accounted for.
Greek working statistics like the entire economy are a load of nonsense. I'm not sure a Cretans barmans chasing skirt all night in a tourist town is quite the same as an honest days work producing hi-tech for components for the automotive industry...
Greek working statistics like the entire economy are a load of nonsense. I'm not sure a Cretans barmans chasing skirt all night in a tourist town is quite the same as an honest days work producing hi-tech for components for the automotive industry...
May 27th 2012 | 5:29 pm
#70
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May 27th 2012 | 5:44 pm
#71
(It's not my real name)
Joined: Sep 2002
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From: Ilukapool. WA
May 27th 2012 | 5:46 pm
#72
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Posts: 15,526
Re: The mining boom......
May 27th 2012 | 8:52 pm
#73
Joined on April fools day
Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 10,644
From: 30 miles from a decent grocery store.
Re: The mining boom......
I've come across this before and it comes as no surprise to me. Its the productivity stats that matter and frankly in Greece the reality is pitiful. There's a big difference between working for a hi-tech German engineering firm or any German firm for 38 hours a week and sitting on your arse in a taxi in the greek Islands with the meter running, or having the shopdoors open all hours while you carry on playing backgammon with the shopowner next door. I've known many a folk work for Siemens, bosch, lidl, Aldi et al. Big German companies and it is no picnic and they will all tell you that they get their pound of flesh with every minute of your day accounted for.
Greek working statistics like the entire economy are a load of nonsense. I'm not sure a Cretans barmans chasing skirt all night in a tourist town is quite the same as an honest days work producing hi-tech for components for the automotive industry...
Greek working statistics like the entire economy are a load of nonsense. I'm not sure a Cretans barmans chasing skirt all night in a tourist town is quite the same as an honest days work producing hi-tech for components for the automotive industry...
May 28th 2012 | 7:19 am
#74
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Joined: May 2012
Posts: 312
Re: The mining boom......
Look don't get me wrong. The Greeks are lovely people and I must have been there seven or eight times, not to mention backpacking around the islands back in my 20s, but I've been saying it for years if there is one country in Europe that needs a rocket up its backside it is Greece.
