Aunty B ventures into the world of economics

One dry article from the business review weekly about Australia being short-sighted in its economic choices.

And another from John Quiggin's blog who also writes for the Fin Review about the Greens economic policy being quite sensible and wise.

What does this mean? Well its probably an indication of how the daily toil of one BSharp has taken a turn of a more "serious" (read "mainstream") nature. Ie. I now need to read bits of the goddam fin review. But every now and then in the depths of the arcane writings on debt-to-equity ratios and economic growth and other mythologies, you find a little kernel of truth. If you can't be bothered clicking on the above, and quite frankly I don't blame you I'd rather clean the bathroom with my tongue, the top one says that our short horizons mainly based on election wins make us make dud choices when it comes to the, er, prosperity of our nation. And I think I use the word prosperity in the broadest sense here - like how much fun we're having not just how much everyone earns. And while I only profess to understand half the words, and I don't hold truck with that line about how not saving is really really bad, I think this is kinda interesting:

"The real issue is the excessive diversion of funds into property speculation and consumption spending, from the conventional priorities of investment in infrastructure, business and sustainable employment. That capital deficit is made up by loans and equity investment from foreigners."

Which I think means everyone rushing off to buy houses as their biggest investment ever are ripping themselves off, because its not really long term investment for the individual (the payback is only a couple of percent in the end) and definitley not an investment in Australia's pool of finances, either because all the mortages are kind of bundled up and raffled off overseas. I knew it. Ha- renters - not a second class, but holding the whole economy together.