500N,

My question is... what quality are you talking about when it is the same Van H shirt that is made in China. Does it matter what store it is from?

Tell me an Australian made pilot **** 60% cotton and I'd be happy to pay top dollar.

For those of you who believe we are all racing to the bottom, please consider our current account. What this should be telling you is that we are borrowing like there is no tomorrow to avoid the bottom which, save for willing overseas lenders, is where we really belong!

http://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.ne...79447721_o.jpg

Andy

IMHO, it is not so much a problem as long as we have OS income coming in as well, which ATM we do with the resources. The problem is going to be when
we stop shipping the resources in such quantity.


IK978
Understand. But as a rule, in the past and now, people can't tell
quality and value. Even from China, you get good and bad, you
just need to be able to tell the difference.

Our costs are just higher here.

I don't accept that our costs are 200, sometimes 300% higher.

HH,
And the rest --- for markups.
I had a brother, now long gone, who had some involvement in the Indian rag trade. He had detailed information on a number of imports into Australia by big chains.
Believe me, the difference between the Australian landed price, all duties and, in those days sales tax,paid, and the retail was simply amazing. One example I remember well, so called Mens Fashion Shorts had a landed price of just under AUD$5.
The pre-Christmas shelf price was AUD$89.99, and the after Christmas sales --- "reduced" to AUD$49.99!!
Many moons ago, I looked after insurance payouts for a trucking company that carried a lot of stuff for the Melbourne rag trade chains. The "values" for insurance, which is what we paid out on, and the retail prices, based on the tags on the garments retrieved from crash sites, was an eyeopener for me.
Tootle pip!!

Just to be clear, our current account is our national net position. The overseas income is already included in this.

Also our income is quantity x price. If either drops significantly, we're quickly in the poo.

I recently spent 18 months travelling around the world and came to the conclusion. There's no better country in the world that I've been too that a "average Joe" is better off then Australia.

When I was stacking shelves at Kmart they were paying me $23/hour unlimited hours as a second job. Same job in the States at Walmart pays $6/hour, casual come in whenever they feel like it. I worked as a casual Croupier in Darwin casino(5 years ago) and was getting $32/hour, worked the same job in Vancouver for $10.75(+$7/hour tips). Cost of living ain't alot cheaper in Vancouver ether.

Sure, our shirts are expensive but I'd rather pay a bit extra and know the workers can feed themselves unlike the guy in the US who approached me in his work uniform and asked for a dollar so he could take a "cheap" $1 menu burger home for his kid. Yep we pay $2-3 for the exact same burger but the maccas worker goes home and can feed his kids in Australia unlike his US counterpart.

Finally about our debt, there's two types of debt. Good debt and bad debt. Same for your household, same for the country. If the debt is for a appreciating asset that will provide an income higher then the cost of debt, it's a good debt. Think your homeloan, broadband network, infrastructure.

If it's a depreciating asset that losses money than it's bad debt. Think car loan, baby bonus and charter flights to aboriginal communities.

All the government needs to do is make sure that we're not borrowing to pay for bad debt items. Other than that who cares how much "in debt" we are. I have a massive investment property loan yet I sleep well, so should our government.

I was going to post about "tipping" in the US.

I think Tim summed it up in the above post when talking about wages.

If I had to be poor Australia is the country I'd choose to live in. Once you are out of the government safety hammock you realize socialism has it's price. The confiscatory tax levels and padded prices aren't so great once you're standing on your own feet.

Living in Asia I can eat out every day if I want to, stay in 5* hotels for A$120 a night, have my clothes made to measure, get my teeth fixed for 1/3 of what it would cost in Australia, employ a full time maid and generally enjoy a vastly higher standard of living. I can holiday abroad every month if I feel like it, often flying full fare business class.

My standard of living would plunge if I returned to Australia even if I came back to the left seat of the same type of aircraft. Once the ATO had gouged 35% of my pay the remainder wouldn't go nearly as far as it does here.

Of course it's not so great here if you're in a low skilled job or unemployed, much better off washing dishes or stacking shelves back in Australia.

Metro

"Once the ATO had gouged 35% of my pay the remainder
wouldn't go nearly as far as it does here."

Depending on the lifestyle someone wants to live, I feel at a basic
level that the opportunity to decrease tax in Aus but increase what
you own - wealth via houses etc is better in Aus than other countries.

I have a mate in Darwin, just retired at 52 or so, has 5 or 6 houses
around Aus and lives off the income. He was never a high flyer in
terms of jobs, almost always worked for Gov't in the Environment
field and just spent wisely.

Not sure what the opportunities for Negative gearing etc are overseas
but it is a boon to those in Aus who can use it.

Actually I do use it on my properties in Australia, which I probably couldn't have afforded to buy if I had stayed there. Tax on Australian income for non residents is about 29% from the first dollar BUT it doesn't go up after that to the 45% level which locals can easily end up paying. Also I'm not liable for tax on worldwide income.

I've thought about buying a business back in Australia which would make sense provided I don't fall into the residence trap.

Anyone who pays 45% tax or even over 35% has the wrong strategy
and the wrong accountant. IMHO of course.

Ford Lower Front End Control Arms

Ford Aust price $1661 + Fitting $390 = AU$2051

eBay from USA U$140 + U$110 transport + Fitting $300 = AU$650 approx

US Ford Service & Parts Sydney $451 + Fitting AU$300 = AU$ 751

Guess where I am buying from?

This is the biggest con-job played on the majority of Australians. There is virtually no such thing as an appreciating asset. All assets will depreciate at some rate and if they don't appear to, then it's only because you're seeking a greater fool to pass it on to. This is the very characteristic of a ponzi scheme and Australia is full of them, especially in real estate.

The only thing worth borrowing money for is a productive asset and then only if it can produce more than the interest cost. A proper capitalist market economy would only allow this to happen for a very short time, so don't borrow too much!

Of course, if the government gives you some kind of market distortion, tax break or monopoly privilege, then undoubtedly you're onto a winner, personally, but the nation is the loser.

Sigh...

I think what Timocracy actually really is trying to refer to is if a project have a positive net present value.

You can borrow for a project and increase wealth.