First day of Senate hearings on the stimulus

[Jovial Monk]

was yesterday. So called 'expert' economists.

Yesterday, RMIT University economics professor Steven Kates argued the rescue plan should have focused more on lowering tax and interest rates and calculated every job created cost $1.5 million.

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/stor ... 53,00.html

What utter bullshit! This guy is an expert and teaches?

He is using the $300Bn total deficit (over several years) to work that out! 200,000 jobs saved x 1,500,000 = $300Bn.

What crap! The $300Bn figure--which by the looks of it, due to the prompt, targeted stimulus spending of Rudd & Swan will be less in actual deficit--is total deficit, well over $200Bn of which is due to Tip's structural budget deficit becoming a cash one! Total stimulus spending, a lot of which isn't even spent yet, is $42Bn. Then too, whatever of the handouts is not yet spent should accelerate our recovery when that happens. And oh yeah, cut tax more, increasing the size of the budget structural deficit!

To see the dishonesty of costs of job saved per $$$ stimulus see Possum:
http://blogs.crikey.com.au/pollytics/20 ... mployment/

Possum is an economist (econometrician in fact) and knows whereof he speaks!

Another fuckwit from RMIT blamed the stimulus on bumping up the exchange rate and so decimating manufacturing. Gee, we still have manufacturing? What crap, we are again shipping stuff to China (due to their stimulus) and India which is recovering, and not being in recession we are a good place to invest in.

These would be the fuckwitted, so-called 'experts' who support the Coalition's take on the economy. Next week the real story will come out when Henry and Stephens give evidence.

Oh yeah, and I heard Kates say that Keynesian economics has 'been a disaster to economic theory.' Yup, to the Chicago School of Economics crap neo-liberal theories which are now dead and buried.

If we didn't have the stimulus, or it was smaller, delayed etc our projected deficit would be much higher due to more people being unemployed and thus in receipt of benefits. Thank god it was Rudd, Swan, Tanner and the Glorious Julia in charge not Howard and Costello when the GFC hit. And can you imagine SerfChoices still the law? Unemployment would be higher, employees would be screwed even more leading to much less spending and a deeper recession! Just look at Howard's dismal record as Treasurer!

[Jovial Monk]

And for another look at how neocon economics is a disaster, look at this:

http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archi ... legacy.php

[Leftofcentresalterego]

Stephen Kates is an absolute pinheaded fuckwit.

Far from there being any factual content in his dribble about deficit spending, all 6 depressions (depending on your definition of that word) have been immediately preceeded by budget surpluses.

I will try to dig that up in public records. Public records have already confirmed to me that in the lat 35 years, there is NO sensible automatic correlation between federal government debt and interest rates movements or general inflation. The link just isn't there - NOT my opinion. Fact.

[Jovial Monk]

Ken Henry adamant that stimulus spending must continue for now.

http://www.liberal.org.au/news.php?Id=3247


Stupid Turnbull!

[LeftofCentre]

I'm a bit unsettled by the attitude of the Greens in all of this. Perhaps they don't care too much about the health of the economy (and ultimately, our society) and are just looking for some leverage in this situation that they can use to advance their political agenda?

[Jovial Monk]

There has been some discussion on PB re the Greens. They are playing politics with the economy and the ETS so as to get more Green Senators and that environmentalists should not have set up a political party. I despise them.

[skippy]

environmentalists should not have set up a political party. I despise them.

Why not? the Liberal and Labor paties never gave a fuck about the enviroment until the Greens came along, now they are both falling over each other to try and put out an image of being GREEN.

[Jovial Monk]

Because they are now just playing politics.

Since the Greens have most of the old Socialist-Left members I can say Labor at least was always concerned with the environment. The environment did not just come into existence with the Greens.