well I guess this will upset a few

[Rorschach]

Well I wish the country shoppers had stayed home...
As for the so-called real refugees... why come to Australia, they don't even fulfill the UN requirements having already passed through safe countries.

[mantra]

Well I wish the country shoppers had stayed home...
As for the so-called real refugees... why come to Australia, they don't even fulfill the UN requirements having already passed through safe countries.

I agree, but has their punishment been worse than the crime? I don't know why we haven't plucked out a few of those with professions and given them temporary citizenship to see if they can prove their worth. When we were a penal colony - smart people were given that opportunity - so we're regressing.

[cods]

Well I wish the country shoppers had stayed home...
As for the so-called real refugees... why come to Australia, they don't even fulfill the UN requirements having already passed through safe countries.

I agree, but has their punishment been worse than the crime? I don't know why we haven't plucked out a few of those with professions and given them temporary citizenship to see if they can prove their worth. When we were a penal colony - smart people were given that opportunity - so we're regressing.

selective refugee intake.......right!!!!!.... dont bother if you dont have a profession....and thats being kinda kind..I guess.

makes sense to some!

[mantra]

selective refugee intake.......right!!!!!.... dont bother if you dont have a profession....and thats being kinda kind..I guess.

makes sense to some!

Yes Cods. We already have a humanitarian intake which is increasing annually and is probably one of the reasons our welfare bill is so high. How about selecting some people who might actually do something useful for this country instead of letting them rot?

[Rorschach]

some folks are definitely brain washed it appears.

Yes they sure are!

Dont look in the mirror cods as you will surely see one!

Seems the GFC that only Australia dodged by spending to boost the economy, never occurred in cods mind.

It was never global either....

[cods]

selective refugee intake.......right!!!!!.... dont bother if you dont have a profession....and thats being kinda kind..I guess.

makes sense to some!

Yes Cods. We already have a humanitarian intake which is increasing annually and is probably one of the reasons our welfare bill is so high. How about selecting some people who might actually do something useful for this country instead of letting them rot?

a lot of what they qualified for in their own country doesnt work in this country...it isnt that simple....

do you know its the lowly jobs that we have trouble filling..

like fruit picking for instance....orderlies in hospital transport workers...

I dont know what the answer is.. well yes I think I do.. keep them in their own countries..

make their own countries livable lets send our trades people to teach them how its done..
and help them be proud of their own countries....
we tend to sit back until its a bloody disaster and people think theres no hope lets leave...
come on we have to stop this mass evacuation .. and leaving countries to gangsters and murderers....

[cods]

some folks are definitely brain washed it appears.

Yes they sure are!

Dont look in the mirror cods as you will surely see one!

Seems the GFC that only Australia dodged by spending to boost the economy, never occurred in cods mind.

It was never global either....

so amusing..you have missed your calling.

[Rorschach]

Really.... what does that mean would you like me to list the countries that were not directly affected?

[Rorschach]

Nonetheless, the GFC hardly affected some countries and they are faring better than others in this stage of the crisis. Indonesia, Australia.

While Spaniards offer banks their house keys, Malaysians shrug. While Americans talk nonstop about the Second Great Depression, Dubai investors are enjoying one of the biggest real estate booms in the tiny United Arab Emirates’ history. Thailand sighs with relief at its sizable reserves, and Armenia finally thanks the heavens above for its obscurity. the list goes on....

Here are some examples of ten countries that suffered 80-100% less than the United States. It should also be noted that the GFC mostly affected Norther hemisphere countries not those in the Southern hemisphere. Some people even called it the United States Financial Crisis.:

10. China

I was surprised to learn that China may not be dramatically affected by the United States financial crisis. As it turns out, we in the US rely far more heavily on China than she does on us.

China owns roughly 19% of US treasuries; if needed, it plans to use its sizable budget surplus to snap up even more. In addition, the United States gobbles up the majority of Chinese-made goods, meaning a decrease in consumer demand here will make for a chilly Chinese export market.

However, China is not solely dependent on the United States for financial stability. A host of new trade agreements mean China has a number of potential suitors waiting for vast quantities of goods. Domestic demand is also on the up-and-up.

Finally, China’s financial system has been closed for many years, protecting it from shady assets. Though the country will feel the international slump, its banking system is probably safe. Its high domestic demand, huge pile of capital, and numerous other major trading partners will counter the effects of US contagion.

Bad News: China would be badly hurt by a downturn in export demand from the United States and Europe. It may yet be seriously affected.

Good News: They can rely more on domestic demand and demand from less-affected countries, such as Brazil. They’re also sitting on a mountain of cash, which they are using to help bail out the United States.

9. Brazil

Latin American economies have boomed over the past few years. Brazil, unlike some of its neighbors, stabilized its domestic economy while positioning itself for increased foreign investment. The United States is currently Brazil’s biggest trading partner, but is looking to boost transactions with China and India, other major partners.

Bad News: The United States is Brazil’s biggest trading partner.

Good News: Brazil is positioned to take advantage of trade agreements and foreign direct investment from India and China, two economies at the top of the world ladder.

8. Romania

Romania’s banks are barely exposed to international lenders. Therefore, any economic slowdown it feels will be a secondary result of global patterns. No shocks have occurred in the country itself.

Known by its own journalists the “tiger of the east,” Romania’s economy has been growing rapidly for the past few years. Though heavily embroiled in the EU’s economy, especially Italy’s, Romania is one of the world’s biggest military equipment exporters.

Bad News: High exposure to the EU and foreign direct investment subject Romania to the general effects of the coming global recession.

Good News: The country remains a hot FDI destination for European companies looking for a good deal. Its strong IT services sector—like a mini-India for the EU—is especially attractive. And then there’s that military thing, a sure winner in today’s conflict-rich world society.

7. Thailand

AIG’s gigantic Thailand subsidiary, AIA Thailand, has more than half of the Thai market cornered. It’s also sitting on 286.67 billion baht worth of reserves (about 8.3 billion US dollars), 383 billion baht ($11.1 billion) worth of assets, and capital funds worth roughly 1100% of the legally required minimum.

Foreigners affected directly by the US financial crisis may have outstanding loans in Thailand. The country, however, isn’t worried, because the amount of these loans is relatively small.

Bad news: Thailand’s largest insurance company is an AIG subsidiary.

Good news: It’s sitting on a pile of cash.

6. North Korea

Although the country has recently enjoyed burgeoning trade ties with South Korea and China, both vulnerable to the US financial crisis, North Korea remains isolated enough to limp through the financial crisis relatively unscathed.

Bad News: No stranger to famines and subsistence farming, people living in this brittle Communist relic may lose hope as foreign direct investors from affected countries stall capital inflows.

Good News: North Korea’s economic isolation will, for once, come in handy.

5. Iran

Longstanding sanctions have kept Iran’s economy relatively insulated from foreign investment outside of a select few sectors. One of those sectors is oil—and China is one of its biggest trading partners. A fortuitous arrangement for all.

Bad News: Iran trades a lot with Europe, which is moldering under the financial crisis.

Good News: Iran does not trade with the United States. It does, however, provide petroleum to oil-hungry China, a business that should float the country for at least another decade.

4. Malaysia

This Southeast Asian country hosts a number of multinational manufacturing facilities. Though some of these companies are in the United States, experts say that bad times will promote more offshore production in bargain-rich Malaysia, not less.

Malaysia is also gaining a reputation as a good China alternative in manufacturing circles. It’s rumored to be slightly more expensive, but produces higher quality goods, and is easier to deal with. Malaysia is also gaining a reputation as a solar energy hotspot.

Bad News: Malaysia does a lot of business with the United States.

Good News: Companies looking to cut costs come to Malaysia, making it an even more likely outsourcing destination for leaner businesses.

3. Morocco

Moroccan officials claim not to be affected by the United States financial crisis because their banks don’t contain any subprime assets. But that notion only scratches the surface of why Morocco will survive the shakeup. Its resource and agricultural assets are the real keys to its invulnerability.

For one, this stable, slow-growth economy relies heavily on agricultural assets, such as almonds. It could feed its entire domestic population with the food it produces, beneficial in a world of rising food prices.

Half of its income comes from valuable phosphate mines—32% of the world’s reserves–a commodity whose prices have increased 700% during the past two years (triggering talk of “peak phosphorus”).

Bad News: Morocco is heavily involved in foreign direct investment, especially from France, and tourism to boost its economy. These two assets will likely diminish because of the United States crisis.

Good News: Morocco’s natural assets, including its coveted phosphate, will keep its economy greased enough to offset any losses.

2. Armenia


This small Eurasian country hasn’t involved itself much in foreign affairs. Banking is no exception. Its relatively undeveloped financial market has so few interests in the outside world that the crisis didn’t make a blip.

Bad News: Integration with outside markets means development for small countries like Armenia. Officials hunger to expose it more to external markets.

Good News: That same lack of exposure protected Armenia from the US crisis. It could be argued that Armenia is the least affected country of all.

1. The United Arab Emirates

Driven by regional oil exports, the United Arab Emirates boasts one of the world’s fastest-growing economies. The UK’s Guardian calls it the home of the “Arabian Dream,” the world’s new version of the spent American dream. Dubai’s free trade zone, exalted commercial real estate market, and financial services make it an international powerhouse. This growth was fueled by oil revenues, but now has a momentum of its own.

[Rorschach]

How Australia weathered the global financial crisis while Europe failed
David Alexander

Kevin Rudd can't take credit for avoiding the economic crisis – it is the pre-existing strength of the Australian government's finances which saved us from a catastrophe

Writing this week for Guardian Australia, economist John Quiggin lamented the fact that Kevin Rudd doesn’t get more credit for economic management, given the fact that Australia came through the global financial crisis in solid shape and has avoided a recession. This is a common source of puzzlement amongst some, but let me solve this apparent conundrum.

The first thing to note is that Rudd’s economic management did not, in fact, save Australia from the fate that befell other countries.

European countries have not been in crisis because they did not have him at the helm; the US did not suffer an economic disaster because it wanted for a Wayne Swan when the crisis hit. Greece and other countries are not in economic catastrophe mode simply because they failed to send out $900 cheques to their citizens.

The simple fact is that all of these countries went into the disaster-zone in 2008 because when the global financial crisis hurricane hit, they had high government debt and high budget deficits, which made them extremely vulnerable to adverse shocks. Had any one of these countries’ governments faced the crisis with zero government debt and consistent budget surpluses, they would have been considered pillars of strength rather than sources of weakness. What those European countries wanted for, in other words, was Australian treasurer Peter Costello running their budgets in the long lead-up to 2008.

Australia hit the 2008 crisis in rude financial health: debt-free, growing strongly with significant assets and running surplus budgets. It is these robust foundations, along with very favourable terms of trade, which guaranteed that Australia would survive the crisis in very good shape.

Just prior to the crisis, reserve bank governor Glenn Stevens drew attention to the magnificent financial position built up over more than a decade by Costello, saying that “the capacity to respond, if need be, to developments in the future is virtually without peer.” Little did he know at the time, but three months later that position of economic strength would be tested in the most dramatic fashion.

The pre-existing strength of the Australian government’s finances were to prove a bulwark against the economic storm and investors, businesspeople, consumers and financial markets were greatly reassured by the strength of the Australian economy. On top of those firm foundations, each political party in Australia was in the wonderful position of being able to offer stimulus packages drawing on these sound finances. People will debate the merits of the respective stimulus packages, but with its strong terms of trade, Australia was foreordained to outperform other countries once the storm hit, and foreordained to receive accolades from the International Monetary Fund for doing so.

The most important lesson about the global financial crisis is not about what happened after it hit but in what happened in the lead-up, and this can be summarised simply: don’t put your country into a zone of financial vulnerability.

How did so many leaders allow their countries to drift into that zone? They tried to explain that rising debt levels were not unreasonable compared to other countries. When quizzed about growing budget deficits in the UK, for example, chancellor of the exchequer Gordon Brown would always point out that Britain’s government debt and deficit levels were reasonable when one looked at other comparable countries. “Net debt is now 47% of national income in France, 47% in America, in Germany 62%, in Japan 83% and in Italy over 100% – but this year in Britain 36.4%,” Brown said in 2006 as he revealed yet another gradual economic deterioration.

Of course, Brown’s reassuring words masked a position of disastrous weakness, and this weakness only became evident when the crisis sent the British economy into a tailspin from which it has still not recovered.

The next time you hear mollifying words from Rudd that our rising debt levels are at reasonable levels compared to other countries, think about how Britons were lulled into the financial danger zone and ask yourself: are we on the same trajectory?