Get your red-hot budget tips here!

[Jovial Monk]

From Kohler's Business Spectator:

So in one year, as a result of a mild recession, Australia’s projected fiscal balance has suffered a $90-100 billion turnaround. Yes, we can say now that the surplus in last May’s budget was nothing but a fantasy, but it was Treasury’s best guess at the time.

The cause of this disaster was spelled out clearly by HSBC’s John Edwards in a note on Friday: successive Howard/Costello budgets leveraged government revenues to company profits and spending was measured against nominal GDP, which was inflated by booming commodity prices.

Edwards calculates that company tax revenues increased from one third of total tax revenue in 2001 to half in 2006 and to 60 per cent in last year’s forward estimates.

The shift reflects the decision by the Howard government to finance large personal income tax cuts – continued by the Rudd government last year – with company tax revenues that have now turned out to be temporary.

Edwards calls it an improvised explosive device (IED) in the budget: “It meant that expected revenues were highly leveraged to profits. The biggest increases in profits were coming from the banks and from mining companies, and both turned down sharply in the second half of last year.”

A Treasury paper published in February last year points out that between 2003 and 2008 the rate of growth of nominal GDP doubled while the average growth rate of real GDP remained the same.

That’s because of the big increase in export prices and the decline in import prices over that period. The discrepancy allowed government spending to increase sharply while remaining steady as a share of GDP.

Falling commodity prices are now reducing nominal GDP and leaving spending “high and dry”, according to Edwards, while revenue has collapsed partly for the same reason (and partly because of the big decline in bank profits).

http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs. ... ent&src=mp

Bloody Howard really did a number on our economy didn't he? Hope Rudd takes away the old prick's pension & perks. Of course, he won't, unfortunately

[Leftofcentresalterego]

Labor backbencher Arch Bevis tells the Canberra times that he doesn't think Australians understand the need for budget deficits.

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/lo ... 01693.aspx

[Leftofcentresalterego]

Ok. ignore the ironman and ironwoman article and look at the "most popular' right beside it, second one down.

[Jubial Priest]

Still blaming the previous govt JM?

Dear oh dear you are a sad little fucker- how long can you keep up that little pretence while the country is up to its eyeballs in debt. You and lefty can continue to sprout bullshit about how the current govt spending like a drunken sailor is nothing and all will be ok- those of us that have lived through a Labor govt before know what is in store and know that even despite a GFC all this does is hand a fucked up govt an open cheque book with all of our kids names written on it.

You obviously don't have kids, maybe a litter but you will definitely benefit financially from a Labor govt fucking up the economy. No wonder you are their cheerleader. Dickhead.

[Leftofcentresalterego]

Jubial Priest - there is only so much oxygen in the world and you are breathing air that could be used by more valuable living organisms. Do the world a favour and stop.

[Jubial Priest]

That's funny coming from someone who is so technologically illiterate that they can't even register on a forum

[if only]

Jubial Priest - there is only so much oxygen in the world and you are breathing air that could be used by more valuable living organisms. Do the world a favour and stop.

if only the dumb fuck would...

[Jubial Priest]

Yay- a left wing cheer squad!

The equivalent of a single brain cell operating numerous bodies but the only thing they are capable of is fucking each other in the arse while telling each other how good it feels

[skippy]

Yay- a left wing cheer squad!

The equivalent of a single brain cell operating numerous bodies but the only thing they are capable of is fucking each other in the arse while telling each other how good it feels

Do you ever make a post without mentioning an arse deepy/iqsrlow?

[Jovial Monk]

bwahahahaha LOW_IQ making a joke about other people's intelligence? Oh boy, that's fantastic!