aaaaaaaaaaaa economy, page-45

darryle

Re your post which included;
"There was not one Australian bank that experienced significant problems during the GFC.
This was a northern hemisphere problem. ..."

As a shareholder in the CBA & NAB at that time my recollections and supportive documentation differ markedly from the comments you made in that post.

I recall some pretty awful bad debts being listed on balance sheets, real pressures being felt due to the possible default on housing loans due to the ~155% private indebtedness people accumulated during Howard's profligate era.

Whereas the CBA now trades at ~$70 it fell to just $26 when the $Aud was only worth US$0.65 [ie. about US$18] - our banks were being viewed as high risk investments [did David Murray invest Future Fund capital in our bank shares I wonder?].

Had Kevin Rudd not sent out those $900 cheques our financial house of cards may well have started to collapse due to that record levels of private debt mainstream Australians were carrying.

As for the comments you made about Rudd spending $236b etc. I respectfully suggest you read carefully some of what has been posted even on this thread about public debt by posters such as raiderup.

In so doing you might like to think about the forward commitments John Howard and Peter Costello committed the budget to; knowing only too well that an economic tsunami was coming and that the mining boom could not last forever:

. The human and economic costs of participation in illegal wars with Iraq and Afghanistan.
. The replacement of clapped out naval and military hardware.
. That obscene 'baby bonus'.
. Tax minimisation made easy for the wealthy via superannuation contributions - with easy access at an early retirement age.
. Subsidised 'private schools' while public schools rotted.
. Subsidised health insurance for the wealthy.
. Kicking the health system funding can down the road.
. Kicking the core infrastructure can down the road.
. Etc.

Only a reality denier and blind defender of Tony Abbott could call that drivel.