try and buy a house in bali, they wont allow it, but Aussie...

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mdermot

48 Posts.

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10/09/20

14:10

Post #: 47240912
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Originally posted by 1ronnie: ↑

China has been regarded a sovereign risk for some time and that is no secret, but Australia has to date been able to balance those interest and manage difficulties behind the scenes. We are surely not naive enough to believe the CCP is anything else than what they are, have been all along that for decades we took a blind eye. No one disagrees the concerns over the increasing interference and influence but it is the "how" that is important in managing it, it is not like we are about to be invaded.

This stoush portends a major structural change in our future economic outlook - you may not think it is important but indirectly all Australians (not just the businessmen) will feel the impact of that change should it come to roost. Like you just said, a middle ground is necessary but a tit-for-tat approach is anything but a middle ground.

Sovereignty is the same argument Trump (sounds very familiar) sells to his fellow Americans as basis to be anti-China but because the average American does not understand economics well enough, the trade war he created with China did not help America at all - it served to widen its trade deficit , increase cost of goods in US (with tariffs imposed on goods from China used in American products) for Americans.

Sadly, you and many do not see it is as a play in the name of politics but at the end of the day at the longer term expense of ordinary folks - like the wool farmer who sells to China, the tourism operator including regional folks depending on incoming tourism, the ordinary Australians who probably will have to fork out higher uni fees for their kids as universities need to increase domestic fees to close the revenue gap, like the real estate agents who may face considerable drop in income and business, housing prices going nowhere for longer , I can go on. This is not saying that we should compromise at all our national security in defense of economic pragmatism - what I am saying is that we blundered big time taking the leaf off the Trump playbook to exacerbate and accelerate the tension and continue to do so relentlessly.

WTF, Trump got aggro with China and Australia ended up tragically being the whipping boy!

It does not matter if you agree or disagree, it is the final outcome that matters. And the outcome is not in our favour- a fight we cannot win and yet choose to pursue on.

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try and buy a house in bali, they wont allow it, but Aussie tourism has been unstoppable there for years.
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0 Great analysis

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