the worlds greatest treasurer, page-20

Hi debono

I think many shops have the odds stacked against them, perhaps the largest of which is the level of indebtedness of the Australian consumer.

IMO it's hard to foresee significant growth in the retail sector in the near future. In itself that suggests that competition will be fierce, some shops will go broke & others will be rationalised - such is our cut-throat capitalist world!

As for the $Ozzie - interesting to note that while the DJIA fell 512pts the $US rose about 5% against the $Aud, effectively offsetting share market losses. In contrast we suffered a 5% currency loss & a 5% market loss - almost 10% in one day.

Pretty amazing really, the country whose economy is stuffed does well but the country whose economy is relatively strong is smashed to blazes.