The Misbehavers

[Unicorn]

:laugh2: ..... LOL Trout!

He'd no doubt love the duece!

[Pedro]

Could be my twin :shock:

Pedro

[trout]

Try to let go of the idea that a high currency valuation means a strong economy and think simply in terms of supply and demand of the currency - then it'll be pretty obvious why the USD is so strong.

this is way off topic , So I have answered in this thread :ok:

I am of the opinion that currency is pretty much like shares in a company.
If the company is doing well the shares are worth more, If the company is doing badly then the share price is reflected in this.

For the Primary industries in Australia a high US dollar is a good thing and is pretty much all that is keeping a lot of the Mines in Aus viable at the moment.
I have NO idea where the demand is coming from for the USD, why would any country want to add to the US foreign debt?
I know for a fact that the Chinese have dumped Billions of USD in WA alone buying up resource projects that nobody else really wanted.
A lot of people think that these are "White Elephants" and a stupid idea.
I don't for one instant think the Chinese are stupid, they are simply getting something for a debt that the US will never be able to repay :good;

I think the USD is held up with the aid of a lot of smoke and mirrors at the moment.

[nealeffendi]

Trout, the USD is so high at the moment for several reasons. For one thing it is the least ugly pig in the pen as the Europeans (Euro and Pound) and the Japs (Yen) are in worse shape and there are no other major global currencies outside those 4.
The commodities are on a downwards trend as China is about to smack into a wall of reality as construction has been a major plank of the Chinese economy (18% of GDP). Now their property market is saturated and prices are falling as investors/developers find few buyers for the 70 million empty apartments. So they will have a huge multi year depression in construction and that will have knock on effects both directly to the Chinese economy (100 million will lose jobs in construction and feeder industries such as steel mills). The knock on will also indirectly hurt China as a number of economies (Australia, Brazil plus many others) have been strong supplying the raw materials; so those economies will contract and buy less stuff from China (damaging Chinas manufacturers).
Doesn't mean the USD will remain strong, their economy will lose out on exports as buyers seek less expensive suppliers and the savings to the US economy in cheaper oil imports won't offset the damage to the US shale oil miners. Like a light-bulb that gets brighter before it burns out the USD seems strong but might be about to lose its position as THE global currency with what the BRIC nations are planning.

[wwwww]

Try to let go of the idea that a high currency valuation means a strong economy and think simply in terms of supply and demand of the currency - then it'll be pretty obvious why the USD is so strong.

this is way off topic , So I have answered in this thread :ok:

I am of the opinion that currency is pretty much like shares in a company.
If the company is doing well the shares are worth more, If the company is doing badly then the share price is reflected in this.

For the Primary industries in Australia a high US dollar is a good thing and is pretty much all that is keeping a lot of the Mines in Aus viable at the moment.
I have NO idea where the demand is coming from for the USD, why would any country want to add to the US foreign debt?
I know for a fact that the Chinese have dumped Billions of USD in WA alone buying up resource projects that nobody else really wanted.
A lot of people think that these are "White Elephants" and a stupid idea.
I don't for one instant think the Chinese are stupid, they are simply getting something for a debt that the US will never be able to repay :good;

I think the USD is held up with the aid of a lot of smoke and mirrors at the moment.

Think about what happens to the supply of USD if the US defaults on their debts (even a partial restructure).

[Goose]

Default? HA! All they'd do is raise the debt limit like they have done consistently over the last 60 or so yrs. The guv'mint claims they are "only" $18 Trillion in the hole......the truth? Close to $94 Trillion. A trillion stacked $1 U S notes would reach 63,131 MILES HIGH.....that's a lot of money......never to be paid.

[markn]

It's got nothing to do with the economy, it's all about investment return causing supply and demand issues.  Right now speculators are counting on increases in interest rates in the USA while they are expecting decreases here.  I for one think it's a great thing, a high dollar lines the pockets of importers and hurts exporters.  I'd rather more money go into someone's pocket who is trying to bring money in from overseas rather than some who importing TV's from China and selling them at high margins and doing nothing more than consuming our disposable income on rubbish.

And while we're on the subject of economies, Australia's is as messed up as any country in the world, the mining boom has been a great buffer and smokescreen to hide the fact that everything else here is buggered.

[trout]

And while we're on the subject of economies, Australia's is as messed up as any country in the world, the mining boom has been a great buffer and smokescreen to hide the fact that everything else here is buggered.

our farming and Pastoral people are probably the most cost efficient in the World and our Fishing industry is world Class as well.
We are also a World player in the gas industry along with significant Oil reserves.
This is ALL Primary industries .

What does let us down is our Manufacturing industries, We tend to get all our consumer items from overseas.
The Car industry was once a major part of our economy but as all the Car makers were Multinationals , they decided to DUMP the Australian manufacturers .
We are actually Bloody GOOD at making cars and I am certain that we could compete on the World stage and sell our OWN product.
Why someone with "Deep Pockets" hasn't taken up the challenge and started up a Purely Australian Car Firm using the skills and dedication that our now UNEMPLOYED car workers have is beyond Me.

And that is only a TINY part of the things we could do.
Aussies are NOT stupid But the "Easy Life" as we have known it since the 60's is pretty much OVER.
Time to tighten our belts and get off our collective arses and start being more productive and start taking some risks developing new Ideas/Businesses and export "Value Added" items instead of just RAW materials.
America, Japan and China plus many other countries  have and still do make a lot of money "Value Adding" our Primary products, it's time to cut the middlemen out and do this ourselves :ok:  

then and ONLY then (Regardless of what the US dollar is worth) will we start making money instead of spending it overseas.

Just some musings and thoughts, End of rant :angel:

[autocoupler]

IMHO too many key manufacturing industries left our shores in the 70's and 80's in particular and set up shop in Asia. They were actually driven out by irresponsible trade union activity that made us non productive and uncompetitive, brought about by ridiculous and senseless demarcation disputes. A real joke actually, as these so called demarcation issues were bunged on in the name of job retention, what a load of BS.

The same thing is happening today in what industry we have left, only this time round "SAFETY" is the catch cry. Companies are compelled to fork out tens of millions in complying with insane safety legislation that was introduced by the previous government in their quest for utopia. Employees with expertise gained from years of experience in various forms of industry have been forcibly dumbed down by management regimes who are seen running scared as they seek to avoid penalties  for non compliance. Of course none of this is has anything to do with safety, it's all about people from top end to the bottom all covering their arses.

We often hear cries of how expensive the cost of living has become, make no mistake, a huge portion of the blowout in the cost of living is due to massive waste being incurred in an over the top safety regime and  then being passed on to the consumer.

It's almost as if there has been a concerted and deliberate attack on our secondary industry by key players over the past 45 years. It all seems to be about mine is bigger than yours, it's our turf and we'll stuff it up if we wish to.

I'm not against union participation or a proper safety regime, I know the importance of both after close on 47 years in heavy maintenance. I've also seen many irresponsible actions in that time that have been the cause of job losses and missed opportunities, and in most cases driven by ego, pig pigheadedness, contemptible cronyism, or laziness and short sighted greed.

Yes, I reckon we're stuffed.

[Unicorn]

Some great points have been made above. Personally, I think our biggest mistake is "selling the farm".

[markn]

The Car industry was once a major part of our economy but as all the Car makers were Multinationals , they decided to DUMP the Australian manufacturers .
We are actually Bloody GOOD at making cars and I am certain that we could compete on the World stage and sell our OWN product.
Why someone with "Deep Pockets" hasn't taken up the challenge and started up a Purely Australian Car Firm using the skills and dedication that our now UNEMPLOYED car workers have is beyond Me.

I have been intimately involved with the car manufacturing industry at both a manufacturer level and a governmental level for years.  And I can tell you that the Australian car industry has been non-profitable since the early 1990's and only survived as long as it did because it was propped up by industrial welfare payments from state and federal governments.  What you have seen in the last two years was an inevitable outcome.  Australia is too small to support a profitable car industry when forced to compete on a level playing field with overseas manufacturers.  Unfortunately the playing field is far from level so it never had any hope at all once state and federal governments stopped propping it up.

[nealeffendi]

Some great points have been made above. Personally, I think our biggest mistake is "selling the farm".

Farms, mines, office blocks and residential. In parts of Sydney foreign investors (especially Chinese) own 80% of the apartments.
So do we do what Malaysia did and when they gave the Malays extra rights and privileges to counter-act the ethnic Chinese economic clout?
Markn is right about the car industry only surviving on handouts. Personally I think they should have continued the handouts as a few hundred million a year is cheaper than paying for tens of thousands of unemployed car workers/feeder industry employees.Plus save a few billion on car imports plus retain a manufacturing base of tool makers etc for when we cannot afford imports or for military self reliance.

[ausjack]

Not to interfere with AC's post "the news desk-2015" so I put this here like the good boy I am and because I wanna be good  :angel:

My really good mate RG will be there bright eyed and bushy tailed ready to get me one, won't ya old mate, buddy, cobba, pal, chum, comrade, FRIEND :friends: I'll give you a lollypop

just joking mate I'm not into that sort of over inflated stuff and it would make me sad to think of you sitting there for days and days just to get that one coin and who'd look after Mr RG and the soon to be laying fowl :winkextra:

[Unicorn]

[trout]

This country was built on the blood sweat and tears of Aboriginal Australians, White Australians, Europeans, Chinese and South Sea Islanders and the list could go on.

Why did you put Aboriginal Australians at the front of the list RG?
These people were here for Millennia Before Colonisation  as hunters and gatherers with a relatively small population  purely due to the way they lived and Nothing changed until Colonisation.
Colonisation created our Nation as we know it today Due to the sweat , blood and tears  of just about every nationality Known on the face of the Earth and since then we have achieved some amazing things.
Nobody can define an Australian via Hi/Her Race, colour or what God/gods they worship, It all about a way we live and take care of our own.