The pond regrets to advise that, despite a splendid surge in comments yesterday, today is a leaner and meaner cut down post.
Why so? Well there were the usual alarums in the tree killer edition ...
Indeed, indeed, the last thing anyone needs is a watchdog with teeth.
A toothless watchdog if you please, but the pond was immediately settled by a Wilcox, who understood the spirit of the game, at least if you happened to be a bunch of dropkick ponces in a dropkick losing country ...
To think the pond's long lost grandma stayed up late at night to listen to the news from England on the wireless ...
Some even forgot about a decent defanging and instead urged on a decent gavelling ...
As for the comments below the fold, ennui was the only course of action ...
This must be the first time on record that the pond hasn't been tempted by the bromancer, and all the pond can offer Zelensky is support.
The pond was pleased to see that the lizard Oz editorialist stood strong and brave with the lads against the infamous imperialists, but what else was there to say? This was hardly the time or the place for the pond to do a Cyndi Lauper and deliver a verse or two of True Colours ... ('colors' only if you have an antipathy to 'u', a brave and noble letter) ...
As for simplistic "here no conflict of interest" Simon, the pond has already dispensed with the alarums, and is well over Gladys and lovesick, lovelorn gazing at the moon ...
How many times could the pond go to the well, and rely on a cartoonist to carry the can, even if it was the
infallible Pope?
And that just left the economy, and what on earth could Paddy Commins have to say that would be a match for a jolly good groaning ... especially as the lizard Oz graphics department got Dame Groan off to a fierce start ...
What an utterly compelling image and already the pond felt just as stressed as the economy, and as the pond began to read, a single thought began to dominate ...
Indeed, indeed, and after that astonishing blunder, the pond only had to get past a huge snapshot of the chief villain, designed to upset the Groaner in chief and the lizard Oz readership ...
... to begin to wonder and arrive at that singular thought.
Why hadn't the chief villain issued an urgent call to arms to Dame Groan? The pond realised that she was long of tooth, but surely a board position wasn't beyond her many strengths, and she might just save the economy and the country, in their desperate hour of need ...
Why the pond is sure that she's up to dot points with the best of them ...
You see? The pond's singular thinking was entirely correct. A couple of mindless flibbertigibbets with dubious pasts were simply and ill-advisedly announced, and Dame Groan left languishing and gnashing teeth, and to prove the point, the reptiles inserted a huge snap of the woman, with a hairdo that simply won't do ...
The situation proved so difficult and fraught for Dame Groan that she resorted to dot points. Oh if only she'd had a PowerPoint handy ...
It goes without saying that the pond was
- astonished that nobody had thought to give Dame Groan a call;
- pleased to see that the Groaner was indeed capable of dot points much more compelling than a Utopia episode;
- inclined to warn all and sundry that this couldn't go on, and that the pond had yet to include all the dot points and sundry comedy items to hand.
Things got no better in the penultimate gobbet ...
Arguably Dame Groan is merely a tosser arguing through her hat, in ways that are both unnecessary and - forget potentially - demonstrably unworkable, but the core problem is that the apple has been eaten, and all we have is the core, and that is, so to speak, the core problem, and if that doesn't sound like a Utopia script, then you need to eat more apples ... and might eventually begin to understand the overall picture (no, the pond won't insert an ancient ad for overalls) ...
Indeed, indeed, but where would we all be without a constant muddle, so that each week the Groaning might establish the muddle, and then finally we might realise that only Dame Groan can fix it ... and as evidence, please a shot of the head muddler to lead into the final gobbet ... hang on to your wallet, your watch, and whatever else. Who knows, perhaps there's even some gentlemen who still wear hats ...
Week after week, it's never looked bleaker, and we'll all be rooned, though the pond does note that things look a tad bleaker elsewhere ...
So according to the Dame, the former head of the Fair Work Commission has no expertise in labour markets. LOL.
ReplyDeleteNor has an ACTU official, fellow Anon. Clearly their qualifications fall well short of that of an academic economist with loads of experience in trousering Board fees.
DeleteSo, Groanie is acknowledging wage increases didn’t play a role in current inflation but we should respond as if they did because? - hammer/nail?
ReplyDeleteListening to various economists trying to read the entrails this morning it’s apparent that they are not much more informed than the Dame. I get the impression that there is little interest in how the economy actually works, even less in what might be best for the country, but a very keen focus on where they place their bets.
That pretty much says it straight and clear, Bef. It is simply appalling how little of the application of economics to large, modern nations is understood by those who supposedly are employed to do it.
DeleteAnd as for we the people, apparently only just now shedding the delusion that the Right-wingnuts actually know best how to manage an economy, what can be said ?
Australia is the world's 13th largest economy by nominal GDP, and only marginally behind South Korea (12th) and Russia (11th) and not one of those nations above us* is less than twice Australia's population.
* USA, China, Japan, Germany, India, UK, France, Italy, Canada, Brazil, Russia, South Korea in 2023.
Despite the Dame’s reading of the tea-leaves, I doubt that Philip Lowe may get the boot simply by “speaking the truth about the role that wage rises may play in the inflationary process”.
ReplyDeleteDo you think he could ever grasp that wages are a trailing, and not a leading, indicator ?
DeleteIt's a good day to ignore the Bro, especially when he spouts such as this: "His [Jokowi's] plan to build a new capital is one of the most ridiculous ideas in the history of Third World white elephants." Clearly a climate denier such as the Bro would neither know, or understand, that: "Indonesia’s capital is also sinking. Areas of north Jakarta, including the seawall designed to protect them, are falling at an estimated 25cm a year, due to subsidence. The city does not pipe in enough drinkable water, so Jakartans rely largely on wells which extract water from shallow aquifers, leading to the land above it collapsing."
ReplyDeleteIs that reason enough ? Or maybe this as well: "Jakarta is also struggling under a huge environmental burden. Air quality in the city has plunged over the last few months, recording worse conditions in June than notoriously polluted cities such as Delhi and Beijing, prompting a group of activists and environmentalists to sue the government to take action."
Why is Indonesia moving its capital city? Everything you need to know
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/27/why-is-indonesia-moving-its-capital-city-everything-you-need-to-know
Clearly, the Bro doesn't actually need to know anything.
Thank you GB, with the President in town, and for all the pond knows, a keen regular visitor to the site, what's the point of regurgitating the bromancer in order to (a) offend the dignitary and (b) establish the rampant ningnong stupidity of the reptiles, and the bromancer in particular, all the more so as the bromancer had the cheek to talk of friendship... and with friends like that ...
DeleteTo add to your link, https://www.euronews.com/green/2023/03/10/is-indonesias-plan-to-save-jakarta-by-building-a-new-capital-a-massive-ecological-disaster
Jakarta is one of the world's most overpopulated cities. Its greater metropolitan area is home to more than 30 million residents.
The sprawling megapolis sinks about six centimetres a year due to the excessive extraction of groundwater for its residents, according to a 2021 study by Indonesia's Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology. This makes it one of the fastest sinking cities on Earth.
The phenomenon has been exacerbated by the rising Java Sea due to climate change.
A quarter of the capital's area will be completely submerged by 2050 if urgent measures aren’t taken, the National Research and Innovation Agency said.
Researchers also believe water supplies may dry up for many in Jakarta and wider Java if Indonesia does not relieve pressure on resources.
"Jakarta and Java Island are heading towards a clean water crisis. We projected the crisis might happen in 2050," earth scientist Andreas said, blaming rapid population and industrial growth.
"When the population explodes, the poor sanitation will get worse, pollutants will contaminate the rivers and shallow groundwater, rendering them unusable," he added.
Pollution from Jakarta’s traffic-choked roads and the absence of a rubbish collection system - forcing many to burn their trash - has also produced air quality that at times rivals New Delhi and Beijing.
The city's streets are so clogged that it is estimated congestion costs the economy €4.3 billion a year.
The pond didn't even have the heart or the stomach to go there ...
For the record, this is what the bromancer said ...
While we can congratulate Jokowi on many things, it’s worth also drawing attention to the negatives. His crazy plan to spend $50bn (likely much more) building a new national capital, Nusantara, in Borneo, to replace Jakarta is one of the most spectacularly ridiculous ideas in the history of Third World white elephants.
Indonesia is a nation crying out for investment in transport, infrastructure, basic education and primary health. To imagine draining $50bn away from these priorities to spend on creating Canberra in the jungle is absurd, and very unlikely to long survive Jokowi’s departure from office.
Even worse, the bromancer pretended to be a caring environmentalist ...
This won’t stop Australian journalists repeating, unexamined, Indonesian and even Australian claims about Indonesia’s green future, even as it continues building new coal-fired power plants and the process of deforestation.
Last time the pond checked, the reptiles were still infatuated by coal and climate science denialism.
As for the sinking city, the bromancer's solution? Let them sink in their own waste, let them stew in their juices ...
Sadly, DP, whether we let them or not, sinking in their own waste is firmly in their future if the Bro's understanding that his "[Nusantara is] very unlikely to long survive Jokowi’s departure from office." turns out to be correct.
DeleteJust some casual racism from the Bro, maintains the house style.
DeleteDP said "Arguably Dame Groan is merely a tosser arguing through her hat, in ways that are both unnecessary and - forget potentially - demonstrably unworkable"
ReplyDeleteTosser check.
Judith Sloan says "(To be technical, it assumes that there must be an exploitable Phillips curve)" - therefore the corollary - if I can't expliit it I'll just grab something else to confirm ny biases. Thank Judy.
Phillips, who definded the Phillios curve, according to Join Quiggin said:
"fn1. Phillips himself might agree. He is supposed to have remarked “If I’d known what they were going with the curve, I never would have drawn it”.
"Since 1974, seven Nobel Prizes have been given to economists for, among other things, work critical of some variations of the Phillips curve."
Goodhart's law: "When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure".
"The state of macroeconomics: it all went wrong in 1958
JANUARY 5, 2013
JOHN QUIGGIN
"My own [JQ's] view is even more pessimistic. On balance, I think macroeconomics has gone backwards since the discovery of the Phillips curve in 1958 [1][2]. The subsequent 50+ years has been a history of mistakes, overcorrection and partial countercorrections. To be sure, quite a lot has been learned, but as far as policy is concerned, even more has been forgotten. The result is that lots of economists are now making claims that would have been considered absurd, even by pre-Keynesian economists like Irving Fisher.
...
" fn1. Phillips himself might agree. He is supposed to have remarked “If I’d known what they were going with the curve, I never would have drawn it”.
...
https://johnquiggin.com/2013/01/05/the-state-of-macroeconomics-it-all-went-wrong-in-1958/
Even Macrobusiness;
"Judith Sloan’s claim that “housing is now more affordable than it was six years ago” and that the “historically low cash rates are the primary determinant of this outcome”, along with the chart showing repayments at “affordable” levels, was debunked in detail last week (post now unlocked).
...
"But overall, The Australian, like so many others, failed to diagnose the housing affordability issue properly."
https://www.macrobusiness.com.au/2016/10/housing-affordability-bunkum/
"Explaining Low Inflation Using Models"
RBA Bulletin – June 2019 Australian Economy
20 June 2019
"... An ongoing puzzle in Australia is that, in contrast to inflation models, standard Phillips Curve models of wages growth cannot fully explain the weakness in wages growth over recent years."
https://www.rba.gov.au/publications/bulletin/2019/jun/explaining-low-inflation-using-models.html
Wikipedia :
"Since 1974, seven Nobel Prizes have been given to economists for, among other things, work critical of some variations of the Phillips curve."
...
"One practical use of this model was to explain stagflation, which confounded the traditional Phillips curve."
...
"However, other economists, like Jeffrey Herbener, argue that price is market-determined and competitive firms cannot simply raise prices.[citation needed] They reject the Phillips curve entirely, concluding that unemployment's influence is only a small portion of a much larger inflation picture that includes prices of raw materials, intermediate goods, cost of raising capital, worker productivity, land, and other factors."
...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phillips_curve
Befuddled says "So, Groanie is acknowledging wage increases didn’t play a role in current inflation but we should respond as if they did because? - hammer/nail?"
Judith Sloan weilds a histrionic economics hammer. She thinks it has special powers. Nuff...
I think what may largely 'explain' the weakness in wages growth over recent years is likely the strength and achievements of the anti-union movement.
DeleteMy dear pater used to say that in federal elections he voted Liberal, in state elections Labor and in Union elections he voted Commo because "they will always fight for you". So who will fight for you now ?
Our Dame frequently groans about the Reserve Bank being all soft on employment, but it has been in the legislation from the founding of that body. In slightly condensed form -
ReplyDeleteReserve Bank Act 1959, Section 10
(2) It is the duty of the Reserve Bank Board . . to ensure that . . the powers of the Bank under this Act . . are exercised in such as manner as . . . will best contribute to:
(b) the maintenance of full employment in Australia.
It is there because a much more experienced economist, and one much less in thrall to the big end of town, Herbert Cole Coombs, knew that it was achievable, and had shown the 'levers' of such a policy in the white paper on employment in Australia following WWII, as part of post war reconstruction.
In my time in northern Australia, I made a point of hunting down the relevant parts of his reports, but also finding they had been ignored through the Menzies years.
It is almost demeaning to compare Coombs with our Dame as purported economists. His understanding of how the country actually worked was displayed both in his policy contributions to governments in the '40s and '50s, but was further emphasized in his voluntary contributions to so many bodies trying to reduce inequality and offer Australians a sense of esteem and fulfillment, well beyond 'punching the bundy'.
Steady Chadders, this site is dedicated to reptile misinformation, and that note veers alarmingly towards the incisive and the informative. Next thing you know Google will be putting this post behind a 'sensitive content' note.
DeleteOoh no, DP, there's nothing the least 'sensitive' about us.
DeleteBut otherwise, yes, a truly great Aussie our Nugget about whom far too little is known by far too many, myself sadly included. Smothered under the Menzies years.
Well said, Chad. Nugget was proof that it is indeed possible for an economist to have a broader view of the world than budgets and monetary and fiscal policy. Sadly though he was one of the few to do so even in his heyday, and these days he’d probably be condemned as either frivolous or heretical.
DeleteDoes this constitute a wider view of the world ?
DeleteLive updates: RBA leaves interest rates on hold at 4.1pc as protesters gather outside its headquarters, PwC's government advisory business renamed, ASX steady
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-07-04/asx-markets-business-live-news-interest-rate-protest/102557518
Dorothy, while it might be something of an honour in this age to be put behind a 'sensitive content' screen (is that like a mobile whiteboard? Asking for a friend) I would not want to contribute to suppression of your daily tabulations of (some of the) reptile misinformation. Your work here is not done yet.
DeleteJust joking Chadders, your work here is not done yet ...
DeleteAh yes, but then as those wise ancients said: "this too shall pass". And it did, and they did too.
DeleteJust some latish thoughts about Groany and inflation and sundry such stuff:
ReplyDeleteGroany: "...that economic policy is currently in a complete muddle." "Currently" ? Only "currently" ? It's been mostly in a greater or lesser muddle for my entire life. For instance: "...to ensure the bank [RBA] had a laser-like focus on achieving inflation between 2 and 3 per cent over the medium term." And it hasn't achieved that objective even once as best I can recall. Not even once - though I can stand to be corrected if anybody can prove otherwise.
Anyhow, unlike Chalmers, apparently Rishi Sunak (a very wealthy man with an even much wealthier wife) "publicly supports the Bank of England." And that one part of some very good reasons why Rishi and his mates will be ejected in great numbers just as soon as the British hold an election.
And lastly, some Alan Kohler input about a worldwide New Zealand act of creativity we really could have done without:
https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/finance-news/2023/07/03/inflation-targets-fading-kohler/
Love the way the Groaner is unequivocal on inflation yet somewhat softer on unemployment. Methinks she's never experienced a period of unemployment. Most sensible analysts concede that widespread and prolonged unemployment causes much greater misery than moderate inflation which is what we have now although our infantile media think otherwise.
ReplyDelete