Webdiary - Founded and Inspired by Margo Kingston

NSW Premier Iemma has seized upon a limited and deficient Auditor-General's report as grounds to proceed with electricity privatisation, planning to rush through the legislation in a special sitting this week. The sale has been consistently opposed by the NSW public and unions...

It is commonly assumed that the live export trade in sheep and cattle to the Middle East is necessary and economically vital. Necessary because Islamic (halal) slaughter demands it, and vital because of the export income it brings to Australia. Although it is certainly in the immediate interests of those involved in the live export trade, none of the rest is true.

Australians should get ready for the crunch. The massive write-downs on balance sheets by the big banks and enormous provisioning for bad or risky loans is not over by a long shot. From my experience, we have our own sub-prime crisis that hasn’t even begun to surface yet although the first bubbles are about a millimetre below sea level.

It is well known on Wall Street that some of the largest financial institutions have huge undeclared problems with Asset Backed Securities they have valued far above their worth to make their books look better than they are. ... assets where no one is willing to buy but the bank declares their worth based on "fantasy."

The rich countries of the world have again shown that they are willing to sacrifice lives in the poorer countries for political gains at home. Our television screens will be filled with millions of starving people and big business will reap the rewards. We have shown our lack of concern and will continue to wonder why these countries fail and spawn terrorists. Globalisation is under threat due to lack of commitment. The world economy will suffer because of the lack of political courage.

As the drivers voiced their cry for help in Adelaide, and most capital cities, do you know what the employer of six of them did for daring to strike?  Sacked them! There's an old-fashioned ways of supporting strikers... pass the hat around.  Show that you understand.   Get your supplies in and don't go to the shops that are driving these people, and their families, into poverty.

If modern technology had been used to promote the ideas of liberty, free markets, sound money and trade, it would have ushered in a new golden age – a globalism we could accept. Instead, the wealth and freedom we now enjoy are shrinking and rest upon a fragile philosophic infrastructure. (Ron Paul)

The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry is, as I write, undergoing its annual tearing out of the hair and rending asunder of its opulent board room curtaining. Yes, you guessed it: the Australian Fair Pay Commission has ruled on the latest National Wage case.

If carbon capture and storage is capable of any significant dampening effect on global warming, then the CO2 involved will inevitably be a resource of massive importance for the future inhabitants of the Earth. That in short, is the other side of the CO2 coin.

Climate change presents a new kind of challenge. It is uncertain in its form and extent, rather than drawn in clear lines. It is insidious, rather than directly confrontational. It is long term, rather than immediate in both its impacts and its remedies. Remedies will require global co-operation of unprecedented complexity and dimension. We have much to contribute and much to lose as we face the diabolical policy challenge of climate change. (Professor Ross Garnaut)

The role of governments in the regulation of all manner of safety standards has generally been accepted for many years. The purpose of any government regulation (and aviation regulation is no exception) is to guard against actions which are potentially detrimental to society.

Perhaps the principal conclusion to be drawn from today's policy challenges is that it would have been better to avoid the build-up of credit excesses in the first place. (Bank of International Settlements)

This of course blows a hole in another ancient Bush fallacy, the one in which former Defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld said "the oil wells belong to the Iraqi people" and former secretary of State Colin Powell seconded him by saying Iraqi oil "will be held in trust for the Iraqi people."

You can do two things with land in the grain belt. You can work it and try and make it work for you or, rather, your bank balance. Or you can give it a break, let the place go back to grass, put livestock on it, and forget about the bank balance. Few families have the luxury of that choice.

Whilst there is now plenty of discussion about the responses that governments should be making to address the predicted consequences of climate change, the focus seems to have been largely on the economic, trade and security issues. The social and human rights implications rarely rate a mention. (The Hon. John von Doussa)

Back in February, I wrote that "oil prices will continue to rise until they have suppressed demand back to match supply", and forecast a headline barrel price of $120 in June and $145 at year end. Now it's June and $139.69, what's next?

The Stockholm Network’s Carbon Scenarios describe 3 plausible futures resulting from 3 different approaches to climate policy at the international level. Worryingly, none of the scenarios provides a policy which achieves climate ‘success’ as defined by the UK, EU and UN (a greater than 90% chance of no more than 2°C warming above preindustrial levels).

A collection of comments, quotes and opinions on the budget.

The ostensible argument for power privatisation is that NSW needs the money for schools, hospitals and other expenditure. The reality is that sale of capital is touted as the way to finance ongoing expenditure, analogous to the classic case of the farmer who sells off a bit of the farm each year to keep the family clothed and food on the table.

This well researched book is meant to help labour activists rediscover history, not, Mason says, “to piously learn lessons” but to see where activism leads, what reactions various patterns of revolt bring. He notes that when work becomes humane, fair and representative, the red fire tends to be quashed. If only more would listen.

Norman Mailer once wrote: “My long experience with human nature … suggests that it is possible that fascism, not democracy, is the natural state.” Mailer was a novelist, and his business was being provocative. I found his article … to be food for considerable worthwhile thought. After the thinking, I decided he was wrong.

The financial and economic crisis now upon us is by far the most menacing of the past century - even more so than the Great Depression of the 1930s. It is not just a "subprime" crisis; it is systemic - affecting the entire financial system. (James Cumes)

For a cops and robbers tabloid, the Herald Sun has been way off the pace in terms of the underworld connections to Opes Prime. The Age has been leading since day one and today’s front page story is perhaps the most significant contribution yet. (Stephen Mayne)

Grain prices have suddenly doubled worldwide and are expected to remain at these levels. For the billions of people who spend a large percentage of their income on food, mostly the urban poor in developing countries, this is and will be a disaster.

As computers become more powerful and more and more information is gathered about individuals it will be very easy to track people simply by their buying habits. We will not need to know their names, just a profile will be enough to identify them. Human being are extremely predictable.

A news article on Australia-China Free Trade Agreement negotiations, emphasizing the broader ramifications of the Tibetan issue on economic policies. 

"When I was originally approached to speak to this audience, I was asked to give a Reserve Bank perspective on the economy. That was a fairly general brief. Given the current state of affairs, it makes sense to fulfil it by talking specifically about inflation and monetary policy." (Glenn Stevens)

I'm interested by the claim repeated in numerous news analyses that "investors are buying oil to hedge against the sliding greenback" - it seems to me to be a tad more significant that world oil demand has exceeded world oil supply for the last several months, and looks like doing so for at least the rest of this year. My forecasts for year end 2008: $145 barrel; A$1=US$1; ULP at $1.87 per litre. Enjoy.

The growing realisation of how exposed the financial system is – and from transactions that should never have taken place – is reinforcing the mounting credit crunch, which, in turn, is spooking stock markets. This raises many questions, including – how safe is our superannuation?;

[Full report here] Australia’s interest lies in the world adopting a strong and effectiveposition on climate change mitigation. This interest is driven by tworealities of Australia’s position relative to other developedcountries: our exceptional sensitivity to climate change: and ourexceptional opportunity to do well in a world of effective globalmitigation. Australia playing its full part in international efforts onclimate change can have a positive effect on global outcomes. Thedirect effects of Australia’s emissions reduction efforts are ofsecondary importance.