The Other Guy

Obviously this site isn’t being maintained anymore.. Might come back… might not. See you round

Marvellous day today isn’t it?

An innocent mistake? Or a cheeky sub-editor?

You be the judge

Don’t say anything. Blame Facebook.

But for you, dear blog reader, I have a little present for you. A link I have been following for the last few months. When using ebay - why leave the same old boring feedback?

Perhaps you should take a leaf out of tryork5ifp’s book and make a killer gag of it.

My favourite: (+) item arrived—can’t get you out of my mind—I’M IN LOVE WITH YOU—there I said it.

On Tuesday I handed a completed draft of my thesis to my supervisor. At 130 pages it will take him a little while to review, so in the meantime I am at something of a loose end.

This was probably apparent to you immediately after loading this page. I figured it was time for a layout change for this blog, so I hunted around for a new theme and finally found one I liked. You will notice both sidebars contain the same content by default. I am going to fill one of them (probably the right) with some widgety things. Not a whole lot, because that would look god awful, but enough to make things a little more interesting.

Unfortunately my loose end is exacerbated by the lack of anything decent on television these days. And moreover, not a whole lot is coming out of the US at the moment to pose any threat to my download quota. Naridu and I have taken quite a shine to Californication, which we watched a little while ago. We chuckle at the ‘controversy’ the show has caused, no doubt part of a cloak-and-dagger publicity campaign enginneered by Channel 10. The series is no worse than other shows like Sex in the City, but has enough naughty stuff to fire up the usual blowhards.

Any recommendations of what i should be watching? At least until Heroes comes back in a few weeks.

Why is everyone using Facebook all of a sudden?

I have had a steady stream of Facebook invites come by my inbox in the last few weeks: old school friends, old uni buddies - what gives?

Naridu jumped aboard a little while ago, and seems somewhat obsessed with it. A cursory look around Myspace reminds me that social networking sites can be something of a travesty, so I am unsure whether I should take the plunge.

But on the other hand - it seems to have a more discerning crowd, and it might allow me to stay in touch with people (and maybe meet a few locals) when I am overseas. So what do you think oh venerable reader? Should I take the plunge?

A few years ago, my contribution to the blogosphere was dominated by politics. I would rant, bang-on and snark about whatever political issue dominated the day with all the passion I could muster. The passion is still there, but tempered by a bit more pragmatism, wisdom and a need to avoid such topics at the dinner table.

These days I am too busy to research such articles on this blog. Especially when there a much more accomplished political bloggers than I getting about. Why read me when you can read them? But still, those who know me know that I am generally left-wing in my views. The trouble is that most left-wingers are quite set in their views. Howard-bashing in the blogosphere, and amongst most ardent lefties, often borders on the cliche - ‘lying rodents’, ‘children overboard’ - that kinda deal. What I want to do over a couple of articles is be more clinical about why I have never been a John Howard supporter. Lets start with the big one.

Economic Management

Howard’s is an unashamed economic rationalist, as are many of his supporters that I have rumbled with over the years. If you strip the rhetoric away, most of the focus of his policies demonstrates his economic credentials. His supporters argue that a vote for him is a vote for low inflation, low unemployment and better economic prosperity. Fair enough, you play to your strengths. I can accept that. But there is a problem.

Like it or not Australia’s economic prosperity was largely inherited by the economic policies of the Hawke and Keating Governments. Indeed Paul Keating presided over the largest fall in interest rates since the end of the Second World War. Liberal supporters are quick to point out how high interest rates were in the 80s and 90s (though curiously overlook that fact that interest rates were at their highest when John Howard was treasurer in the Fraser Government).

The high interest rates the world, not just Australia, experienced in those times are universally regarded to be a result of the so-called ‘Voodoo Economic’ policys of the Reagan administration in the US where taxation was slashed, but government spending soared. Business became flush with cash, and as a result interest rates sky-rocketed.

The crash in 1987 was a result of an overheated global economy and naturally had an effect on the the economy here in Australia. Though he was blasted for saying it, few people have ever disagreed with Keating’s assessment that the resultant recession was one ‘we had to have’. How can Australia shield itself from the economic decisions of the world’s only superpower? The short answer is it can’t.

The US, even more so in the 1980s than now, was an indicator of the world economy and Australia’s interest rate was substantially lower at the time than the US rate. In the years since Howard came to office, Australia’s interest rate has been substantially higher than the US rate. I point this out not to argue so much to laud Keating over Howard, but to demonstrate that neither can take the economic high-ground on this issue.

After the recession, the Hawke-Keating Government repositioned the Australian economy to be more Asia-focused through initiatives such as APEC. As a result, the Australian economy benefited from the Tiger Economic boom of the late 1990s, but were still protected enough to not be adversely affected by the East Asian Financial Crisis of 1997, only a months after Howard came to government. This engagement with Asia has also seen Australia being the greatest beneficiary in the world of the resources boom, driven by the demand for natural resources by China.

All that aside. If I am concerned about the economy should I vote for Coalition? They are certainly not bad managers, but they are no better or worse than the ALP. Economics should therefore be a non-issue in the upcoming election campaign. So what else should I look forward to. Without economics, the Howard platform is almost empty. National Security I will write about another time.

So I should look to other issues to determine my vote. Most voters are motivated by self-interest. The perceived economic credentials of the Howard Goverment are attractive to upper middle class people who own their own home, and are the greatest beneficaries of various tax cuts.

I am not one of them. I work in research and live in rental accomodation. Should I vote for a government that:

• Has progressively cut funding to universities, only to re-invest back into it with caveats attached. Such as by reducing student services, and axing jobs in less economically viable faculties?
• Has overseen a progressive reduction of funding for research and development, in real terms, since it came to office in 1996?
• Has presided over a home ownership policy that has made entering the market even more difficult than it was in the 1980s?
• Has seen rents increase at a rate of 6% pa?

I am desperately trying to find a way I have benefited from this well-managed and flowering economy. But the sad truth is, I have not.

This is why I once again won’t be voting for the Coalition in November.