Like the illusion of Wall Street, with its vast and powerful investment banks, now shuttered, China too is an illusion perpetuated by the Globalists that gave us the 15,000 mile Caesar salad, poisoned cat food and lead based paint on babies' pacifiers. Like the illusion that money would come from thin air to always push housing prices higher, China has spent a generation pursuing its illusion. Pursuing an unattainable dream to be like the West, while 6000 years of its carefully shepherded top soil blows into the sea.
Posted: Sun Sep 18, 2005 4:58 pm Post subject: Re: Australian Consumer Confidence sees no limit
dukat wrote:
Alot changes in 8 months (the orginal post was dated jan30). Releaste agents are now saying a new boom in property is starting up. WHOOO!!!!!. Doesn't matter that the economey is going into the septic tank but as I showed an artical in a pervious post dated today alot of financial egg heads were saying property is going to boom again and the releaste agents are jumping on board going whooo whoo. Appears there was a deline in sydney house prices (why didn't the agents tell us about this?, they have continually and allways said house prices are going up even when evidence has shown there was a slight contraction of 1% last year, so 20%+ growth each year followed by a delcine in house prices for one year of less than 1% (it was (-0.7%) means we are in a boom again).
I'd just like to warn people more now than ever do not listen to the media, they are really Fark in the head.
HIGH priced petrol is hitting shoppers in the hip pocket with new figures showing another sharp fall in spending across the nation's malls and stores.
In a poor outlook for the all important Christmas period, shoppers are finding themselves unable to splash out on goods such as toys, cosmetics and flowers....
...Analysts said it was clear petroleum prices, which peaked above the $1.30 a litre mark during September, had cleared out consumers' wallets.
CommSec chief equities economist Craig James said the figures revealed the true softness of the overall economy.
"Retail spending has fallen in two of the past three months. Import growth has slowed sharply and house approvals are now at four-year lows," he said.... _________________ Let us make him who shall nourish and sustain us. What shall we do to be invoked; to be remembered in the earth.
We have tried with our first creatures but we could not make them venerate us.
So let us try to make obedient respectful beings who shall
Joined: Aug 13, 2005 Posts: 269 Location: Sydney, Australia.
Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2005 3:53 pm Post subject:
Shannymara wrote:
stu wrote:
Shannymara wrote:
My husband and I were set on emmigrating to Australia until we realized Australia was only a couple of years behind the U.S. "culture" wise.
Any other ideas for immigration?
Not sure if there is an english speaking country in the world that does not copy the USA "culture" wise.
Costa Rica, maybe New Zealand. Other places in Central America, too (Guatemala, for example). We don't have the money or time to emmigrate, though. I still might pick Australia, but I do have concerns about the water situation there.
Re-reading my last post, I'd like to clarify that when I said "behind the US" what I meant was Australia hasn't degenerated as much as we have.
I agree with you about consumer culture being spread everywhere.
Australia could easily become the island fortress when TSHTF. Parts of Australia are in drought at the moment, however it will pass, but distillation or desalination is one of the things Im considering for future planning. Australia has large underground water reservoirs also, providing that the 'spring' water companies like Coke-Cola don't suck it all out first.
Joined: Apr 02, 2005 Posts: 1001 Location: Down Under
Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2005 5:26 pm Post subject: Re: Australian Consumer Confidence sees no limit
We’ve also got large uranium deposits (among other resources), and considerable sparse lands for nuclear waste storage… _________________ "Mother Nature is a psychopathic bitch, and she is out to get you. You have to adapt, change or die." - Tihamer Toth-Fejel, nanotech researcher/engineer.
Joined: Oct 22, 2005 Posts: 709 Location: European Capital of Kulcha 2008
Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2005 5:49 pm Post subject: Re: Australian Consumer Confidence sees no limit
Australia is not going to a be a good place to be. Its urban sprawl (take Melbourne as an example) means that you have to drive for hours to get anywhere - and when the cost of that driving becomes prohibitive, then you'll start wishing your conurbations were a little more compact.
Then, it's right under the hole in the Antarctic ozone layer - which means that melanoma is fast becoming a way of life (if not death).
Then,all of its (few) rivers and water courses are fast drying out - with the Murray fast becoming a sick, anaemic trickle.
Next, the rising sea levels (prompted by melting ice in the antarctic, together with climate change overall) mean that its major cities- all of which are on the coast - will eventually resemble New Orleans.
Following on - its endured nearly a decade of drought, which is now obviously not going to be just a temporary blip, and has a tendency to endure some of the most savage forest fires in the world practically every summer.
Most alarmingly, its perilously short in its supply of drinking water - with the reservoirs running at half-full, at best.
Add the poor nutitional value of its topsoil for home-grown foodstuffs; think about the proximity of billions of Indonesians - who aren't going to worry about niceties once the energy crisis really starts to bite; and you have a picture of a country with its best days behind it.
Apart from the ABC, SBS (both very minority tv channels) and a few top-rate broadsheet newspapers, the 'average' Australian's access to actual objective facts is severely limited. Having been brought up to believe they live in the best country in the world (and you can't blame people for a little bit of national pride) they really do believe it. Hence, the belief that happy days are here again.
Joined: Oct 16, 2004 Posts: 1281 Location: Brisbane, Australia
Posted: Fri Nov 04, 2005 5:10 am Post subject: Re: Australian Consumer Confidence sees no limit
untothislast wrote:
Australia is not going to a be a good place to be. Its urban sprawl (take Melbourne as an example) means that you have to drive for hours to get anywhere - and when the cost of that driving becomes prohibitive, then you'll start wishing your conurbations were a little more compact.
There are lots of smaller towns and cities that are more 'livable'.
untothislast wrote:
Then, it's right under the hole in the Antarctic ozone layer - which means that melanoma is fast becoming a way of life (if not death).
Only the most southern parts are under the thinning ozone. But Australia has always been the melanoma capital. Too many white, white skins under tropical and subtropical skies.
untothislast wrote:
Then,all of its (few) rivers and water courses are fast drying out - with the Murray fast becoming a sick, anaemic trickle.......Most alarmingly, its perilously short in its supply of drinking water - with the reservoirs running at half-full, at best.
City Australians are only recently becoming 'water aware'. The drought is doing a good job in educating the city people about how precious water is, and many councils are changing building guidelines to enable water-saving features that until recently were illegal.
untothislast wrote:
Next, the rising sea levels (prompted by melting ice in the antarctic, together with climate change overall) mean that its major cities- all of which are on the coast - will eventually resemble New Orleans.
On the coast, definately, but all well above sea level. The only place with a real problem I think would be the Gold Coast, southern Queensland. A big city of sky scrapers built on sanddunes. Not a rosy future I think.
untothislast wrote:
Following on - its endured nearly a decade of drought, which is now obviously not going to be just a temporary blip, and has a tendency to endure some of the most savage forest fires in the world practically every summer.
Yeah, well, can't have it all good. Perfect beach weather (sunny skies) must be paid for.
untothislast wrote:
Add the poor nutitional value of its topsoil for home-grown foodstuffs;...
Mulch, compost and a strategic application of trace element in the vege garden and food forest will fix that in a jiffy.
untothislast wrote:
... think about the proximity of billions of Indonesians - who aren't going to worry about niceties once the energy crisis really starts to bite; and you have a picture of a country with its best days behind it.
I'm not convinced Indonesia is a real problem. I know they've got a huge population on lots of little islands and we've got a tiny population on a great big open country. I doubt they'll want a piece of us though, not for farming. Their land is much more fertile and people friendly than ours. Their people will dry up and blow away in Australia. Especially if they tried to farm as they do in Indonesia. I am hoping there is enough wise heads there to realise this before they do something silly, like invade and find out their mistakes afterwards. (of course I could be being a bit naive in this regard)
untothislast wrote:
Apart from the ABC, SBS (both very minority tv channels) and a few top-rate broadsheet newspapers, the 'average' Australian's access to actual objective facts is severely limited.
Not as limited as the Yanks. Australians are more interested in the outside world than they are. And you didn't mention the multiple channels of ABC radio with much informative fare.
untothislast wrote:
... Having been brought up to believe they live in the best country in the world (and you can't blame people for a little bit of national pride) they really do believe it.
Cause it's true!
untothislast wrote:
Hence, the belief that happy days are here again.
Don't know where that came from. Australians are very nervous about petrol prices, the proposed industrial relations regulations, the proposed new antiterrorism laws, bird flu, paying the mortgage, getting by. No-one I know is expecting 'happy days are here again'. _________________ Kind regards, Katkinkate
"The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops,
but the cultivation and perfection of human beings."
Masanobu Fukuoka
Joined: Feb 03, 2005 Posts: 134 Location: Austin, Texas
Posted: Fri Nov 04, 2005 9:22 am Post subject: Re: Australian Consumer Confidence sees no limit
Apparently the optimism is spreading to the U.S. Me thinks the lady (media) doth protest too much.
Retailers thrilled with sales boost
Hurricanes and gas prices didn't slow shoppers or dampen store revenues for pre-holiday period.
By Lauren Weber
NEWSDAY
Friday, November 04, 2005
American consumers are a hardy bunch, shopping vigorously last month despite a run of hurricanes, high gas prices and a softening real estate market.
Retail sales for the month rose 4.4 percent, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers: a possible harbinger of a strong holiday shopping season.
"It clearly indicates that the consumer is not tapped out or completely dead, as many reports had suggested," said Ken Perkins, president of Retail Metrics, a research firm in Swampscott, Mass.
Article Link _________________ There shall in that time be rumors of things going astray, and nobody will know where lieth those little things with the sort of raffia-work base, that has an attachment, seen only just the night before, about eight O'clock --Boring Prophet, Life of Brian
Joined: Oct 22, 2005 Posts: 709 Location: European Capital of Kulcha 2008
Posted: Fri Nov 04, 2005 11:53 am Post subject: Re: Australian Consumer Confidence sees no limit
katkinkate wrote:
untothislast wrote:
Australia is not going to a be a good place to be. Its urban sprawl (take Melbourne as an example) means that you have to drive for hours to get anywhere - and when the cost of that driving becomes prohibitive, then you'll start wishing your conurbations were a little more compact.
There are lots of smaller towns and cities that are more 'livable'.
untothislast wrote:
Then, it's right under the hole in the Antarctic ozone layer - which means that melanoma is fast becoming a way of life (if not death).
Only the most southern parts are under the thinning ozone. But Australia has always been the melanoma capital. Too many white, white skins under tropical and subtropical skies.
untothislast wrote:
Then,all of its (few) rivers and water courses are fast drying out - with the Murray fast becoming a sick, anaemic trickle.......Most alarmingly, its perilously short in its supply of drinking water - with the reservoirs running at half-full, at best.
City Australians are only recently becoming 'water aware'. The drought is doing a good job in educating the city people about how precious water is, and many councils are changing building guidelines to enable water-saving features that until recently were illegal.
untothislast wrote:
Next, the rising sea levels (prompted by melting ice in the antarctic, together with climate change overall) mean that its major cities- all of which are on the coast - will eventually resemble New Orleans.
On the coast, definately, but all well above sea level. The only place with a real problem I think would be the Gold Coast, southern Queensland. A big city of sky scrapers built on sanddunes. Not a rosy future I think.
untothislast wrote:
Following on - its endured nearly a decade of drought, which is now obviously not going to be just a temporary blip, and has a tendency to endure some of the most savage forest fires in the world practically every summer.
Yeah, well, can't have it all good. Perfect beach weather (sunny skies) must be paid for.
untothislast wrote:
Add the poor nutitional value of its topsoil for home-grown foodstuffs;...
Mulch, compost and a strategic application of trace element in the vege garden and food forest will fix that in a jiffy.
untothislast wrote:
... think about the proximity of billions of Indonesians - who aren't going to worry about niceties once the energy crisis really starts to bite; and you have a picture of a country with its best days behind it.
I'm not convinced Indonesia is a real problem. I know they've got a huge population on lots of little islands and we've got a tiny population on a great big open country. I doubt they'll want a piece of us though, not for farming. Their land is much more fertile and people friendly than ours. Their people will dry up and blow away in Australia. Especially if they tried to farm as they do in Indonesia. I am hoping there is enough wise heads there to realise this before they do something silly, like invade and find out their mistakes afterwards. (of course I could be being a bit naive in this regard)
untothislast wrote:
Apart from the ABC, SBS (both very minority tv channels) and a few top-rate broadsheet newspapers, the 'average' Australian's access to actual objective facts is severely limited.
Not as limited as the Yanks. Australians are more interested in the outside world than they are. And you didn't mention the multiple channels of ABC radio with much informative fare.
untothislast wrote:
... Having been brought up to believe they live in the best country in the world (and you can't blame people for a little bit of national pride) they really do believe it.
Cause it's true!
untothislast wrote:
Hence, the belief that happy days are here again.
Don't know where that came from. Australians are very nervous about petrol prices, the proposed industrial relations regulations, the proposed new antiterrorism laws, bird flu, paying the mortgage, getting by. No-one I know is expecting 'happy days are here again'.
Good reply - and you've obviously set me straight on a number of things.
I lived in Australia for 10 years (Brisbane & Melbourne) and my parents in law still live there, so I do have a fondness for the place. I'm also quite happy to be put in my place by someone who actually lives there - and is up to date with developments. Most of my info comes from reading 'The Age' online edition.
In my experience, I found Australians fairly insular on their home turf- certainly as far as events in the rest of the world were concerned. Which is amazing, when you think how many backpackers originate from there and then go forth and seemingly populate the globe.
I feel any consumer confidence showing up there at the moment, is detached from the realisation how events overseas are likely to affect us all (the US economy; war in the middle-east; Peak Oil, and so on). There'a a pervasive gloom here in the UK at the moment - certainly as far as the retail trade and home sales are concerned, and I can't see how Oz can buck the prevailing trends.
Joined: Oct 16, 2004 Posts: 1281 Location: Brisbane, Australia
Posted: Fri Nov 04, 2005 7:15 pm Post subject: Re: Australian Consumer Confidence sees no limit
untothislast wrote:
....In my experience, I found Australians fairly insular on their home turf- certainly as far as events in the rest of the world were concerned. Which is amazing, when you think how many backpackers originate from there and then go forth and seemingly populate the globe...
From my perspective, I see many Australians are aware that what happens (politically and economically) in the Northern Hemisphere will affect us....they are our market. Without strong northern economies Australia would have no export industries or tourism, which makes up a very large proportion of Australlian workers. But they are, as a group, just as unaware of the big issues of peak oil and the precarious nature of the oil-based economies as 'the average person in the street' in any of the northern countries. Government and industry have a vested interest in keeping the public naive here as well.
untothislast wrote:
....I feel any consumer confidence showing up there at the moment, is detached from the realisation how events overseas are likely to affect us all (the US economy; war in the middle-east; Peak Oil, and so on). There'a a pervasive gloom here in the UK at the moment - certainly as far as the retail trade and home sales are concerned, and I can't see how Oz can buck the prevailing trends.
Australia can't buck the global trends, we may have a delayed onset though. I think the impact of the oil price is a little more removed from public attention in Australia because our most obvious to the public uses of it are almost exclusively for road transport. Almost all our electricity generation is coal fired, the coal is transported on electric trains. We don't need heating oil and it's summer here while its a cold dark winter up north. And Christmas is coming... the time of big spending fun, food and public holidays. Nothing like a holiday and sunny days to make people more optimistic.
untothislast wrote:
And as for those new workplace practices . . .
Grrrrr....don't get me started. Howard is trying to convert Australia to American economic standards. Bush has brainwashed him to create a little America in the south... Howard is turning into a little facist pigglet. _________________ Kind regards, Katkinkate
"The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops,
but the cultivation and perfection of human beings."
Masanobu Fukuoka
RETAILERS at the discretionary end of the market are hurting as high fuel prices and rising interest rates take their toll.
Consumers are spending up to 22per cent more on fuel and Australia's biggest retailer, Woolworths, hasn't seen conditions so "tight" at its Big W and Dick Smith stores for years.
Oroton, the retailer of upmarket belts, bags and ties and owner of the Marcs and Morissey fashion brands, has had it so tough it has called in advisers to test whether it should sell parts of the business or take the company off the stock market.
And Colorado, the maker and retailer of outdoor adventure apparel, looks set to end five years as a listed company following a series of profit downgrades.
PETROL prices soared 15c in a day yesterday as a new survey revealed Australians had radically changed their driving habits because of the increasing hip-pocket pain.
The price hit a record 147.9c a litre in Sydney yesterday with oil companies trying to disguise their greed by blaming the jump on the Middle East crisis.
AUSTRALIANS responded to the May interest rate hike the only way they know how – they bought up on their credit cards and then failed to pay off the debt.
New figures from the Reserve Bank showed Australians spent an all-time record of $16.5 billion with their credit cards during May. It even surpassed last December, when Christmas pushed up sales on plastic to $16.2 billion.
But not only did people spend with their credit cards.
There were 3.5 million cash advances against credit cards taken out during the month, at an average advance of $353.
Despite the higher interest rates that credit cards attract, consumers simply did not pay off their debts.
In fact, average credit card balances rose to $2,771. The average credit card balance getting hit by interest rose to $2,036, to be 10 per cent higher than a year ago.
_________________ Let us make him who shall nourish and sustain us. What shall we do to be invoked; to be remembered in the earth.
We have tried with our first creatures but we could not make them venerate us.
So let us try to make obedient respectful beings who shall
Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2006 8:51 pm Post subject: Re: Australian Consumer Confidence sees no limit
Boo hoo for the Australian public.
Over the past decade, I have watched the public repeatedly vote for a politcal party that is pro-fossil fuel even in the face of mounting evidence for global warming etc etc. Noone can say that alternatives weren't available - both the Greens and Labour attempted in the last election to reduce dependence on fossil fuels. Furthermore Australians have continued, until recently, to buy cars that were much larger than necessary, when alternatives were available.
So it seems like this is a case of take your medicine. Noone made everyone take out $300 K mortgages or drive 6L Commodores around.
My husband and I were set on emmigrating to Australia until we realized Australia was only a couple of years behind the U.S. "culture" wise.
Any other ideas for immigration?
Not sure if there is an english speaking country in the world that does not copy the USA "culture" wise.
Costa Rica, maybe New Zealand. Other places in Central America, too (Guatemala, for example). We don't have the money or time to emmigrate, though. I still might pick Australia, but I do have concerns about the water situation there.
Re-reading my last post, I'd like to clarify that when I said "behind the US" what I meant was Australia hasn't degenerated as much as we have.
I agree with you about consumer culture being spread everywhere.
Be aware that if you move to anywhere within the catchment of one of our major cities that pretty much all of the capitals (besides Canberra for obvious reasons) have plans for or are currently building desalinisation plants.
More people are however moving to the public transport system. The government.
Now, before you start, I get around by mass transit or foot. That's it. I can't drive anyway. _________________ "Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so." - Douglas Adams
RETAIL confidence fell significantly further in June dented by a subdued response from consumers as higher fuel prices and interest rates continued to pinch recent cash flow from income tax cuts, a survey shows.
The National Australia Bank (NAB) retail report showed overall retail conditions softened in June – sales growth remained below average, profit growth eased and jobs were shed.
As a result, retailing remains among the weakest sectors across non-farm business.
THERE were ominous signs interest rates could rise again next week, after the Bureau of Statistics reported that final producer prices jumped 1.6 per cent in the June quarter.
It was the second-highest rise in the producer price index since the series began in 1998.
The bureau found that companies were absorbing most of the pain of higher oil prices, rather than passing it on. Yet the final prices charged by producers shot up 4.5 per cent over the year to June, the fastest growth since the jolt of the GST.
Prices of consumer goods climbed even faster, rising 2.1 per cent in the June quarter and 5.8 per cent over the year, as the trebling of banana prices added to the beatings at the bowser...
MONEY market dealers believe the Reserve Bank is set to raise official interest rates next week, pushing the cost of borrowing money higher than at any time since February 2001.
The likelihood of a rate increase was heightened yesterday after the latest inflation data showed that production costs for local businesses in the June quarter blew out by the biggest amount in six years.
A report issued by the Australian Bureau of Statistics found that producer prices rose by 1.6 per cent from the March quarter as the impact of higher oil prices reverberated throughout the domestic economy.
_________________ Let us make him who shall nourish and sustain us. What shall we do to be invoked; to be remembered in the earth.
We have tried with our first creatures but we could not make them venerate us.
So let us try to make obedient respectful beings who shall
Posted: Tue Jul 25, 2006 9:11 pm Post subject: Re: Australian Consumer Confidence sees no limit
Australian inflation figures out today - the CPI is up to 4%. Most of the increases in essential goods and services like petrol, food, housing and medical.
Looks like another rate rise on the cards.
Interesting, since the last rate rise seems to have had no effect - which is what would be expected given the predominantly external effect of oil prices on inflation.
Wonder how long before this really squeezes the public?
Another interesting point is that past and current practise of selling Australian oil when prices have been low has been hailed as "progressive" during this time, but now that Australian oil fields are breathing their last gasp, we are having to buy more oil at high prices leading to our massive current account deficit. Short term thinking and still we run towards the gorge.................
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