> the government is simply a market....
I was quoting him. While I didn't respond to this agrument, I agree that
the process of government is not a market even though the election
process in "democracies" does operate like a market to some degree. The
role of an elected government should be disinterested and not subject to
market forces. If the process of government is subject to market forces
then it is corrupt. By subjecting itself to market forces and corruption
a government becomes enslaved by market interests & is no longer
disinterested. For evidience of this witness the current deflation of
the "Asian Tigers" bubble.
I agree with what you say about government's role in maintaining
infrastructure & would add that Australia has uniquely expensive
infrastructure needs due to the sheer size of its territory.
You wrote
> i lived very close to the homeless in Santa Monica CA so i can vouch for
> this, but at the same time, there has been no end to people and governments
> happy to lend the US government money, and the US is the most vibrant economy
> in the world today and one of the few embracing free trade totally.
Don't believe the hype. If the US economy is so great why do they need
to borrow money? They don't seem to be able to pay their UN dues either.
It seems to me that the vibrancy of the US economy is limited to a few
sectors (IT & Entertainment in particular) & that wages for the majority
of US citizens who are employed are low. The US financial sector is
looking extremely unstable & there is talk of an impending crash among
economists.
As for free trade (if such a thing exists) the US is notorious for it's
double standards. Their heavily subsidised agricultural sector is but
one example of this. Re the Oz govt, I think they are Economic
Rationalists & would have happily carried out all the recommendations of
the ACCC & the Productivity Commission if they could have gotten away
with it. We all know how exquisitely sensitive our PM is to media
criticism & polling. The fact is that Economic Rationalism is becoming
disreputable & rightly so.
Paul