• 65 Posts
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Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: June 11th, 2023

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  • Its definitely conflicting, i can see their intentions are relatively good, but the way they’re going about remibds me of how i imagine the people inteoducing Cane Toads went about the problems they perceived.

    But they’re providing a habitat thats secure from the invasive species and perhaps some land based predators.

    These guerilla rewilders could gift/lease for a dollar, the use of that land out to the environment department to come in, introduce the animals they know need help and support in a controlled and planned way. These sanctuary owners could be the daily custodians working in partnership with the environment department for the benefit of these threatened animals.


  • Well the industrial model it came out of came with pay rises for the work force for the productivity gains. So its use was acceptable to the workers then.

    Not sure that was really a great set up, because a lot of the productivity gains were from implementation of technology, not so much better work in general by the employee base, although that was also the case often, but the technology changes were the larger productivity increases.

    What you’re suggesting is coming up to what Maynard Keynes imagined as a future. People producing as much or even more, with less time spent on the work. Soyou’re in good company.

    I don’t imagine a system like that will come in this century though. Too much competition between Nations and peoples, not enough machines to do the work.



  • Productivity isn’t great because of the kinds of jobs the people of this nation increasingly do, and likely will do for the foreseeable future.

    And, sorry if this comes across a bit morbid. Until the baby boomers shuffle off this mortal coil in greater numbers, any serious productivity gains in certain industries are overtaken by the medical, care, and other old-age related, usually low productivity, work the country is providing.

    Its because of this, that i’m sceptical that ‘productivity’ is a good measure to be relying on so heavily to gain an honest understanding of the working economy.

    Edit: sorry, my point in saying this is, i don’t think we should be as hung up on low productivity. No matter who is the Government, theres the same demographic reality. Yhe economic settings and feedback need to be designed to cater for that, that means less of the industrial-output mindset that delivers productivity as a key measure of success.


  • I’ve wondered how many people must be watching it, i think its on their programming later at night now.

    Politics being divisive is a reason politics opportunities like QandA should be available. It forces the members of the Partys together to discuss the topics on the same platform.

    For example, i think it was on the latest episode of Rest is Politics - Leading, where Johnathan Haidt talked about Newt Gingrich forcing a policy of Congress meeting only Tuesday-Thursday to ensure the representatives wouldn’t feel a need to move to Washington DC, and instead fly in then fly home again. Newt Gingrich’s theory, he claims, was the Republicans got too cosy with the establishment once they got to Washington DC.



  • QandA’s going? I like that show! Getting the politicians and experts in a live, audience participation setting has all kinds of benefits for the National ‘conversation’.

    I mean Matt Kean dismantling Jane Hume, (was it?), earlier this year on energy transition was valuable to see.

    Those kind of match ups, where its slightly out of the control of the host/producers, are rare.

    One of the reasons people are saying Dutton lost is because he refused to talk to the so called ‘unfriendly media’ leaving him at a disadvantage in his preparedness for the election just gone.

    So QandA seems to me to be good for lots of things. The only thing i dislike is the grandstanding and clearly recited talking points, but thats where you need a talented host to deny and redirect the discussion.



  • What matters for an economy, and therefore the value of its currency, is the value they create–simply put, how much resources they exploit and how efficiently

    Yeah, thats the way it ought to be, its actually slightly different, and is very important in the context of what a country does to undermine it’s own currency, or even a companies director does to the value of their company.

    Value is a question of perception. How much are people/investors willing to tolerate and still perceive the value in a good or service or currency.

    Its the reason the massive quantitative easing ended up spreading so widely as a tool in the last 15 years. In the beginning it was assumed that the massive ‘money printing’ would lead to massive devaluations, which didn’t really happen as expected. Thats because the reaction in value percieptions in those currencies ended being more flexible than central bankers and economists initially feared.

    The perception of value played a role in how long it took for people in the US to recognise the real estate bubble exploding in 07-08. It plays a role in really any bubble, and is why prices drastically plummet instead of taper. The value perception changes en masse, and bang, everybody runs for the door.

    One more interesting example is the value perception comparison of essential workers in the COVID19 Pandemic compared to normal times.