The Productivity Commission's figures and the good news they didn't want us to know

Posted to The Age (24/7/2015) on 25/7/2015 at 9:23AM
Commenting on "The Productivity Commission's figures and the good news they didn't want us to know"
http://www.smh.com.au/business/comment-and-analysis/the-productivity-commissions-figures-and-the-good-news-they-didnt-want-us-to-know-20150724-gijnib.html#ixzz3gutgbBkZ

The decline in utility usage and hence productivity is due to closure of large manufacturers which were hungry power users. Certain sectors may increase in productivity due to outsourcing to contractors locally and overseas.

The greatest concern is that "intelligent" machines can replace a lot more human labour, and soon even in the labour intensive service industries like hospitality and aged care. Automated kitchen with minimum number of chefs and cooks, and personal care robots are in the pipeline.

Remote diagnosis and operations by medical specialists, online education, heuristic forensic auditing, etc can all be done via advanced technology, but the high throughput rather the output are achieved with minimum use of human labour and costly brick-and-mortar expenses.

GST on low-value imported parcels moving closer

Posted to The Age (22/7/2015) on 22/7/2015 at 8:55AM
Commenting on "GST on low-value imported parcels moving closer"

http://www.theage.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/gst-on-lowvalue-imported-parcels-moving-closer-20150721-gihfgy.html

It does not need the brain of Einstein to realise that GST should have been imposed long time ago on all online goods, local or from overseas from zero dollar. If the threshold is set to $20, many smart Alec will break up a multiple-item order into multiple orders of $20 or under.


I have written on many occasions about imposition of GST on online import, because many so called overseas suppliers are not genuine "overseas" suppliers, but local operators sourcing supplies from overseas and using leased overseas addresses.


If the U.S. can do it, why can't we in Australia? We are not in 2002 like one reader who used to work with the custom. Technology was not around to speed up the process.


Another reader reckons that PayPal declined to be a tax collector. Well, ATO should tell Paypal the good news about "do it or else".

RBA's Glenn Stevens: Australia may need to rethink growth

Posted to The Age (22/7/2015) on 22/7/2015 at 5:47PM
Commenting on "RBA's Glenn Stevens: Australia may need to rethink growth"
http://www.theage.com.au/business/the-economy/rbas-glenn-stevens-australia-may-need-to-rethink-growth-20150722-gihsvm.html

Policy makers, their advisers and researchers should get their backside off their chairs, in their ivory towers, drive along some shopping strips, around commercial and industrial parks, look up to some of commercial buildings and count the number of For Lease and For Sale signs. I doubt even taking their socks off, they still do not have enough digits to register the number.

The definitions of unemployment, under employment, participation rates are very woolly. Who determines the factor for seasonally adjusted statistics and how it is derived? Glenn Stevens and some economic experts could probably get better results by consulting an octopus or a gypsy.

Many seniors cannot find employment, and with their precious little, some venture into running a business so that their sanity stays intact. Unfortunately, these former employees of some companies do not have much idea and understanding of the complexity in running a business, and most of them will fail.

It is not a matter of increasing or decreasing by 25 points. How will such increase or decrease affect the life of the general population at large? God Save Australia!

RBA minutes confirm scope for further interest rate cuts

Posted to The Age (19/5/2015) on 19/5/2015 at 1:22 PM
Commenting on "RBA minutes confirm scope for further interest rate cuts"
http://www.theage.com.au/business/the-economy/rba-minutes-confirm-scope-for-further-interest-rate-cuts-20150519-gh4s93.html


Falling interest rate will drive the economy to the grave, and along with it, the many self funded retirees.

Sitting on a property that increases in value each day is a mirage, because that is only virtual money. I still need to live in a house, preferably the current one I own and live in. To exchange for a similar one, I lose at least 8% of the value of the property, made up of about 3% in selling expenses including agent's commission, and 5% in stamp duty for the purchased home. It is unlikely to find one that is close to my area, or "comfort zone".

How will the banks raise money from local depositors if there is no interests to be earned? Without the deposits, how will the banks lend money to the borrowers to purchase properties? Money will be switched to different form of riskier investments, and we can see a sudden surge of rebirth of many scammers and snake oil con artists.

The ups and downs of currency caused by the announcement of increase or decrease of interest rate is a joke. Within a few hours, trend goes up and down, but then stabilises again in a day or two. In a short time, the world cannot change unless a war begins, production cannot go up and down unless some natural disasters strike; almost all the poor will remain poor and rich in status quo.

It is just speculation by the greedy. The sad thing is the educated economists start to believe the yo yo effect is as real as what a magic mirror tells them.

Is every industry or employment prospect going from bad to worse now?

Almost every 10 years, Australian economy experiences a hiccup. Steps taken by Government may stimulate spending, and boosts consumer confidence momentarily, but the eventually suffering will always come; it is just a matter of delay response.

Is every industry or employment prospect going from bad to worse?

Smart people invest wisely, especially in real estate, when the economy goes down, and make a killing when the pendulum swings upward in the next one or two cycles.

Super salespeople are in demand when time is tough. Salespeople are NOT marketing people. These are the real foot soldiers who do not sit in the comfort of air-conditioned office, and muck around on computer graphs and Excel spreadsheets.

The ageing population, especially the baby boomers are now in their retiring age, has created a bonanza in the aged care industry, and employment opportunity in this field is much greater than other.

Achieving academic excellence is good, but don't neglect to learn and develop people skill as soon as practicable.

Surprise drop in jobless rate

Posted to The Age (6/12/2012) on 6/12/2012 at 12:25 PM
Commenting on "Surprise drop in jobless rate

http://www.theage.com.au/business/the-economy/surprise-drop-in-jobless-rate-20121206-2awzn.html

No wonder people say statistics lies. If each full-time job is replaced by 5 part-timers, the actual scenario is negative not positive. The total earned by these 5 part-timers is far less than 1 full-time employee, because most part-timers are casual who are not entitled to sick leave, super, and other benefits.

Besides all the high profile business closure, more proof of economic slowdown is evident if you just walk down some suburban shopping strips, Dockland, shopping centres, and look up to some commercial buildings in the CBD. I would like to challenge such unrealistic optimism, and reliability of the mathematical model and definition of employment/unemployment rates.

Many real estate agents' representatives and TAFE teachers have fallen victims to the current debacle. Many casuals are never included in the calculations, and their rise and fall in numbers create distortion to the statistics. The number of volunteers has also increased for two reasons. First many retrenched or unemployed keep themselves sane by contributing their excessive spare time, and two these people hope to add something extra in their résumés to make them look more presentable instead of showing a period of absence in employment history.

Wake up all those in Canberra ivory tower; do something now before the next sand storm comes; you may not have the chance to pull your ostrich heads up that had been buried in it for those years.

Tale of two cities a happy story for inner suburbs

Posted to The Age (27/10/2012) on 27/10/2012 at 4:05AM
Commenting on "Tale of two cities a happy story for inner suburbs"
http://www.theage.com.au/business/property/tale-of-two-cities-a-happy-story-for-inner-suburbs-20121026-28b7t.htm

Whatever studies undertaken or predictions made for the next two decades cannot be trusted with a six-foot pole. Technology has changed and will continue to change the employment pattern to such unimaginable extent that even futurists and crystal-ball reading gypsies have problems foretelling what is ahead, even just for a decade.

In late 60's and early 70's, Carlton Association campaigned so hard to save Carlton, an inner suburb next to Melbourne CBD, from being declared as a slump. Brunswick and Richmond were not better off then.The houses were small, and many were not well lit.

Decentralisation moved the population to the outskirt of CBD, where factories were erected to produce cars, machineries, food processing, etc. By then footwear and clothing industries began to decline and eventually died after tariff was removed. Brick veneer homes were built and a generation of middle income class established. Decentralisation was so successful that the CBD went into a tail spin, and drastic efforts were made to lure people back.

Manufacturing and related industries employed a lot of people. Frankston and Dandenong were the new rich suburbs. Good time needs good money, and our labour cost could not compete with then backward developing countries. Very soon they were handed over "free" high-tech knowledge by the developed and advanced countries. Factories began to close, and set off a chain reaction up-stream and down-stream industries.

Online businesses will have the same impact on brick-and-mortar retail outlets. In addition, online education will produce the same fallout to the teaching sectors.

The question then is "where will employment be found?". Pessimistically speaking, CBD will no longer be the hub, and travelling to work in the CBD will be the thing of the past!

Economy sheds 27,000 jobs

Posted to The Age (12/7/12) on 12/7/12 at 12:34 PM
Commenting on "Economy sheds 27,000 jobs"
http://www.theage.com.au/business/economy-sheds-27000-jobs-20120712-21xf2.html

Many casual workers especially students, who work for cash-in-hand, have never been reported and therefore have not been counted in the statistics. Many of these jobs are now gone, but have not reflected in the unemployment rate.

If a full time job for an employed person is now turned into a part-time / casual position but taken up by 2 persons, the total hours in now reduced to only 2 paid hours, this in fact nonsensically reduced the unemployed by 1. If this involves three part-timers / casual, the unemployed figure is reduced by 2, and so on.

A lot of older people are keen and looking for employment, but they are the neglected one. In addition, many unemployed are suffering from depression and medically unfit to seek employment.

For goodness sake, don't kid the innocent public with all these mumbo-jumbo crap. The whole statistical calculation must be revamped so that the real pain and suffering are reflected, otherwise realistic and humane policies cannot be made or formulated.

Shares lower on Greece doubts

Posted to The Age (22/2/2012) on 22/2/2012 at 1:47 PM
Commenting on "Markets Live: Shares lower on Greece doubts"
http://www.theage.com.au/business/markets/markets-live-shares-lower-on-greece-doubts-20120222-1tmo0.html

Only bunnies believe Greece has such magical and mythical power to influence our stock market overnight!

Unlike, the Chinese God of Wealth who "is" obese (sign of prosperity) and has a smiling face, Plutus the Grecian mythological God was lame and blind!

If you lose your money by following the gypsy-style crystal-ball-reading analysts, I can visualise that you are a hopping mad blind Freddy!

ANZ recruiting in Philippines as local jobs axed (Part 2 of 2)

Posted to The Age (19/2/2012) on 19/2/2012 at 12:22 PM (Not published by Newspaper)
Commenting on “ANZ recruiting in Philippines as local jobs axed”
http://www.theage.com.au/national/anz-recruiting-in-philippines-as-local-jobs-axed-20120218-1tg3l.html

Just in case some readers are not familiar with the basic accounting equation, profit or loss of a business is equal to income minus costs and expenses. Salaries, wages and superannuation, office rental, utilities, etc are costs and expenses, and since with less people around, the costs and expenses will be drastically cut. The profit will increase even if the income remains unchanged.

Are these CEO’s that smart to come out with these strategies? No, many just spend company’s money to engage consultants to plot against their own people! If part of the CEO’s reward is based on performance, this is the simplest way to make more profit without increasing sales!

How can these people go to bed with a clear conscience every night?

End 2 of 2 Parts

ANZ recruiting in Philippines as local jobs axed (Part 1 of 2)

Posted to The Age (19/2/2012) on 19/2/2012 at 10:26 AM
Commenting on “ANZ recruiting in Philippines as local jobs axed”
http://www.theage.com.au/national/anz-recruiting-in-philippines-as-local-jobs-axed-20120218-1tg3l.html

Whose jobs will be axed next?

For any major restructuring of a large organisation, the axe always starts from the lower rung of the leader. As the number of workhorses diminishes, supervision and management roles of the middle management are reduced, and so will the positions.

Well, you guess it right; once the middle managers are gone, the senior managers will be the next in line. I have come across a very senior manager from an Asian country who strategized the restructuring of the Australian operation received the same treatment after he had executed professionally many of his fellow colleagues.

The saddest thing is the senior managers are too naïve to think that they have done a good job and will be rewarded accordingly. The only ones that reap the benefit will be the CEO and Directorates, who claim the credit of turning the bottom line to show healthy profit.

End 1 of 2 Parts

Shares gain ahead of break

Posted to The Age (23/12/2011) on 23/12/2011 at 3:08 PM
Commenting on "Markets Live: Shares gain ahead of break"
http://www.theage.com.au/business/markets/markets-live-shares-gain-ahead-of-break-20111223-1p7pn.html

Who are pushing up the share prices? If the market is so healthy, why do we see the line shoots up sharply, and then comes up again, after which the line fluctuates erratically?

Unless you are a day trader wanting to make a killing in just few hours, the medium to long term outlook cannot justify rising markets around the world.

How can the US unemployment rate dropped and confidence returned for no logical reasons? The payroll tax cut and the removal of long term unemployment benefit that expire at the end of the year, plus the soldiers returning from the withdrawal are likely to reverse the unemployment rate in months to come. The possible visible light at the end of the tunnel is the rise in arm sales of the refurbished military weapons to Iraq and surrounding countries; a move that will really upset the Russians.

It is plausible that the initial drop in healthcare spending was a sacrifice in order to pay for other daily essential expenses and save up for rainy days, viz. loss of employment. The subsequent rise was likely due to deterioration of medical condition for those who have suspended their visit to medical practitioners and on medication. The Christmas stress can only worsen the situation.

To everyone, have a joyous and safe Christmas and happy new year.

Shares retreat on Europe woes

Posted to The Age (22/12/2011) on 22/12/2011 at 10:46 AM
Commenting on " Markets Live: Shares retreat on Europe woes"
http://www.theage.com.au/business/markets/markets-live-shares-retreat-on-europe-woes-20111222-1p66q.html

Playing in the share market is like playing with the poker machine. Players are not even playing on hope or expectation; they are more like zombies hopping in all directions. It is pure nonsense to believe a set of good data is going to change the world and making it a better place, or another bad set is to end all the miseries of mankind.

Wake up players, there are too many scrupulous people having you on; they manipulate the market to their advantage.

Asylum seeker bill up $1.3 billion 2

Posted to Adelaide Now (30/11/2011) on 30/11/2011 at 11:11 AM
Commenting "Asylum seeker bill up $1.3 billion"
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/national/asylum-seeker-bill-up-13-billion/story-e6frea8c-1226209717799

I would like to seek asylum from the Australian Government on humanitarian grounds. I have been tortured mentally by financially inept, dictatorial fibbers each day....

Asylum seeker bill up $1.3 billion

Posted to Adelaide Now (30/11/2011) on 30/11/2011 at 4:23 AM
Commenting on "Asylum seeker bill up $1.3 billion"
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/national/asylum-seeker-bill-up-13-billion/story-e6frea8c-1226209717799

Please lock up Julia Gillard and her troop in the detention camp and throw away the key in the South China Sea off Malaysia. While they are in the camp, make sure they study mathematics to improve their numeracy skill. BTW, by putting that "slippery" guy with them will save $1.75 million of travel expenses a year. Why? Don't forget Kevin Rudd will not be travelling if he is in the camp with them!

Gillard goes 'all the way' with Obama's big regional push

Posted to The Age (18/11/2011) on 18/11/2011 at 12:26 PM
Commenting on "Gillard goes 'all the way' with Obama's big regional push"
http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/politics/gillard-goes-all-the-way-with-obamas-big-regional-push-20111117-1nl15.html

If there are laws on almost every form of discrimination, one more should be added to the list - international alliance discrimination! How will the US President or international leaders react if China were to propose forming close alliance with some of small countries in the Pacific region and set up military "training" bases there? How will the Australian Government and its citizens respond to China's proposal to set up bases around Broome, probably to keep an eye on Indonesia, or in the name of safeguarding the Asian Pacific region due to the US presence? These are not absurd questions, and Australian Government will need to start thinking before the latter proposal is put on the table.

Millions of acres of land, especially in the northwest of Australia, have been sold to unknown, non-government buyers from different countries. I am not a scare monger, not to the extend to say that there will be production of WOM, but I can think of many ways the "farmland" can be used or camouflaged which can bring Australia to its knees. Satellite surveillance system can detect a lot of things from above, and yet refugee boats slipped through detection. If it cannot detect what's above ground / sea surface, what hope can the system detect what's going on below?

Foreigners owning Australia's sovereign land is better than wars, because it involves no bloodshed. While prevention is better than cure, it is useless once infiltration has already taken place. Occupation of land is the beginning of infiltration and it is not limited to China only!

Aussie stocks trim gains

Posted to The Age (11/11/2011) on 11/11/2011 at 1:25 PM
Commenting on "Markets Live: Aussie stocks trim gains"
http://www.theage.com.au/business/markets-live-aussie-stocks-trim-gains-20111111-1na5v.html

If Rome was not built in one day, how could Italy? Besides, it will cost a lot more in money and time to rebuild what has been "destroyed" by its ageing population, bureaucracy, corruption and tax-avoiding black market. With that in mind, how can anyone believe that this bad wind will blow away in just a matter of a day or so, and have so much confidence in pushing up share prices in such turbulent market?

Anything happens in Europe can affect economy worldwide. It is evident from other reports that China export has slowed. It is myopic to think that internal consumption will keep China economy going just like before. If it does, it is only temporary, because China needs a lot of money to look after a huge population.

Australia must also be cautious about continuous outflow of monies to overseas through online shopping and outbound tourism. Once consumers parted their monies, there will be less for internal circulation required for job creation and tax revenue.

Debt makes the world go round, but debt is virtual money and must be repaid at some point in time. Prosperity created by debt is temporary, unless it can be repaid sooner by real money and not by another form of debt.

Stocks lose $37b on Italy fears

Posted to The Age (10/11/2011) on 10/11/2011 at 12:18 PM
Commenting on "Markets Live: Stocks lose $37b on Italy fears"
http://www.theage.com.au/business/markets/markets-live-stocks-lose-37b-on-italy-fears-20111110-1n85g.html

As if you don't know that this is coming, really? Do you know who the PI(I)GS are? Bad luck for those who are so pig-headed in insisting that Santa Claus will bring them the gold nugget this Christmas will lose not just the pair of pants they are wearing, but the whole wardrobe’s. Take off the blinkers or the Stevie Wonder style glasses and look again. If you believe in the end of the world will occur in 2012, you still have a tomorrow, because there are a lot of tomorrows yet to come before 2012. The financial turmoil in Europe is real, and it is a lot bigger than Ben Hur. The flow-on effect is real as well, but then many economists just brush it off - China cannot just rely on internal consumption to keep its prosperity going. Without inflow of export or investment income, savings will dwindle. It’s elementary, Watson!

Aussie stocks hold onto gains

Posted to The Age (9/11/2011) on 9/11/2011 at 12:30 PM
Commenting on "Markets Live: Aussie stocks hold onto gains"
http://www.theage.com.au/business/markets/markets-live-aussie-stocks-hold-onto-gains-20111109-1n67q.html

My goodness, who will come out with the money for any new bail out? That's nothing to sing and dance about!

Shares rally as Greece backs down

Posted to The Age (4/11/2011) on 4/11/2011) at 2:32 PM
Commenting on "Markets Live: Shares rally as Greece backs down"
http://www.theage.com.au/business/markets-live-shares-rally-as-greece-backs-down-20111104-1myk8.html

People do believe in fairy god mother. How likely will Greece get out of their financial trouble after the bail out? How can years of reckless, mismanaged economy and short-sighted industrial modification be fixed with the stroke of a pen, or some loud verbal threats by their neighbours?

Greece faced economic hardships and defaulted on its loans in 1826, 1843, 1860 and 1893 (Wikipedia). Greeks are supposedly one of the most hardworking after the South Koreans. However, the number of hours cannot be interpreted as efficiency or effectiveness.

Loss of competitive edge in manufacturing to more efficient and cheaper countries costs export income. Greece also relies heavily on service industries including tourism, which prosper during economic good times. Not unlike many other countries, the hosting of the Olympics Games resulted in financial losses in the millions. All these create huge unemployment, and no matter how big the bail out, the situations will be difficult to be reversed.

Greece has to default and free itself from the Eurozone and start afresh. Change experts know that change can only be achieved effectively if one is prepared to do so without the external pressure. Greece citizens have to bite the bullet and learn to live within their means.

Germany is flexing its muscle to get this finished and done with, because it has a lot more to lose if Greece were to go bankrupt and leaves the clan - it will affect the Euro currency, and make export expensive.

The rise of unemployment is not a unique Grecian phenomenon. It is a lesson Australia must take note.