The state of the economy

Isn't it marvellous, that just when you want to escape from the vagaries of the whole political debate that is almost overpowering at "lets get to the election" time the worlds suddenly closes in around you and it is almost impossible to escape the drivel that permeates our environment.

Just today sitting and listening to the politicians have a 'meaningful' discussion during the last few days of the parliamentary sitting before the winter break there was one senior politician who shall remain nameless extolling the virtues of the hard work undertaken by the government to 'get the economy right'.

I used the word drivel a little earlier because that is exactly what it is. There is no hard work required to understand that there is a once in a century opportunity that has come about no thanks to the Australian government - of any persuasion. The fact of the matter is that the Chinese and the Indians have finally become part and parcel of the developing world and as such they have begun the process of changing the shape of the world around them.

Two nations with some of the biggest and poorest populations on the planet have finally entered the domain of becoming manufacturing countries. It is not surprising that considering their wages structure most industries would make a beeline to help set up factories in China and India to take advantage of cheaper production costs so that everyone can make a profit.

China is Australia's largest trading partner and as such we sell to them all of the raw products that we have in abundance (at least for now) and in return we obtain from them most of the manufactured goods that we use in daily life. Have a look at the things you can buy in the stores these days and check out how many items you have purchased at the end of your shopping spree. Separate the items into categories of where they were made. You may be shocked at the number of items that were made in China and India. Then again maybe you will not be shocked - maybe you will simply thank your lucky stars that you can buy all these things at the prices that you can afford.

If and as you think about things you will also realise that in Australia our full employment is likely to be less attributable to the hard work of the government - as they claim and more likely due to the inevitable ageing of the population so that as people head off into retirement and there are fewer jobs in the manufacturing sector so there are still jobs around in the service sectors and elsewhere that are being vacated at a rate of knots by those heading off into retirement - more than enough to soak up the number of children moving from childhood into the adult earning years. Indeed there are those who suggest that we actually require some hefty migration into the country to try and keep pace with the growth in all those industries and the lass that is being occasioned by the departure of many baby boomers into retirement.

What happens in the next ten to twenty years will be interesting to watch for those people who are still around. Some of us who may not be so fortunate as to see the eventual results can only contemplate a fantasy of what the world could look like in say ten to twenty years time.

I would worry more if I was living in the USA than I do in Australia. This continent is still relatively unexplored and uninhabited and given our resources it is likely to survive at least the next 50 years in relative comfort as all of our natural resources are sought to fuel the world economy.

I am most unlikely to see what happens in that time frame however I can certainly foresee the day when our natural resources - something we seem to take for granted are becoming scarcer and scarcer while our populations continue to increase in size and use up more and more of those resources more and more quickly.

To be perfectly honest I am somewhat glad that I am unlikely to live long enough to have to worry about it!