red baron wrote on Jul 1^st, 2013 at 12:33pm:



AAP

Moody's Investors Service has given the Australian economy an upbeat assessment and says the local currency's rating remains stable.

"Australia's Aaa ratings are based on the country's very high economic resiliency, very high government financial strength, and very low susceptibility to event risk," Moody's said in a statement on Monday.

The stable currency rating comes even though the Australian dollar has fallen more than 10 US cents in the past two months.

Moody's acknowledged that the currency's fall was due to a rally in the US dollar after Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said the US central bank could soon start to scale back its economic stimulus program.

Australia has avoided a recession in recent years despite the global financial crisis (GFC) hitting its major trading partners hard.

One of reasons for the continued economic growth is the mining and resources boom, driven by exports to China.

Moody's also said the economy's diverse nature was one of its strengths.

"As one of the world's most advanced economies, the country has not only a significant natural resources sector - including minerals, hydrocarbons, and agriculture - but also well-developed manufacturing and service sectors," Moody's said.

"While volatilities in commodity prices and exchange rates affect the economy, the most important risk remains the economy's reliance on external capital inflows to finance the country's high level of investment, lately dominated by the resources sector, but including residential construction."

The ratings agency said the federal government's strong financial position enabled it to give the economy some help during the GFC.

"Moody's assesses the government's financial strength as very high. Among the advanced economies, Australia has one of the lowest general government debt levels, although its debt has risen in the past several years," Moody's said.

Australia has not had a recession in almost 22 years, figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) show.

A recession is defined as two quarters of economic contraction.

© 2013 AAP

Not just once........
And both on his own site.

MORRISON:
We’re going to have to go to war on this. It’s as simple as that.  We’ve got to bring every resource and every agency that works in this space together to focus on tackling this problem.  The government has given up on it.  They gave up on it a long, long, long time ago.  They think you can’t do things and they...

http://www.scottmorrison.com.au/info/speech.aspx?id=667

red baron wrote on Jul 1^st, 2013 at 12:33pm:


Population? What's it got to do with population?

It's bugger all for a country with an economy our size.

If that money wasn't spent, Australia would have gone into recession, lost its AAA credit rating, and most likely ended up on a self-fulfilling spiral into further unemployment and low business confidence.

How do I know? Peter Costello's old head of Treasury, Ken Henry, came out to make it clear. The stimulus was Treasury policy, and the Libs would have done exactly the same, or similar.

The economy is in perfect shape for where we are. However, tax revenues will tank as the mining boom tapers off. Now the dollar's dropping, we might get exports happening again, but I'm not holding my breath.

JuLiar blew our chances when she lowered the mining tax - a mad idea. Mind you, the Libs want to do away with altogether.

So where are their savings coming from?

A Liberal government will be dangerous to the economy. The very idea that conservatives are better economic managers can be seen all too well in the US. Bush gave the rich tax cuts, paid top dollar for senior's medication, started two wars, and nearly bankrupted the place.

Hockey and Abbott are saying nothing about how they'll make cuts, but they're saying a lot about how they'll spend more.

And to cover that up, they're saying, trust us. We had Peter Costello.

It doesn't wash. Labor are in a much better position right now to manage the economy. The defecit is no problem whatsoever. 

Until the Libs suggest their plans, I'm ignoring them.