[LINK] End of the filter? Better off without a Stalinist, censorious, Labor government.

[Robin Whittle]

Hi Jim,

Regarding your defence of the school building stimulus program, I
understand the potential value of a counter-cyclical stimulus.

It seems that Australia's modest attempt at this was much more within
the capacity of the government to do than the massive stimulus in the
USA, which according to some accounts is now 11% of the total
economy, and can't go on for much longer.

  http://market-ticker.org/archives/2010/08/03.html

My argument is that schools or whoever it was which would be on the
receiving end of these stimulating activities should have been
properly consulted and allowed to use the money according to their
own priorities.  That is at odds with the goal of flushing a bunch of
borrowed or keystroke-invented money into the system within 6 months.
 At least the $900 cheques were quick and easy, and let people do
what they liked with the money.  Even if they paid back debt, the
dollars would quickly get recycled into new lending, presumably for
something productive . . . rather than gambling on the share market.

I think schools were an attractive target because there are plenty of
people who could construct school buildings, and most of the
materials are presumably locally manufactured.  Also, the results
would stand as a permanent monument to this particular government.

The whole thing is highly reminiscent of Soviet-style "centrally
planned economy" approach - complete with the monuments.  That
approach is arrogant and very wasteful.

  - Robin