Nats outbid tories on Telstra sellout 4540

David Moss

Dave, Dave, Dave! The Nats are Agrarian Socialists, always have been, always will be.

The tories are radical right wing ideologues (not even their supporters could seriously claim they are 'conservatives' when they conserve nothing; not Telstra, not Family Values, not fair Industrial conditions, not Magna Carta rights of Aussie citizens, not States Rights.. they will sell out ANYTHING!

Oh, the tories and the Nats are feverish in their emotional attachment to the Sale Of The Century and the largest electoral slush fund since the GST and the sale of the first half of Telstra.

But Dave, selling the family silver to buy dinner is more than an issue of 'emotional attachment' though the tories emotional attachment to flogging national buttets to fund their electoral slush funds is obvious.

Once it's gone, what do you carve and eat the dinner with?

pffffft! Short term greed is not an economic policy.

I see your economics studies have done no good whatsoever.

Capital goods have value other than 'what you can buy with the proceeds' of selling them! They can be combined with other inputs such a labour (JOBS!) to create products (goods and services) that earn income, and thus generate profit streams long into the future.

What you are advising is that the Baker should sell his ovens because the 'only value is what you can buy with the proceeds" of selling up.... But then he can't bake bread, Dave, and his business fails, his workers are sacked, and he becomes a speculator with the 'proceeds' of liquidation, investing in the businesses of others.. unless they all decide to implement your policy.. and then there is just a mountain of paper and no one makes anything.

Selling Telecoms infrastructure is even worse than this, however, because there are values the government wants to achieve, service delivery to the bush gets the odd mention, which they will not be able to do as well when they no longer have a controlling interest.. as all the current wrangling, tossing and turning over a "formula" indicates.

Meanwhile the opportunity cost is the national telecommunications infrastructure we could have had, will suffer for lack of, and would have been the sort of bold visionary economic leadership that only government can provide. But not this government, of course. Their idea of 'reform' is a new tax. One that gives a surrepbreastious tax increase in the billions, every time petrol prices go up, and we all know how they have risen since around the invasion of TexIraq.

Your short term consumption thinking is what is wrong with the governments failure to INVEST, and reliance on consumption to squeeze the last few drops of growth out of a slowing economy. It's a game that ignores investment for the long term, and now we are starting to pay the price.

Costello's half hearted gesture towards investment, the Future Fund, is already being eaten into by the political vultures fighting over choice cuts from the telstra carcbutt. But the limited imagination of the Future Fund is a problem in itself.

What will they invest in? Telecommunications? B^D Can you think of anything more vital to the nations future economic growth? But no, they are SELLING their position in the digital information revolution, and buying... poo.. they don't seem to have ANYTHING particular in mind.. perhaps it will be investments in media.. that should keep the press quiescent.. "Don't run that, the Major shareholder Mr Howard, may not like it"

Just as the housing bubble doubled the price of a fairly static stock of housing, and thus no one is really better off, the notion of portfolio investment, buying stocks on the stock exchange, with the proceeds of selling telstra, will drive up the price of existing stock, but not create new investment in productive capacity.

You aren't part of the decision making process. But Banarby Rubble and the other seagulls squawking and squabbling over the carcbutt are highly emotional, accusing each other of being Judas, nailing toes to party lines, sticking by guns and then turning them on each other.. everything we have come to expect when thieves brawl over the spoils.

If you had any you should have sold them years ago,

The value of Telstra stock plunged when half of it was sold into private hands, and it's been stagnant ever since.

The more dynamic player, Optus, has progressively eaten away at it's market share.. but then Optus is owned by government.. the Singapore government, whose people are receiving steady dividends from their successful socialist enterprise.

Under the Howard government, we have timid economic mice, who do nothing and do not believe Australians can run a successful Telco, like Singaporeans do.

Good Lord NO! It's true I have a BEc, and have worked in the Banking sector, but I don't practice the Dismal Science, because I understand it too well.

Economists, including the government ones, continually make predictions that do not come true, and then come back again next year to do it again.

Dave, seven out of ten Aussies do not want telstra sold off, if that makes them socialists then the Revolution is at hand! B^D

(It would explain the election of the RECORD HIGHEST TAXING GOVERNMENT, which presides over the RECORD BIGGEST GOVERNMENT SECTOR, and splashes BILLIONS on the Agrarian socialists in the Coalition, whenever the fires of their greed are fanned too high.

I already have done so Dave.

That's why you and others are participating in this thread, although your contribution is woefully inadequate.

To claim as you did that Telstra's "only value is what you can buy with the proceeds." shows why major economic opportunities are

Oh, I thought I already made that clear, it must have been one of the bits you snipped without understanding.

A $30 billion dollar slush fund.

As with the sale of the last half of telstra, Dave they will get billions with which to buy votes and keep consumption up for another few years.

What a novel idea.. perhaps you should explain it to Costello, he seems concerned about the electoral impact of slowing growth.

As with the inflated prices for for housing stock the flood of share speculation as the tory government becomes the largest portfolio investor will not magically create new investment enterprises worth investing in.

If you are investing in shares with the goal of maximising your 'proceeds' then why put the money into the Australian capital market if their are better performing opportunities in more dynamic capital markets.

So the liquidated capital of an Australian enterprise that provided jobs, dividends flow on industries and vital goods and services, will be moved to fund enterprises, and jobs overseas?

Investing in a few HIH's will certainly cause some ripples, after all, Costello managed to lose Billions on failed currency speculation, his track record picking winners is not good.

So you are saying interest rates will undergo 'impressive' rises.. in direct contradiction of Howard's firmest, singular, electoral promise to do everything possible to keep them down?

Another tory broken promise from the Lying Rodent.