Daily Archives: August 26, 2015

Iain Duncan Smith vows to overhaul ‘perverse’ sickness benefits – Telegraph

August 26, 2015 By in Austerity, Business Administration, Coaching, Fiscal Policy, Growth, Healthcare, Immigration, NHS, People, Politics Tags: , , , , , 1 Comment

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This is an important article in the Telegraph, citing a policy shift from Iain Duncan Smith. It’s recommended read.

via Iain Duncan Smith vows to overhaul ‘perverse’ sickness benefits – Telegraph.

Personally, I think that the proposed measures are far too weak. Radical reform is required.

In my mind, there is room for a new category of ‘public service’, where benefits recipients have to offer some value to society in exchange for their allowances.

I envision, a graduated scale from the most needy, probably receiving more help, through various pre-work categories back to work.

Thoughts?

Related articles

National Reform Summit: We are ‘sleepwalking into a real mess’, says former Treasury boss Martin Parkinson – Sydney Morning Herald

August 26, 2015 By in Austerity, Australia, Baby Boomers, Business Administration, Coaching, Consulting, Education, Elderly, Energy Policy, Fiscal Policy, Growth, Immigration, Millennials, People, Politics, UK 1 Comment
Location map of Australia Equirectangular proj...

Location map of Australia Equirectangular projection, N/S stretching 110 %. Geographic limits of the map: N: 9.0° S S: 44.5° S W: 111.5° E E: 155.0° E (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This is an important article from the Sydney Morning Herald. Check it out!

via National Reform Summit: We are ‘sleepwalking into a real mess’, says former Treasury boss Martin Parkinson.

I have long been amazed at the Australian economy and the lifestyle of the Australian people.

When I worked in Australia in the seventies, I remember three things:

  1. 25% of the population worked in the public sector
  2. There were regularly strikes in the automotive industry and in the airlines, with the unions being as powerful as the UK, if not more so.
  3. Finally, everybody finished work early and went on the beach.

The day before I left Australia for the Far East (I was working for American Express at the time), the barmaid in my Brisbane hotel remarked:

Why don’t you stay in Australia? There are plenty of opportunities. I have a friend that a year ago had nothing and now he’s on the top of the world with a house, a new car and a boat..

I responded with the question:

What he’s paid for all of that out of his income?

The reply was:

Well no, he’s paying off each month.

As I left Brisbane for Manilla, Philipines, I reflected on this conversation. Consumer credit in Australia in the seventies was closer to the US, with the UK behind the curve. But the UK soon caught up.

In more recent years, I have visited Australia three times and continue to be amazed at how the country tries to walk on water. I was working out early one morning in a Sydney gym when I saw the 2008 financial crash as breaking news on the TV.

In more recent years, it has been about investing in property and running up sky-high personal debts. These days in Sydney prices are so hot in some areas, that banks have a separate lending policy by postcode.

The trade unions finally priced Australian manufacturing out of world markets. The beach is still important but there have been two important new factors. Firstly, Australia had explosive growth from mining natural resources but commodity prices are currently on the floor. Secondly, Australia attracted investment and people from the Far East but the looming Australian property bubble could signal a sharp reversal. Finally, the current government has deployed austerity to cut the public sector.

Like most Anglo-Saxon countries, Australia’s wealth is is the hands of its elderly, with young people struggling to get started in life.

So I very much agree that Australia is sleep walking into a real mess.

Thoughts?