It’s going to take more than a fancy essay and some sentiment to address the systematic inequality that threatens the heart of the Australian way of life.
Thanks Joel. Since when did "I must make it more difficult for middle-income people to live, and impossible for poor people to exist" become a way of achieving full employment? For that is what the Reserve Bank's mission is: not to control inflation, but to achieve full utilisation of the labour market. The trouble is, neoliberal philosophy got in the way, and the concept of 'full employment' became an unemployment rate of 5%. And it's the poor who mainly pay the price.
Nixon did it in the 1970s to curb inflation. Passed legislation to stop any price rises at all and huge fines would ensue. It stopped price gouging in its tracks and inflation.
Legislation and regulation. That's how irresponsible economc behaviour is traditionally solved. It's how rampant wage rises and industrial action have been stopped, and there's no reason we can't also apply it to prices. We just need the political will to do it.
I don't know how, I'm not an economist, nor am I a politician. We pay those people - a lot, I might add - to come up with solutions to problems like this. All I'm saying is that if polilticians and economists can agree that wages restraint is necessary to fix economic problems, then equally prices restraint should be considered. Look at your questions about price regulation above and ask yourself if they could equally apply to wage regulation.
Thanks Joel. Since when did "I must make it more difficult for middle-income people to live, and impossible for poor people to exist" become a way of achieving full employment? For that is what the Reserve Bank's mission is: not to control inflation, but to achieve full utilisation of the labour market. The trouble is, neoliberal philosophy got in the way, and the concept of 'full employment' became an unemployment rate of 5%. And it's the poor who mainly pay the price.
What is "price gouging", and how would you solve it? How much does Sally think supermarkets "need" to raise their prices?
Nixon did it in the 1970s to curb inflation. Passed legislation to stop any price rises at all and huge fines would ensue. It stopped price gouging in its tracks and inflation.
Legislation and regulation. That's how irresponsible economc behaviour is traditionally solved. It's how rampant wage rises and industrial action have been stopped, and there's no reason we can't also apply it to prices. We just need the political will to do it.
Well sure but what does that legislation say? "Thou shalt not price-gouge"? How is price-gouging defined?
Or will it just be an enormous list of all goods and services available in the economy with a maximum chargeable price for each?
And would there be a mechanism for rationing scarce goods and services where there is excess demand at the maximum chargeable price?
I don't know how, I'm not an economist, nor am I a politician. We pay those people - a lot, I might add - to come up with solutions to problems like this. All I'm saying is that if polilticians and economists can agree that wages restraint is necessary to fix economic problems, then equally prices restraint should be considered. Look at your questions about price regulation above and ask yourself if they could equally apply to wage regulation.
You raise an interesting point, and you sound like a smart person. As such, it’s be interesting to hear your views on how it could be made to work.