I'm not a politically motivated person, but........

As I approach retirement age I thought I'd have a look at where I spent the first 15 years of my working life. Using Google Earth I had a virtual tour around the GMH site at Fishermans Bend. I actually had a tear in my eye as I saw what had happened to this once great manufacturing site, so much history gone.
With Ford, GM, and Toyota packing up plus countless other manufacturing companies closing where will our grandkids find employment.
I could go on and on, but I'll let these videos tell the story.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPnKJUu07rE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALGgYF0sav4

That video is one of the most twisted things I've ever seen on the internet. :U No cartel of hidden illuminati-types are grandstanding over us pulling the strings of tyranny in some Rockerfeller-esqe conspiracy. We did it to ourselves. :doh:

Its as simple as the market - we are too expensive.

It is cheaper and easier to get things made elsewhere.

What is sad is that Australia is no longer competitive in a huge range of things. Not just manufacturing, but IT, innovation, technology, science and food growth. The only thing we beat the world at, or almost, is a titanic overhang in aged demographics (beaten only by Japan), a housing market that is insanity, a mining boom that is now set to be a implosive bust (of a magnitude probably never to be repeated in human history if China keeps black-holing itself) and debt.

It is sad to see businesses fail. They are closing at a shocking rate. A quick drive down any industrial area will see a huge swing from manufacturing to service based deliveries. Our kids will become couriers. Services don't make money - they just transfer wealth.

We need to start making things. It is only through production that real wealth is created. :2tsup:

I only watched the video on Bradmill.
Straight after school I commenced work (vacation employment) in a factory. A job I kept for over 10 years. I then spent just over 2 years at a carpet factory running the boiler house. The video showed many images of the boiler house and much appreciated seeing it, inside and out.

Both factories where I worked are no more, and as my own children finish school I wonder what are they going to do. Not every body is able to find useful employment.

Things have changed as we all know, the job I did a five year apprenticeship for does not even exist now. Such is life.

Actually, Australia's population age profile is one of the better ones in the world - Canada, France, Greece, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Sweden, UK and the USA will have more of their population over 65 than Australia will in 2020.

"According to United Nations projections, all of the 20 countries selected for analysis in the table below are projected to experience an increase in the proportion of people aged 65 and over to 2020. In all of the selected countries except for Canada, United Kingdom, Hong Kong and Sweden, this increase in older population is accompanied by a decrease in the 0-14 year old population.

According to ABS projection Series B, the proportion of children 0-14 years in the Australian population is projected to increase by 0.2 percentage points between 2015 and 2020, from 18.8% to 19%, while the proportion of people aged 15-64 years is projected to decrease by 1.3 percentage points, from 66.2% to 64.9%. The proportion of people aged 65 years and over is projected to increase by 1.1 percentage points, from 15% to 16.1%.

In 2015, the age structure of Australia's population was similar to that of New Zealand and the United States of America. Generally, the European countries and Japan had smaller proportions of children and higher proportions of older people than Australia. In contrast, developing countries tended to have proportionally more children and far fewer older people, generally reflecting higher fertility rates and lower life expectancies than those experienced in Australia."

From:
3101.0 - Australian Demographic Statistics, Jun 2015

What a load of codswallop. How is it that Oz has one of the highest standards of living in the world and steady low unemployment? Sure we have problems but we are doing very well. Would the author like us to go back to the protectionist days of the sixties when jeans and sneakers were made in australia and cost $200(equivalent) per pair? The immuteable fact is that free trade works. They buy our wheat and minerals and come here for holidays, we buy their cars and iphones and go there for holidays, easy. Incredible how some people waste their time on this sort of ill-informed whining. And how about him saying "Only production makes real money...services don't make money" -Banking is a service, pal, so is the stock exchange, so is health care. Makes me wonder how I ran a successful manufacturing company for thirty years without drying up and blowing away. Hrmmph!

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Originally Posted by Toymaker Len

jeans and sneakers were made in australia and cost $200(equivalent) per pair?

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Jeans and sneakers can now cost well over $200 and are being made in 3rd. world countries with no OHS and slave wages. Free trade works, for multinational companies.

The decline in manufacturing is a global phenomenon and is not limited to Australia -

CARPE DIEM: "Decline of Manufacturing" is Global Phenomenon: And Yet the World Is Much Better Off Because of It

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Originally Posted by Toymaker Len

What a load of codswallop. How is it that Oz has one of the highest standards of living in the world and steady low unemployment?

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Debt. Government debt. State debt. Local council debt. Business debt. Personal debt. Australian Debt Clock

Employment is categorised as working a single hour in the week. One hour. Our kids have casual part-time jobs. McJobs. Nothing like the past. Talk to them and the resentment is seething.

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Originally Posted by Toymaker Len

Sure we have problems but we are doing very well.

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Originally Posted by Toymaker Len

Would the author like us to go back to the protectionist days of the sixties when jeans and sneakers were made in australia and cost $200(equivalent) per pair?

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Never said this. I said we must make things to create wealth. I offer/ed nothing in protectionism. Resource wealth is temporarily released for only an exclusive few for a short time. Any resource based wealth is always depleted - and if not - then marginalised into commodity prices that will only ever project downward... and worse, reliant on others to process them. Futures - zoom out to 10 years.

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Originally Posted by Toymaker Len

The immutable fact is that free trade works. They buy our wheat and minerals and come here for holidays, we buy their cars and iphones and go there for holidays, easy.

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It does. But Australia has a permanent trade imbalance. We sell iron ore, bring in a car. We make nothing - so the difference is debt. Australian Debt Clock

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Originally Posted by Toymaker Len

Incredible how some people waste their time on this sort of ill-informed whining. And how about him saying "Only production makes real money...services don't make money" -Banking is a service, pal, so is the stock exchange, so is health care.

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No, it isn't. Its debt management. I may be ill informed - but atleast its qualified ignorance. I worked as a bond, commercial bill and FX trader in the CBA for 5 years. Our fiat currency is 100% debt. I then was involved with floating 4 IT companies on the ASX. The banking system raises debt from the Reserve Bank, lends it fractionally and skims the difference. Retail banking is 0.00001% of its real monetary operations. Retail is offered as nothing but a convenient place for people to pay...their debts. As for the ASX, it releases capital in the form of debt. 98% of all share value is leveraged debt. It is not mum-and-pop buying $1000 worth of shares in BHP. Again, retail operations of the ASX are incredibly marginal. All the activity occurs via commercial hedgers, large traders, futures, options and algos. This is 99.99999% debt.

Health care - can't argue its absolute necessity there, but it isn't wealth generation, its asset transference.

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Originally Posted by Toymaker Len

Makes me wonder how I ran a successful manufacturing company for thirty years without drying up and blowing away. Hrmmph!

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I'm not questioning this. I think this is excellent. More people should build a good business, its very personally satisfying.

Though, I've been to Fyshwick a lot recently. The number of closed businesses is truly unreal. One of the main streets (Townsville St) is 99% for sale, for lease and closed business signs. Suppose we can all become bankers, lawyers and public servants.

Yes, we are in a mess, NOT

UN ranks Australian life second in the world | The New Daily

Doesnt surprise me at all. We have been propping up the ACT for years and now the money is starting to run out. Probably be a mass exodus in the next few years.

Just had a quick look outside......I think the sky is falling!

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Originally Posted by Big Shed

Yes, we are in a mess, NOT

UN ranks Australian life second in the world | The New Daily

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Why don't I believe this? :?

Yeah, the ACT is on the way down...

"The ACT has the fastest annual economic growth rate in the nation, according to the latest snapshot of the national capital, to be published on Monday.
Chief Minister Andrew Barr said the report showed the territory was rebounding from the economic hit inflicted by the federal government's cuts."

Canberra is booming, despite mixed economic signals: report

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Originally Posted by cava

Why don't I believe this? :?

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Probably because, like a lot of people, you prefer to believe the doom and gloom media headlines?

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Originally Posted by Big Shed

Probably because, like a lot of people, you prefer to believe the doom and gloom media headlines?

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Actually, and your mileage may vary, but in my case it is life experience and this is especially true of being wary of UN publications.

I must say that I always find random YouTube commentators much more accurate and insightful than the statistical reports of all the member countries of the UN, in much the same way that I find the cures offered by homoeopaths so much better than those provided by modern medicine. Some countries are known for reporting more their 'optimistic' or 'we think it should be this' figures rather than more realistic ones, but they tend to be the countries where accuracy takes a back seat to 'not being shot by the government'.

The point was made earlier that the Australian definition of 'employed' means you had more than one hour's work. Interestingly, that's been the International Labour Organisation's definition of 'employed' (for the purpose of 'unemployment figures') for the last 45-plus years across all UN member countries, so we're not the only ones using it.

The main use of the main unemployment number is for international comparisons and a quick headline overview. If you think it's useful for anything but that, you haven't spent days going through all the data that is actually available.

If you want more detail (as in how many hours are worked, or if people want and are able to work more hours, and what stops them getting jobs, and yes, even how many people work less than ten hours per week) there's literally hundreds of detailed spreadsheets about aspects of the labour force at the ABS' site.

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If you want more detail (as in how many hours are worked, or if people want and are able to work more hours, and what stops them getting jobs, and yes, even how many people work less than ten hours per week) there's literally hundreds of detailed spreadsheets about aspects of the labour force at the ABS' site.

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But that would mean using actual data to form an opinion.:rolleyes: