Adventure Ausrama Blog

HEALTH It seems just about everybody is investing in vineyards. The wine industry has drawn in big investors and hobbyists. Unfortunately, people do not think before they jump in. They are seeking to fulfill a dream: there is a certain amount of glamour involved in saying I am a wine maker, a vintner. Too much drinking not enough thinking There is a world glut of wine, particularly the cheap ones. Nations have pushed to establish new vineyards. It has the aura of a local car industry or airline. Newcomers enter the industry all the time without doing any research and little training. It is no surprise to hear that the oldest wine club in Australia founded in 1946 is in the red, by a shocking amount. It owes a staggering $4.2 million to its wine producers. It operates as a distributor, buy and selling, though ostensibly not-for-profit. Supermarket chains sell nearly all wine in Australia and in a situation of oversupply they don't pay much for it. These major players ...

The present federal government has a policy of the market will solve all problems : we will get rid of regulatory bodies and legislation. This would be good if it was right and it isn't. Private industry will not build roads, for example. Getting rid of regulation on investment advisers was a mistake. Thankfully it was resurrected and defeated in the Senate. If it had stayed, advisers would have pulled the wool over the eyes of the poor in society - those who do not know how the system operates. The government is trying to abolish the body that reviews charity organizations. Senate opposition will put an end to this. Why is the government wasting its time and taxpayers money throwing legislation at the Senate that clearly will not get through? There is no debt problem in Australia contrary to the wild obsession put forward by the Coalition. Australia has only 17 per cent debt. this compares to over 90 per cent for most other Western countries. The econ...

Everyone is in debt. That seems to be the case. But if we all owe money to whom are we indebted? Who are these fat cats who spend their days on the beach having cool drinks brought to them while they while away the time sunbathing? If truth be known the money does not actually exist. It has been created in the books of independent and national banks. In centuries passed the local blacksmith acted as the bank. Gold, silver and promissory notes were left in his safe. He soon became aware that the "goods" left for safe keeping would not be taken out by the owner for a very long time, if ever. For storing the valuable minerals and promissory notes he gave promissory notes in return. This meant that he could create money. He could also give loans, a large part of which would return directly back because the debtor opened a new account. When large private banks started, governments gave an assurance that a run on an institution would be protected by public money. We have see...

Australia is going down the same road as the British by privatizing public resources. There is a major problem with this economic theory. That is, that once resource are sold and the money is used to pay off debt it cannot be sold again. When railways, electricity and water are privatized they are no longer under public control. Ordinary people are at the mercy of private enterprise who have been shown to continually increase charges beyond what citizens can bear. This is the cold reality of what the future will be like. Politicians of the right have put faith in private enterprise for a century or more. The trickle down benefits of wealth are shown to be completely wrong. The riches of nations is still being consolidated into fewer hands. The poorer are poorer still. Despite consumer goods being widespread, very few can afford a Ferrari. Millionaires have been superseded by billionaires. And the these consumers of all things monetary still want more. When services ...

Some people are extremely arrogant. In the present economic downturn it is not the poor who believe that the world owes them a living. Like many banks who continue to pay their executives high salaries despite accepting money from government, some wealthy people expect to live the high life at someone else's expense. Karin Upton Baker (her double barrelled name should give her away for a start) expects companies she has borrowed money from to leave her alone and let her live well despite owing them $18 million. In court she is saying that the claim against her is "unjust". She says that she did not read the contracts. Furthermore, she lied to financiers telling them that she had taken legal advice before signing the documents. Assuming that companies will leave her with the five apartments, living in them and collecting rent, is a bit much when you consider she hasn't paid any moneys back since July last year. Despite earning $7,000 a week she claims she cannot to af...