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> I don't condone this type of government action just to make my life easier It is certainly easy to have one's opinions shaped by personal circumstances. But

by dejb 16y ago

> I don't condone this type of government action just to make my life easier It is certainly easy to have one's opinions shaped by personal circumstances. But do you really think that Australia's long term future will be best served by relying on our minerals rather than our minds? It's like the economy is telling us 'this information economy stuff is all rather nice but the best thing you could be doing now is figuring out how to find and extract minerals from the ground'. I don't happen to agree but could you honestly recommend a comp sci degree over metallurgy to a financially ambitious school leaver? A heavy reliance on minerals and therefore on our relationship with China seems fraught with danger. Politically speaking, mining requires 'stability' where as the information economy seems to require democracy and freedom. All income is not equal. > Continued foreign investment in high risk mining activities is good for the country, and this was going to stop it. It seems to me that the value of the minerals is not in danger of disappearing any time soon. So I don't really see the frantic need for us to sell it as soon as it can be economically extracted. Are we really so badly off that we need the money as soon as we can get it? Unemployment is 5%. To me the danger is that are we becoming so addicted to this revenue source that when our dealer stops supplying we won't be able to cope. > If anything was to be done then the state-based mining royalties should have had some component to adjust with the price of the underlying ore. You must be from WA :) Seriously though I'm not sure about the best mechanism but I think this is a situation where the pure free market could become a tragedy of the commons.

brc 16y ago
No, I'm not from WA and I don't have anything to do with mining. I do think Australias long term future is best served by minerals at this point. There's no way of knowing what the future holds, best to bank as much now while the price is good. Yes, it holds some risk over the geopolitical situation, but you can't get rid of that. Digging up minerals and selling them now puts Australia to work. drives down the Current Account deficit, allows us all to enjoy a higher standard of living. Put simply, Australia has comparative advantage in minerals mining so we should maximise this to the benefit of all. Unemployment is 5% because of the mining, not despite the mining. It's not an either/or question on mining/information technology. There's plenty of room for both. Australia can lead the world in minerals, and mineral extraction technology. Australia has already built up world class mining companies that now invest internationally. Long may that continue - with a stable political climate, well developed capital markets and a home-grown skills and technology base, there's no reason why Australian miners can't be major players in worldwide resource extraction for centuries to come, even if the iron ore in the Pilbara runs out. The world will never stop mining - never has, never will.
- dejb 16y ago
  > best to bank as much now while the price is good Possibly true but on the other hand who's to say the price won't go up further in the future? If we are going to consider the possibility of major price drops then shouldn't we model the impact on the economy? Would it make even more sense to make sure we aren't too reliant on that income and that we put some money aside for this eventuality? > Unemployment is 5% because of the mining, not despite the mining. I think that this is because the income from mining has allowed additional consumption and that consumption has supported employment. > There's plenty of room for both. Australia can lead the world in minerals, and mineral extraction technology. This sounds a pretty bland to me. Like the classic quite from a 'versatile' band "we play both types of music - Country AND Western". A vibrant modern economy requires a lot more than one sector. Beside that it doesn't take advantage of us being a modern westernized English-speaking nation. I've no doubt that China and India can produce highly skilled engineers and they will tend to want to use their own companies in new mining areas such as Africa. But when it comes to developing and designing information products for a western market they at a huge disadvantage.

by dejb 16y ago

brc 16y ago

No, I'm not from WA and I don't have anything to do with mining. I do think Australias long term future is best served by minerals at this point. There's no way of knowing what the future holds, best to bank as much now while the price is good. Yes, it holds some risk over the geopolitical situation, but you can't get rid of that. Digging up minerals and selling them now puts Australia to work. drives down the Current Account deficit, allows us all to enjoy a higher standard of living. Put simply, Australia has comparative advantage in minerals mining so we should maximise this to the benefit of all. Unemployment is 5% because of the mining, not despite the mining. It's not an either/or question on mining/information technology. There's plenty of room for both. Australia can lead the world in minerals, and mineral extraction technology. Australia has already built up world class mining companies that now invest internationally. Long may that continue - with a stable political climate, well developed capital markets and a home-grown skills and technology base, there's no reason why Australian miners can't be major players in worldwide resource extraction for centuries to come, even if the iron ore in the Pilbara runs out. The world will never stop mining - never has, never will.

dejb 16y ago
> best to bank as much now while the price is good Possibly true but on the other hand who's to say the price won't go up further in the future? If we are going to consider the possibility of major price drops then shouldn't we model the impact on the economy? Would it make even more sense to make sure we aren't too reliant on that income and that we put some money aside for this eventuality? > Unemployment is 5% because of the mining, not despite the mining. I think that this is because the income from mining has allowed additional consumption and that consumption has supported employment. > There's plenty of room for both. Australia can lead the world in minerals, and mineral extraction technology. This sounds a pretty bland to me. Like the classic quite from a 'versatile' band "we play both types of music - Country AND Western". A vibrant modern economy requires a lot more than one sector. Beside that it doesn't take advantage of us being a modern westernized English-speaking nation. I've no doubt that China and India can produce highly skilled engineers and they will tend to want to use their own companies in new mining areas such as Africa. But when it comes to developing and designing information products for a western market they at a huge disadvantage.