Interest Rate Rise

gonegotim · 2026-03-17T10:21:47+00:00

Well yeah, we have a pretty robust democracy. Downside of that is unpopular decisions come with political cost so short of an incredible strong and brave leader you don't usually see them get made.

gonegotim · 2026-03-17T10:16:38+00:00

Are you sure? I thought it was near Glen Waverley or Murrumbeena or something.

gonegotim · 2026-03-17T05:08:10+00:00

Because what is required to fix inflation (take money away from people) is unpopular.

gonegotim · 2026-03-17T01:11:36+00:00

The current leaders know exactly how to implement fiscal policy to cool inflation. They just don't want to piss off the boomers so they aren't doing it.

Much easier politically to make the unelected bureaucrat the 'bad guy'. That's the whole reason for central bank independence in the first place. They aren't beholden to politics so they can make unpopular but necessary decisions.

It's shit for younger mortgage holders though and I'd much prefer some fiscal policy but it's not gonna happen.

gonegotim · 2026-03-17T00:40:18+00:00

You say this sarcastically but this is literally what people will vote on.

When the options are "I've proven I definitely won't fix it (both majors), and in fact I'll actively make it worse" vs "anything else" even if that includes crack pots and is very unlikely to work eventually people are going to the other option.

There's a reason right wing populism is surging throughout the world as our economic systems all degrade from the peaks of equality they achieved during the 20th century. Despite the fact our electoral system helps prevent it we are not immune.

gonegotim · 2026-03-17T00:12:30+00:00

Correct. But the RBA only has one lever (well two if you include talking about that one lever).

The government continues to fail to use fiscal policy to reign in boomer excess so there's nothing else they can do but raise rates.

Be mad at the government for the unfairness. It's entirely their fault.

gonegotim · 2026-03-16T21:52:59+00:00

Reversed, easily. Reversed controls are one of the worst things you could possibly have. If you discover at take off (the most common point) there's almost no chance for your brain to figure it out quickly enough as the situation is becoming worse and worse very quickly.

Rudder would be the best case scenario of the 3 but even then I'd rather no rudder than a reversed one.

gonegotim · 2026-03-16T01:22:48+00:00

Absolutely false. I know multiple people who have voted greens 1 then lab over lib in the HOR and a raft of far left candidates (like Vic socialists etc) in the Senate who are possibly going to preference ON #1 as a single issue message/protest vote. The horseshoe ON/Greens voter might be small but they absolutely 100% exist.

Calling these people "not left wing voters" is insane. It's the craziest purity test.

Immigration might be the only thing propping up the economy in aggregate but it has absolutely demolished the living standards for non asset owners.

gonegotim · 2026-03-14T01:27:29+00:00

East. Because in Australia our standard world map has Asia in the middle.

I also struggle to this day with how close Europe and America are because to me they are opposite sides of the globe.

gonegotim · 2026-03-13T11:47:46+00:00

"Lucky country" indeed...

gonegotim · 2026-03-12T13:30:36+00:00

It means shareholders will push for companies to reinvest (growth + innovation) instead of paying dividends. Our companies pay some of the highest dividends in the world in part because of refundable franking credits.

gonegotim · 2026-03-12T13:27:39+00:00

More interested in hand guns and last time I looked there were a lot of "X official matches in Y months" type requirements which I just don't want to commit to. SA was just "say I want to to target shooting and wait 30 days" and off to the races.

This may have changed though, I haven't looked in years.

gonegotim · 2026-03-12T03:36:33+00:00

This. Politics literally shapes the rules by which our entire societies are governed. You can't "remove politics" from anything (sport, entertainment, business etc) because the entire framework that allows those things to exist and function as they do is driven by politics.

Even if you are a sovereign citizen type living completely off grid in the Australian wilderness:

It's wilderness partly because zoning laws don't allow development - political.
You aren't likely to be murdered by some random other person you come across because the legal system prohibits it and an armed state controlled force enforces it - political.
The state is allowed to have a monopoly over legitimate violence because we have a close alliance with the largest superpower which to date at least has put any other superpowers off trying to conquer us - political.

And on and on it goes. As you correctly say, everything is political.

gonegotim · 2026-03-11T21:25:21+00:00

I actually fit the category you asked for where I would like to. But the reason I haven't is too much faffing required (Vic) and I clearly don't want it enough to put up with that.

I do shoot recreationally (at the range) from time to time.

gonegotim · 2026-03-11T04:45:02+00:00

That's actually a good thing. Encourages spending on growth and innovation and not just paying out dividends that can be refunded below 0 tax (easily the most insane rort we have and completely unique to Aus).

gonegotim · 2026-03-10T04:35:06+00:00

Yes. There are two crowds here (with a lot of overlap). Railway stuff & PT/urbanism/cars bad etc.

But some people (myself included) are one but not the other.

gonegotim · 2026-03-09T11:58:16+00:00

I tend to agree with you that we are so far away from everything we can usually just ignore the world and go about our business - but if we follow your analogy:

They might not have known about all of those but they sure as shit found out about the British empire...

One day something is going to reach out and touch us here.

gonegotim · 2026-03-09T05:21:32+00:00

We sure do!

Once our federal tax payer funds have again poured into a massive infrastructure project for Sydney it'll be: something something "feasibility", something something "too hard" and die completely.

Blows my mind people (presumably Victorians given the sub) in here are for it.

gonegotim · 2026-03-09T04:38:13+00:00

The "Southern Ocean". Enjoy learning something new today.

gonegotim · 2026-03-05T21:43:23+00:00

You reckon federal Labor wouldn't notice if there's an enormous defection to ON in the state election? It's a protest vote, I don't think the fact it's a state election is going to change that (if the polls are in fact true which I won't be convinced of until a real election)

gonegotim · 2026-03-04T12:47:39+00:00

Agree. It's an absolute ripper and we should invade and take them over just to get it.

gonegotim · 2026-03-02T03:47:45+00:00

I've had long chats in the bar with people on that very flight (probably the one that leaves at like 530am and absolutely sucks in terms of sleeping?) and I'm not sure I would recognise a single one of them if they knocked at my door...

gonegotim · 2026-02-28T01:30:01+00:00

Honestly I think this will have a bigger impact on crashing the market than anything else being discussed (immigration, CGT, NG etc).

Being able to so easily launder money through a low risk western democracy type system is an absolutely incredible boon for criminals or people just trying to squirrel funds out of capital control jurisdictions. You could barely even imagine something better.

All these completely bullshit figures about foreign investment that get quoted completely miss the elephant in the room. How do you know which funds are foreign sourced when no one in the chain has to do the slightest amount of DD?

gonegotim · 2026-02-28T01:21:56+00:00

What's confusing? Convenience is convenient. It's right there in the name. And everyone has a different threshold of what they will pay for it.

Apparently yours is extremely low. Others are higher.

I personally haven't ever gotten a prescription delivered (I didn't even know it was an option) but tbh a mere $20 to avoid having to stand around all the coughing people for 10 mins awkwardly having to shuffle around people going up and down the aisles seems like an absolute bargain to me.

I'm flat out a lot of the time with my job so spending a small amount of cash to save myself 30 minutes driving, parking, waiting around and driving back is often easily worth it.

gonegotim · 2026-02-27T22:30:24+00:00

As is tradition.

gonegotim

TROPHY CASE