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By 2016, a fucking hamburger will cost 11 bucks.Agreed.
Massachusetts just said that by 2016, they will be raising minimum wage from $8 to $11 dollars an hour. That is going to destroy small businesses. Fucking idiots.
Anything below living standards is slave labour. McFucktards make Mcbillions off that processed dog food they sell so I see no reason the workers should be reliant on the TAXPAYER to subsidise the cost of living while selling hamburgers full time for some cunt corporation. does that make sense to you?People at McDonald's are not college graduates. What skills do they possess? They deserve no more than they are already making.
Ours is bare minimum $16.88 an hour. $20 is average. unemployment rate at 5.7%Agreed.
Massachusetts just said that by 2016, they will be raising minimum wage from $8 to $11 dollars an hour. That is going to destroy small businesses. Fucking idiots.
This state is so fucking retarded. Just keep catering to the welfare trash. Keep them voting democrat.Agreed.
Massachusetts just said that by 2016, they will be raising minimum wage from $8 to $11 dollars an hour. That is going to destroy small businesses. Fucking idiots.
You got it backwards. Reader's Digest version.the cost of living has outgrown the economy.
The effects of our currency falling against the US dollar will benefit some sectors, but not all, writes Alexander Downer.
... Now that sounds a bit odd these days. I mean, you and I know Australia can't change the weather.
And the whole issue of climate change just isn't as fashionable as it once was.
What is? That the Australian dollar is too strong - though it has weakened a fair bit in recent weeks.
It's the reason our car companies are struggling, it's the reason Spring Gully got into trouble, it's the reason Trims went into receivership, its the reason . . and so on and so forth.
It's a fashion.
But honestly, is it the truth?
Well, let's think about why the dollar has been strong. For a start, Australia has been doing OK compared to the US, the UK and the Eurozone. The GFC, as they like to call it, was essentially a transatlantic phenomenon.
It destroyed a number of American and European banks, which had to be bailed out by governments.
But it had almost no impact on our well-regulated banks.
What is more, our major trading partners are in Asia and they weren't too badly affected by the GFC. So these two things meant the Australian dollar was a better option than the US dollar, the euro and the pound.
That's changing a little bit now as the US recovery is slowly getting under way, Britain is spluttering towards recovery and Japan is on the uptake, though the Eurozone is still in recession. So against the US dollar, the pound and even the embattled euro, the Australian dollar is softening a bit. The current fashion is to tell you that is a good thing.
I'm not entirely sure.
Let's be negative about this since that is counter-intuitive. Imported products are now startng to become more expensive. Some of those products are common or garden consumer items such as iPads and mobile phones, televisions and DVDs, most of the clothes in our shops and children's toys.
We don't make these things in Australia so now that the dollar is sinking, remember, a big proportion of what you buy is going to become more expensive.
That will, in a phrase, reduce your standard of living.
And then there is petrol. You've become used to a price for unleaded of about $1.50 a litre, maybe a little less. Well, a lower dollar is going to push that up. If the dollar sinks to, say, 85 cents, which I think it will, then petrol will slide up to around $1.70. That's not a disaster, but it will make you poorer.
Then there's this. Imports are an important contributor to business inputs. Most of the components in the Australian assembled Holden Cruze are imported. So as the dollar goes down, so the cost of those inputs goes up.
And since imports make up far more than 50 per cent of the cost of building the Holden Cruze, a falling dollar will make Australian-built cars more expensive.
The same is true of many other inputs in manufacturing industry.
For example, machine tools are largely made overseas, in countries such as America, Japan and Germany. With a falling dollar they're going to be more expensive.
Now you can easily counter this by saying that farmers' returns will be higher because of a falling dollar, so will miners', and Australia will become cheaper for tourists and students. This is incontestably true. But my point is that devaluation is not a simple formula for economic prosperity. It's a boon to some industries and a burden for others.
Back in the 1960s, the British economy was struggling. So the government of the day, presided over by Harold Wilson, decided formally to devalue the currency. It was a failure. Imports were more expensive and exports were cheaper, sure. That sounds good. But imported business inputs became more expensive as did imported consumer goods.
The effect of the devaluation was negligible. The British economy continued to struggle until the 1980s when the government forced massive macro and micro economic reforms through the parliament.
By the 1990s, Britain had put the slough of the 60s, and 70s behind it. Sure, it's not going so well now, but that's not because of the pound.
It's because the Brown government overspent and the Eurozone - Britain's biggest export market - went pear-shaped.
My guess is the Australian dollar will shed another 10 cents against the US dollar - that is, it will go down to 85 cents. Remember, back in 2001, the dollar went down to 50 cents against the US dollar. So its highs of more than a dollar to the US dollar are unusual.
But don't think the depreciation of the Australian dollar against the America dollar is some sort of economic panacea.
Ten per cent onto the cost of a Volkswagen because of currency depreciation isn't going to ruin their Australian market for that German car company. People like their cars. They're cool and they work well.
Our problem is we've started to fall into the trap of Harold Wilson's England. Unions are front and centre of our manufacturing so costs are astronomical while productivity is low. We need to face up to the fact that you can sell products at high prices if they are good.
Be honest. Some of our manufactured products, especially cars, are just not what consumers want. It's not price alone, its quality.
Forget the dollar; it won't save us through devaluation. High quality products will.
Alexander Downer was foreign affairs minister in the Howard government from 1996 to 2007.
A piece of that puzzle is missing. I know exactly turtle shit fuck all about Australia, but your economy, i would guess, is structured so very differently from ours its apples and orangutans.Ours is bare minimum $16.88 an hour. $20 is average. unemployment rate at 5.7%
problem?
very true, living on $8 per hour or so here would be impossible. I can't even park in the city for one hour for 8 bucksA piece of that puzzle is missing. I know exactly turtle shit fuck all about Australia, but your economy, i would guess, is structured so very differently from ours its apples and orangutans.
I think you'd probably find our unions impossible to deal with, seen as one side of government is basically made up of former union bosses, the GFC didn't really reach us and we sell so much iron, uranium and shit to china etc it's not funny... the economy has only just gone into debt because of the former government throwing money around, but now we have a party that is very anal with cash and usually delivers a surplus in the budget after a while. It's a cyclical thing here between the two leading parties. Spend/Save. Minimum wages are set by a government appointed body and you can't pay a cent less. All employers must kick in 9% of your pay, on top of your pay into superannuation (retirement) package.A piece of that puzzle is missing. I know exactly turtle shit fuck all about Australia, but your economy, i would guess, is structured so very differently from ours its apples and orangutans.
As of August 2013, Australians have over $1.6 trillion in superannuation assets.[6] Australians now have more money invested in managed funds per capita than any other economy.[7]
Compulsory superannuation in combination with buoyant economic growth has turned Australia into a 'shareholder society', where most workers are now indirect investors in the stock market. Consequently, a lively personal investment marketplace has developed, and many Australians take an interest in investment topics.
Mr_Blonde here's a recent piece from our ex foreigner minister, it's a double edged sword.
red wing work boots also now.I cannot speak for Aussieland but, in the US it seems all of the products, including the American brand are assembled in China. Many cannot tell but, more astute persons have noticed the subtle changes in quality. Ray-Bands sunglasses are a prime example.
so the US isn't devaluing? .
If we don't step up and defend the rights of the MacD's as if they're our own, we're like someone sitting in a room that's caught fire and saying my side of the room's fine so why should I get up and help you put out your side?
What are the ramifications of paying someone a "living wage" $15/hr for saying "Hello welcome to ___________. May I take your order. " Think about it. If these hapless McD employees hate the 8/hr wage so bad then get another job. A day laborer makes 10/hr. An office temp or CSR makes typically 9/hr as a training wage and if are on time for six months are bumped to 12/hr. Telemarketers make 8/hr and get commissions. Waiters and waitresses often make 12/hr or more. Car salesmen often make minimum wage along with a $50-100 minimum per sale.
So --- really? How about that's the only job they can get or want because they like the low responsibility, flexible hours and work that needs little or no mental capabilities.
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