Sometimes you have to bite the bullet and take direct action when it comes to the crunch.......war is not a solution, it's a means to an end.........you can always stay out of war by bending over backwards and kissing your rear end goodbye.

the problem we have today was the same as the one we had 100 years ago, but then we were ravaging the colonies and making hay while the sun shone.......after 1945 the writing on the wall became plain for all to see and the word colony was not used any more.

Today, we have to compete against other competitors who either know better, can do it better or are good at making it look like it was the real Mc Coy, but the real enemy of the competitor are the people who buy their goods........they buy your goods because you make the cheapest ones and that is about the name of the game.......you are the cheapest supplier on the block and will go broke trying to make goods for nothing.

You can actually make goods for nothing, or less than cost price, provided you have the backing of the Government and a subsidy to stay in business.

I think the wage spiral is going the wrong way......by rights we should be devaluing the OZ dollar.....that would mean every dollar that came into the country would be worth more.......that would also curb offshore spending......at the same time the wages would still buy goods at the same price, but foreign travel would be hit hard, which is where you want it to happen.

The tourists who flock to this country would be swimming in OZ dollars at the new exchange rate and that is just what the retail sector needs.........meanwhile a loaf of bread will still cost the local populace a dollar as it was before.

I have to wonder who sets the value of a currency when by rights the lowest value you can have would be the highest benefit.

As a country that is not a manufacturing giant, the low dollar value would mean we get more for our miniscule export trade while curbing the import unbalance that the people themselves have created.

The money for skilled workers would still be paid to them according to their skill levels and as small is beautiful the small producers can thrive just supplying the local markets without the need to export.

Exporting takes on a new meaning and value when it's interstate and not international, and an OZ dollar at parity means we all profit, not a foreign country.
Ian.