6 Comments

1. Don Quixote

   September 2, 2006

   Okay, so I've never posted in an open thread prior to this. Did anyone see the dressing down Keith Olbermann gave Donald Rumsfeld during the week? It raised the hairs on the back of my neck.

2. Nicholas Gruen

   September 2, 2006

   I've thought right from the start of the interest rate rises that this was not bad news for the Howard Govt. It is in the short term. But I doubt they'll have gone up within recent memory at the time of the next election and may well be coming down. Something similar might play out regarding petrol.

   Still, as a contrarian in most things, I think Howard's ascendancy is overrated. He's a tough professional politician. As hard to dislodge from the crease as Geoff Boycott. But has his weaknesses, most particularly a kind of policy directionlessness which sees him drift into trouble and reach for the nearest thing around. It used to be policy ideas in the ether like the GST (I'm one of the few economists in the country who doesn't think introducing it was such a great reform), but since the late 90s he's always been able to reach around for something more on his home turf related to the culture wars which he seems to be winning.

3. whyisitso

   September 2, 2006

   Yeah, Nick. Let's go back to the Wholesale Sales Tax. Great tax that now that the direction of our consumer expenditure is towards services. It was very simple (?!?!?), with not all that many different rates and you could always work out the sales tax on a birthday cake.

4. Nicholas Gruen

   September 3, 2006

   Thx for the link Don. I don't like moralising journalism much, but, like Ed Morrow, he picks a worthy subject to moralise about.

5. Chris Lloyd

   September 3, 2006

   I watched the Sunday program today under the new format. The male presenter is an absolute embarrassment but they did come up with a nice format innovation. After Laurie's face to face interview (with Costello this morning) the two presenters and Laurie deconstruct the interview - without the pollie there to spin and distract.

   Costello publicly supported sales of Medibank private to the PUBLIC which he has been arguing for in cabinaet but losing to those who want to flog it to another health fund. He must be pretty pissed to be taking the argument to channel nine.

6. cam

   September 3, 2006

   I don't like moralising journalism much He also has a ready and waiting audience that he is speaking too. They will also propogate his message to a wider audience.

   He may believe it, same as Murdoch may believe in Fox's quest, but it is market positioning IMO. Both Olbermann and Murdoch would drop those station/program stances in a heartbeat if it wasn't getting them audiences any longer.