The $6.2 billion being handed over by the Australian government to local automotive manufacturers is starting to look rather pitiful as America’s major car makers — Chrysler, Ford and General Motors — request $25 billion from their government….

Mandatory filtering of Australians\’ internet access is not the solution, but the start of a new set of problems that takes us down a path that few democracies should ever willingly tread….

Still, the problem here is that the crisis has grown so massive that governments are one of the few entities left with balance sheets large enough to cover the costs of the economic fallout.

I also especially like your point about the financial crisis, I’ve consistently argued with people about it being a problem of regulation-particularly Fannie Mac and Freddie Mae, somehow people just don’t get it. What really captures me most of all is how people misrepresent their views so much on this issue. Many of my friends who believe strongly in left wing economic thinking are quite ok with bailing out corporations. Their rationale I simply don’t understand considering the further divide between capital and labour it causes. Our reactions I believe are too biased towards those already with money rather than looking at the fundamental part of capitalism and that is competition. Competition is what caused so many people to be able to buy homes and competition is what will ensure banks and others don’t take excessive risks again. Guarantees will merely encourage greater risk taking, as I’m sure you well appreciate.

John McCain should be America\’s next President. But only just….

In a stunning decision, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) cut interest rates by a full percentage point, taking the cash rate from 7 to 6%. Shares rallied on the news, with the benchmark ASX200 index up 1.7 per cent on the day, reversing losses in mo…