Ausbuy

Biofuels And The World Food Markets

May 5th, 2008

Global warming and how we should deal with it has provoked much debate and spawned new industries where entrepreneurs expect to make their fortune (with the help of government assistance) and at the same time fight this new threat. Many of the technologies on which these businesses are based have been poorly researched and some have had unintended consequences.The most notable example of the above is the biofuel industry. The theory of biofuels is that we use them instead of fossil fuels which are wasting assets. Its use was made popular by Brazil in the 1970’s when the price of oil went through the roof and they had vast quantities of sugar they couldn’t sell. Ethanol provided as alternative fuel to run their cars. This was an economic decision where the Brazilians were prepared to accept this less efficient fuel and the high cost of production was more than offset by the world oil price at that time.

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The Impact Of The Credit Crunch In Australia

April 15th, 2008

When the sub prime mortgage problem started to show itself in the USA various respected media commentators stated that, since most of our exports went to Asia, it didn’t matter. We had decoupled from the USA. Ausbuy felt that this was a load of rubbish and wrote an article to this effect, but even we have been surprised how rapidly the problems have spread round the world. The two largest banks in the world - UBS of Switzerland and Citibank of the USA - have both written off many billions of dollars and the contagion has spread to such countries as Britain, France, Germany and Japan. Given this scenario, it is not surprising that some of the fall out has landed in Australia.

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Investing In The Stock Exchange

April 3rd, 2008

People who invest in the stock exchange realise that shares can go down as well as up but continue to do so supported by the following beliefs:

• They have to do something with their savings. If they put it in the bank they go backward. Assume the following: Rate - 6%; Inflation - 4%; Tax - 30%. This gives the following:

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Members Letter to GlaxoSmithKline

April 1st, 2008

This letter was recently forwarded to Ausbuy by a member. We encourage all members of the public to voice your questions and concerns to the relevant organisations.

To GlaxoSmithKline,

I purchased a Lucozade Energy (300ml Lemon) from a Melbourne city 7-11 outlet on the weekend. I am writing to express my disappointment that after purchasing the product I read the fine print that it is Made in China.

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Corruption In Government

March 10th, 2008

As we have said before, democracies are run by an elected government with the permission of the people. They do not agree with all the policies put forward by their elected officials, but are normally prepared to accept what they believe to be the good with the bad. These elected officials, in their turn, delegate some of their authority, but not their responsibilities to unelected bureaucrats. The entire system runs on trust, and when systemic corruption is discovered it undermines the partnership between elected officials and the electorate which underpins democracy.In Australia there are three tiers of government. At the federal level there are few opportunities for an MP to personally benefit from his or her actions, and intense scrutiny is exercised by both the media and the opposing parties. There is also a ministerial code of conduct. The second tier is the state government, and there is less scrutiny and more opportunities than there are in the federal level - particularly when state politicians act in conjunction with bureaucrats and local government politicians. In an effort to combat this, the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) was formed, with the power to gather information, hold public enquiries and make findings. However, their activities depend on the resources given to them by the State Government.

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Financial Systems In Meltdown

March 5th, 2008

To say that the US financial market (and the Australian one) is suffering a crisis of confidence is an understatement. What started with financial institutions in the US granting some dodgy loans have spread from there to demonstrate weak standard of ethics and competence of auditors, rating agencies and financial advisors. At the end of the chain were gullible and greedy organisations trying to get a higher rate of interest. This has resulted in town councils and superannuation funds in Australia looking at a pile of useless paper. If it wasn’t for the fact that they are throwing away other peoples money I would have no sympathy for them. Stupidity is not a crime but some of the responsible officials in these organisations may end up by losing their jobs. However as we go up the chain the question of liability arises after all we must remember that these professionals are being paid to perform a service that they failed to deliver. Let us take them in turn:

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The Sale of NSW Power

March 3rd, 2008

Much has been written and talked about the proposal to sell NSW power and certain ideas are being floated that deserve comment.

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Food Miles - Protecting the Environment or European Farmers?

March 3rd, 2008

Ausbuy has always supported the environment and often sees parallels in the protection of the Australian economy and the protection of the Australian environment. We began researching the concept of Food Miles as a way for Australians to support local suppliers whilst also combating climate change.

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We Have Said “Sorry”; Now How Do We Fix The Problem?

February 28th, 2008

The debate regarding saying “sorry” has gone on for the last 10 years and has finally been concluded. Frankly Ausbuy believes that it is a huge fuss about nothing unless we can come up with schemes which actually improve the lot of the indigenous people. Australians are compassionate and generous, but hate to see their money wasted - and it certainly has been wasted over the last 30 years. Continuing these policies with the word “sorry” added will not get us anywhere. We rightly criticize the apartheid regime over its system of permits and passes, yet we create our own apartheid. Did we think that locking away aboriginals in settlements behind a wall of permits would produce a system of out of sight, out of mind? Better to make them part of a growing Australia.

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The Wealth Of Australia

February 26th, 2008

Currently the political discussion about the Wealth of Australia has been revitalised, in particular about the ongoing mineral boom in Australia. The argument to maintain this extraordinary economic growth and the related benefits to the wealth of Australia is based on the present improvement of the terms of trade. In international economics and international trade, the terms of trade are the relative prices of a country’s exports to imports. Terms of trade are at this time used as a substitute for the relative well-being of Australia. An improvement in Australia’s terms of trade is politically declared as worthy for Australia in the sense that it has to pay less for the products it imports, that is, Australia has to give up fewer exports for the imports it receives.

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