Everything’s fine.
Nothing to see here folks.
Move along now.
Back to your consumer spending.
Here, have another credit debt card:
Acting Prime Minister Wayne Swan says the reaffirmation of Australia’s triple-A credit rating by ratings agency Moody’s proves the economy is strong and the federal opposition is wrong to talk it down.
The treasurer on Thursday also labelled as “complete rubbish” media reports suggesting the country was on the brink of an unemployment catastrophe.
Moody’s said overnight that Australia’s AAA credit rating was “supported by the very low level of public debt and the country’s strong financial system”…
Uh … Wayne.
What else did Moody’s say?
The government’s debt rating of Aaa takes into account the aim of maintaining a balanced budget, on average, over the business cycle.
Oops.
As shadow treasurer Joe Hockey rightly (for a change) points out:
Without further detail, the government’s projection to reduce net debt to zero by 2020-21 is hardly believable, coming from a Treasurer who this year will chalk up his fourth huge deficit out of four budgets. It would require six consecutive annual reductions in net debt of $22bn. That is six consecutive surpluses larger in dollar terms than has been achieved previously (the largest underlying surplus was the $19.7bn achieved by the Coalition in 2007-08) or very solid growth in financial assets, which seems problematic given the likely continued financial and market volatility across the medium term.
Not. Gonna. Happen.
Even if the Green-Labor government succumb to Joe’s empty threat … which they won’t:
Default threat as Liberals issue debt warning
The Coalition has threatened to block any effort by the government to raise the $250 billion limit on public sector borrowing, potentially forcing the government to run out of money.
“Whilst the Coalition has supported this in the past, the government should not expect a rubber stamp this time,” Mr Hockey says in his article.
The Coalition demands could include scrapping the carbon tax and the mining tax, along with the benefits they are intended to finance, such as personal tax cuts and increased superannuation.
Does anyone seriously believe that the Opposition would force a government shutdown, and default on our public debt obligations, rather than increase the debt ceiling?
Not. Gonna. Happen.
What else did Moody’s say, that Wayne conveniently forgot to mention:
The stable ratings outlook is premised on the expectations that the government will maintain its low debt levels and macroeconomic conditions will continue to support fiscal consolidation.
Any trend or event that caused a long-term shift in budget balances to significant deficits and an increasing public debt burden might put downward pressure on the rating.
In other words, hope like hell that global macroeconomic conditions don’t continue over the cliff, and get back to annual budget surpluses pronto so that you can actually start paying down that “low” (but ever-rising) public debt level … or you can kiss your AAA rating goodbye.
Not. Gonna. Happen.
Mr Swan on Thursday also slammed a newspaper report that suggested the country was on the verge of a jobs crisis.
Sydney’s Daily Telegraph reported Australia was set to lose 100,000 jobs in the months after Christmas.
Not so, according to the treasurer.
“Our economy has strong fundamentals, we have low unemployment, we have strong public finances, we have trend economic growth and we have a huge investment pipeline.
We have “trend economic growth”, do we Wayne?
You’d better hope not.
Because if we do, then your budget surplus soothsaying is in very deep doo doo.
“The Liberals have been talking our economy down. But we have also got the Daily Telegraph today running a story which is simply exaggerated nonsense.”
Mr Swan said neither advertisers or their customers would appreciate the economy being talked down just before Christmas.
Why so much concern about “talking it down”?
You see, dear reader, the simple truth is this.
The word “economy” … in the modern, bankster-debt-driven sense … is exactly synonymous with the word “Ponzi”.
Both need continuous growth.
Generated by lots of fools at the bottom … whose money flows to the scum at the top.
Running a Ponzi is all about con-fidence.
You always have to be “talking it up”.
You can’t have anyone “talking it down”.
Because the moment that participants in the system begin to lose con-fidence … growth slows, then stops.
Horror of horrors … it goes backwards. The Ponzi begins to implode.
And the parasitic scum at the top begin to lose their sole source of sustenance.
You.
Likewise, a bankster-debt-driven “economy”.
Which is why the scum at the top are always so keen to … talk it up.
Australia has a AAA-rated economy Ponzi.
One of the last remaining AAA-rated Ponzi’s in the Western world.
More fool us.
Barnaby Is Right 
According to this debt clock our government debt is around 35% of GDP and this is probably reasonably accurate as it would include state government debts also which are much higher than the US with the states like QLD having around $48 billion. http://usdebtclock.org/world-debt-clock.html So the concern is that at some point interest rates will rise and if you are a Queenslander you might end up with a $2000 bill per year just to pay interest if rates for every man woman and child, were they to rise to 10% and the debt does not get worse (of course our debt is getting worse all the time under these 2 Labor governments).
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year