7.30 Report Dr Steve Keen

By: AlanK (Registered ) on 08-11-2007 12:46

To geofferykelley, who says, “If you try hard enough you can find an obscure academic somewhere in Australia to say exactly what you want”, I suggest that you check out the site listed below, to see how obscure and unimportant Dr Steve Keen is amongst his peers, both nationally and internationally. 
 
http:// www.complexsystems.net.au/ index.php?page=profiles&profile=429 
 
“Keen's claims were fraudulent and so absurd that only Kerry O'Brien and the ABC would have the gall to dig him up, and only dyed-in-the-wool Labor voters would fall for it.”  
Are you trying to infer that he has been fooling all of his colleagues some of the time, or fooling all of them most of the time, but, I doubt if he could fool ALL of his colleagues ALL of the time. I thought it was only pollies that tried that on! Fortunately, the voters of today are more questioning, and, in my opinion, refuse to accept the same old guff election after election. I doubt if what worked 2, 3, or 4 elections back will be effective today. I do NOT want to trust, I want to have it proven to me. Having said that, I am open to NEW ideas, especially if the old ones are not taking me forward as far as I would like to go. I had the opinion that Dr Keen took into account the changes in AWE [average weekly earnings] over the time frame, 1977-2007, changes in housing costs over the period, changes in monies borrowed, and changes in what went into the whole reasoning behind the monies borrowed. 
 
You also mention the wage of $100,000pa in 1990. I would have thought that was well above the average, my recollection of that time is about $30,000pa, maybe a little more. You should compare like with like, not apples with oranges. You are also playing a small amount with the ‘take home pay’ because you have not accounted for super, and other deductions (health fund, life insurance, and maybe an annuity) that a prudent worker would plan for, or be compelled to pay. If only tax was all that went. 
Then let us not forget the sales taxes, excises, import duties, rates, costs of getting to and from work, and on it goes. It sounds like today, but it is ONLY 17 years ago. Let us maintain the relationship within the argument so that like is compared with like.

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