Archive for February 1st, 2008
America: the Aussies are watching
February 1, 2008Surely nowhere outside the United States are the current election primaries — now evidently down to Obama vs Clinton and McCain vs Romney — being watched more intently than here in Australia.
Having just gone through their own election season and brought to power fresh leadership, the Labor Party and Kevin Rudd as Prime Minister, Australians seem more attuned to politics than might otherwise be the case.
Neighbors and friends here have quizzed us about unique aspects of the American election system, just as we quizzed them about candidate selection, preference voting, and other matters here that seemed odd to us, last year.
At least as much attention in Australia, though, is being paid these days to the US economy. Is recession setting in or not? If it does, will the rest of the world economy slide downward with it? What effect will be felt here, half a world away but as near as each trader’s Internet connection?
The papers and TV news casts are full of speculation and commentary, especially now that some high-flying Australian companies have been brought low in recent days and weeks by bad loans and stock purchases made with borrowed money.
Yesterday’s “Australian” carried a story about a man who put $600,000 of his own money, most of his life savings, into a company called Gold Coast MFS. Shares in MFS were trading at around $5 in December, Read the rest of this entry »