The Hypocracy of the LNP

The politics of deindustrialisation

"Equally importantly, every country that has ever become a successful manufacturing economy – including bastions of free market ideology like the UK and the US – did so with the help of a powerful, protective and supportive state.

Even if we accept and recognise that historical reality – and many don’t, of course – the question is whether such a role for governments is any longer appropriate when capital and companies can easily move around a supposedly borderless world. Workers on the production line at one of the rapidly diminishing band of multinational car producers in this country clearly think it is. They may have a point, despite the obvious self-interest.

While there are still things governments can do to assist or protect local producers if they choose to do so (as many states in competing economies still do), it is evident that the Coalition has decided that those businesses that cannot survive on their own probably shouldn’t. The Abbott government is plainly not persuaded by either the idea that manufacturing has special strategic qualities or that it should use taxpayers money to prop-up the ailing off-shoots of foreign companies."

Remember back during the election the flagrant promises by Friar Tuck of millions of jobs appearing out of nowhere? Yes it's the magic of the free market. Just free it up and all these wonderful things just happen. As I explained in a previous post, the market is a harlot. competitiveness is a learned trait and pure competition is monopolistic. This is because in each contest there is a winner and a loser, and as the contests multiply the number of winner becomes smaller and smaller.

The retreat to free markets has been happening sporadically for a long time now and has resulted in the oligopolies in the supply of many products we see today.

Manufacturing has been nurtured by protective governments at every stage of history. In fact it may be said to not exist if it is not fostered and nurtured by National Governments. I don't think the electorate voted for the abolition of manufacturing in Australia, but that will be the end result of LNP policies.

As for jobs, this fanciful idea that eliminating the emissions trading scheme will magically produce millions of jobs is nonsensically absurd.

Under this imbecilic government we are headed for double digit unemployment and may well be at war with Indonesia by the end of the year.