Thread: Are we in a recession or do I just think we are?

Originally Posted by LandyAndy

All is good and STRONG over here in Wait Awhile
We is running the country at the moment
Come on over if you can handle the SAND
Andrew

rather fifo too many norberts

Is that the chap who was pointing out that while we need manufacturing, what we DON'T want is low value manufacturing. We need high value manufacturing (high tech, very high quality control, cutting edge products & suchlike I presume) that can support our higher manufacturing costs?

Sounds like a plan to me. I've seen it work on a small scale when I worked for a multinational in the UK. We charged our techs out by the half day or full day. No call out fee, no mileage, no hourly option. At about twice what a general air con contractor was charging. But we were the manufacturer. If the general guy couldn't fix it, you HAD to come to us. Sure, people winged about our charges. But as far as I know we never failed to fix a chiller that was economically repairable.

Now, if we as a country could retain our best ideas, products, etc. here maybe we could make it work?

IMO we even not need to be so smart, just have better management in our industry.
Look what happens with Ford and Holden, they cry poor and that cannot compete.
An article in Forbes reads that Quote: "the average auto worker in Germany made $67.14 per hour in salary in benefits"........ end of Quote
This is an example only, there are heaps more to name.
I think that we have to review he manufacturing management here in Oz to make it more effective.

aust in 60's-70's producing finest micron wool in the world. Send it overseas as we could'nt be bothered building mills, buy back product at inflated prices, learn nothing from the past.

Originally Posted by Rusnut

aust in 60's-70's producing finest micron wool in the world. Send it overseas as we could'nt be bothered building mills, buy back product at inflated prices, learn nothing from the past.

Here in Ipswich there were 3 woollen mills.All were closed in the 70's with a huge loss of jobs.
No foresight what-so-ever.
John.

Gday All,

I generally judge how the economy is going by the amount of toy's you see for sale on the side of the road.

Generally if boats, bikes, cars whatever are for sale privately because people want better than trade-in prices they usually sell when things are good and people are spending, but when you see these for sale, week-in week-out and the price dropping then it tells me things are not so good.

Lately around Darwin, there have been boats, cars, bikes etc for sale at just about any major intersection or road that has a spare bit of dirt they can be placed on to advertise.. Some I have seen for weeks, and have dropped several thousands, so I can assume things are tight and slow.

We have just had a major gas project announced, and the pollies are telling us things are great, but from my own outlook, I think not.

If we are not in a recession, then things are not as rosey as some in politics may want us to believe.

Some may think my logic is flawed, but thats how I veiw it.

Cheers Ean

Making the wrong product here can be a big factor. For example, big cars like the Commodore and Falcon are now a minor part of the vehicle market, which is focussed on the small-medium segment. Holden is doing really well with the Cruze, which is likely to eventually replace the Commodore. Ford could have made the Focus here, but chose to import it instead.

The Gillard/Rudd Governemnt's support for local manufacturing resulted in the Cruze, Camry Hybrid and Ford Territory diesel, but Abbott wants to cut $500m out of support for local manufacturing, yet he wanders around in a yellow vest pretending to be the friend of the tradies. Go figure?

Another point is that consumers got a big scare in the GFC and have tightened up their spending. Debit cards are up and credit cards are down .
Plus, the Howard Government's Work Choices resulted in about 40% of the workforce now being casual, and casuals are worried about thier lack of job security and are tight with their money, so retailers miss out.

This stuff all adds up to bad news for retailers.

Originally Posted by DiscoMick

Plus, the Howard Government's Work Choices resulted in about 40% of the workforce now being casual, and casuals are worried about thier lack of job security and are tight with their money, so retailers miss out.

This stuff all adds up to bad news for retailers.

When I was a young bloke in the work force there were strict rules about the permissible ratio of permanent employees to casuals and part timers. Likewise the ratio of tradesmen to apprentices. When and how did this change?