Dodgy loans, unjust contracts and the public interest
13/02/09 09:26 AM
We wake up
this morning and all the stimulus is gone - thanks
to Senator Nick Xenophon. The Government's $42
billion "nation-building and job plan" has stalled.
The Coalition finance spokesman, Joe Hockey, had said it should be opposed because some measures were too big and badly targeted. Understandably, you might be forgiven for thinking he was talking about himself.
The latest package of measures, which range from insulating 2.7 million homes to cash handouts to an assortment of needy people, comes on top of innumerable other billions poured into ailing sectors, such as cars ($6.2 billion), plus pensioners, lower-wage earners, local government and first-home buyers ($10 billion all up).
The Coalition finance spokesman, Joe Hockey, had said it should be opposed because some measures were too big and badly targeted. Understandably, you might be forgiven for thinking he was talking about himself.
The latest package of measures, which range from insulating 2.7 million homes to cash handouts to an assortment of needy people, comes on top of innumerable other billions poured into ailing sectors, such as cars ($6.2 billion), plus pensioners, lower-wage earners, local government and first-home buyers ($10 billion all up).
There was
also a guarantee of $700 billion worth of bank
deposits, and another $4 billion was injected into
non-bank institutions to assist lending liquidity.
The US Government is doing all this in larger licks. Congress has just negotiated a trimmed down $1.2 trillion recovery package and now in the wings is a further multitrillion-dollar rescue plan for the financial system. The printing presses must be close to exhaustion.
Despite the massaging, lending in Australia is pretty dormant. For example, it's hard to get refinance on a company title investment property. The banks are saying "No" with an enthusiasm not evident since the 1970s.
What a change that is. Moments ago they were pouring money out on the strength of inaccurate, misleading and downright dodgy loan applications. And they knew it.
Full Story
The US Government is doing all this in larger licks. Congress has just negotiated a trimmed down $1.2 trillion recovery package and now in the wings is a further multitrillion-dollar rescue plan for the financial system. The printing presses must be close to exhaustion.
Despite the massaging, lending in Australia is pretty dormant. For example, it's hard to get refinance on a company title investment property. The banks are saying "No" with an enthusiasm not evident since the 1970s.
What a change that is. Moments ago they were pouring money out on the strength of inaccurate, misleading and downright dodgy loan applications. And they knew it.
Full Story