Comments on: Poached eggs much tastier than scrambled eggs

By: Mark

Mark — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 14:16:41 +0000

Look, I’ve had it with this. This is supposed to be a forum for intelligent debate not undergraduate insults.

By: Gaz

Gaz — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 14:09:36 +0000

Hey Bing,the only cones I have at my age is ice cream cones,my wife warms it up slightly in her mouth first so she can feed me.I’m glad you have a sense of humour your gonna need one if you keep posting here some of them are a lot fucking crazier than me, and what’s worse is some of them are serious.

Cheers Gaz.

By: Bingo Bango Boingo

Bingo Bango Boingo — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 13:56:56 +0000

Gaz old chum,

â??Work Choicesâ?? was not even on their agenda at all

Here’s a hot flash for you: if the Young Liberals were smart it would have been on their agenda. I doubt they’ve got half a clue what WorkChoices is about, though.

Hangin it out with the beau-monde can tend to give you a jaundiced view of the world”

Christ, out of the mouths of babes… I had to look ‘beau-monde’ up. Lay off the cones, Gaz.

Cheers
BBB

By: Mark

Mark — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 13:40:18 +0000

That’s very odd reasoning, BBB, as it ignores distributional issues both absolutely and relatively. It doesn’t make too much difference to someone working in retail whose real wages are static or going backwards. I mean, even Howard is too frightened and always has been to make the actual neo-liberal case for cutting wages.

By: Gaz

Gaz — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 13:34:22 +0000

Mark, in keeping with your request I will use less histrionics with the bongo,after all he does have his point of view,

Look Bongo me old mate I was a bit rough on ya,I know all those Lamington drives with the “Young Liberals” to help feed the needy of Africa,and hangin it out with the beau-monde can tend to give you a jaundiced view of the world.I know the young liberals have a solid tradition of making sure the working class get a fair shake,and “Work Choices” was not even on their agenda at all , well at least, not according to Raymondo a young man I met at the wine tasting event to raise money for the inner Sydney drug and homosexual rehabilitation centre.

But of course you are right Bingo,we should all wait until the figures come out and we can all make an educated analysis of the situation.

By: Bingo Bango Boingo

Bingo Bango Boingo — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 13:16:11 +0000

Thanks Mark. The main point is that the labour market deregulation process has absolutely failed to stop real wages growth. And why should it? It doesn’t detract from labour productivity because only capital consumption can do that in the long run. WorkChoices will be no different. That the Liberals used productivity to build the case for WorkChoices almost defies belief. They are now focussing almost exclusively on job creation but the horse has bolted and they’re in for a belting.

As I read the figures, WorkChoices has depressed wages growth beyond where one would expect it to be given labour market conditions.

Mark you’ve probably inadvertently hit the nail on the head. As you imply, labour scarcity relative to capital is how you get increases in real wages (hence your ‘expectations’ arising from ‘labour market conditions’). The best thing that can be done for ordinary workers is to get rid of the things that get in the way of capital accumulation and resource allocation, like capital gains taxes, stamp duties, etc.

Cheers
BBB

By: Mark

Mark — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 12:21:48 +0000

As I read the figures, WorkChoices has depressed wages growth beyond where one would expect it to be given labour market conditions. However, in some low paid occupations where AWAs are prevalent, wages growth has been negative or only very slightly positive. And women have done a lot worse than men.

I’d refer people to this analysis of a range of statistical data from Professors David Peetz and Alison Preston:

http://www.business.vic.gov.au/busvicwr/_assets/main/lib60013/awa-ca-earnings-paper.pdf

There’s a shorter discussion in less technical terms by the same authors at On Line Opinion:

http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=6138

Please note also that because the changes have not been in effect for all that long, those already in the labour market who have not changed jobs are reasonably unlikely to have been touched by WorkChoices to date.

I’d also ask everyone to keep this discussion civil, please.

By: Bingo Bango Boingo

Bingo Bango Boingo — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 12:12:49 +0000

adrian,

Tomorrow we’ll all have a chance to engage with some very relevant material: the June-quarter LPI figures from the ABS. We’ll have some real wages figures. Might be up, might be down. Now what do you reckon? Are you on the ‘WorkChoices = no real wages growth’ bandwagon with barry? Given the state of inflation at the moment, it might be worth jumping on.

Cheers
BBB

By: adrian

adrian — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 08:24:10 +0000

Give us all a break BBB. When I find you ‘engaging with the material’ I will be pleasantly surprised.
Until then, even engaging with the imaterial would be a start for you.

By: Bingo Bango Boingo

Bingo Bango Boingo — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 08:07:21 +0000

barry, barry, barry. It’s disappointing that because you can’t actually engage with the material you resort to name-calling. You got the real wages angle hopelessly wrong but you don’t seem to have the class to admit it. Even Gaz is showing you up. How long has it been since you left those student unions, anyway?

Cheers
BBB