Grr-owl

This seems to me to be the biggest con of the neo-con era. They say they're all about getting out there and developing and building things and productivity, but they don't want to invest in anything. But there needs to be a role for government, as you say. Education and healthcare and energy are too important to leave to the market. The universities have become degree mills (well, not quite), and the students are customers. Standards have plummeted. Unis have become harbours for mediocrity. Just on that.... I took part in the entrance examinations for the uni I work at - one that is racing to embrace the modern western fee-paying model. In the training, it was made clear that nobody - NOBODY - was to fail, and that if someone did, it would be on us. I wasn't involved in any teaching; this was simply observing the behavior of the students in the exam and picking up on any attempts to cheat, then grading two short answer questions. Every customer was to be allowed into the store... There has to be a middle ground. I think what we need is a disaster. I don't wish it upon us, but there's nothing like a disaster to unite people. Stories of the Blitz are fascinating in this regard. The joy of sharing a tomato with someone in an underground tunnel while your house is blown to bits above.... and then once the war was over, back to the same old grasping. We need to realize that we're in this together. I can't see another way to unite people other than to collectively confront a common threat. In the 80's the banks were de-regulated. Do we need to go back on that to manage debt creation, and if so, to what extent?

The big question is, are they the same people...???

He says he's always been called "Egg."

TMac? Petty? Or is Tomlinson the man for the moment....?

Absolutely. I think this is Biden's ace in the hole, though. If he can invest in American jobs rather than tax breaks for the 1% and propping up asset prices, he's on a winner. If not, that's it. Either way, the debt burden on neo-liberal era is already too much and the deleveraging will occur, but if they can invest in the meantime, there is light at the end of the tunnel. And there is great potential in new tech that plays into the US's hands, rather than say some Asian cultures... De-centralisaiton of energy production, de-centralisation of manufacturing, de-carbonisation ... big structural changes underway that reconfigure things in favor of independently-minded anti-govt thinking such as that so central to the Red states of America. Aussies really need to stop thinking that the most important thing in life is a gigantic mortgage. Disaster. As an aside, my grandad refused in any way to borrow money from anyone for anything. He considered it shameful. Bought a house in Camberwell with cash way back when. Now, he has great-grandkids about to graduate form university with a mountain of debt... What would he have said? I think we've entered a bizarre in-between period where the old system doesn't work and the new one hasn't arisen. Dangerous times, but we will emerge and, possibly, stronger for the reset. If that entails a less-prosperous future, I'm not so bothered, given that any household with an income above AUD$75,000 is among the world's richest 2%. In other words, most of us could be a lot poorer and still be very well off, relatively. It depends what we deem important. If there are less Ferrari's in the world, I won't shed a tear. If healthcare and education are poor, that's something to worry about. If government and culture is oppressive, I'm out.

Looking forward to Petty in combination with Lever and May.

Interesting times economically. Normally, I'll predict anything except the future, but in this case I'll make an exception to my exception: The neo-liberal era will end in with a great deleveraging, triggered by events undeniably attributable to the effects of anthropomorphic climate change. I'd take a bet that a bunch of big insurance companies, and the reinsurers, go broke from the cumulative disasters..... and take out the banks as they go. I reckon AF might think the above was plausible, but the question of when is the really salient one: I think the neo-liberal bubble has one more great big blow to go. As we come out of Covid, the world will boom 4-5 years and then BOOM! After that it's a depression, realignment and restructuring, and a low growth future (which I'm fine with). I expect AF won't agree with that timing, but I'm interested to knock the idea around.

If he'd run hard both ways consistently, we'd be a much better team. Not alone, of course.

Loved when he moved back into the middle, and then began popping up at the tip of the 50m arch to take the centered ball. More, please.

Really had my hopes up for Harley. Good luck to him and his lovely family. Keep battling and maybe with maturity and time his inner demons will give him a break.

Poles or polls?

Tired players makes for a better game.

Champ. Every time he goes near the ball I shout, 'Hibb-oh-oueh!' at the telly.

Very happy to be reading this about Yze. Seems there's a communication problem at the team level he could potentially solve. Like a marriage, everyone's gotta buy in for it to work, coaches and players.

We still have Mitch Brown as well.... Given the potential for confusion, I suggest we refer to Ben Brown as Brown1 and Mitch Brown as Brown2. Both could be abbreviated further for typing ease to B1 and B2.

Do stats reveal a sweet spot in the draft? Far as I can see, high picks often don't work out. Maybe there's a range in there somewhere where a lot of top players are found....???

As I understand it, there are two blokes with great potential as outside mids.

But it means youth, or ‘players who’ll need a few seasons.’ How are we going to move up the ladder in the mean time? Have Blues, Dogs and Saints plugged their holes better than us? No jokes, please...

Seems maybe he's already in the right place, for us and for him....

And he's leaving...? Is that still happening? Any intel?

Well, as we have discussed, that's going to end before too long... hard to say exactly when, but it has to end in a once-in-a-civilisation deleveraging. It's how we recover that's going to be important. What do we have to sell - dirt, burnable air, agricultural goods....? Hmm... wonder if there's a way we can sell clean air, sunshine, freedom, space and footy.....

Is Vic's (well, Melbourne's) booming population and robust economy going to see Vic dominate at Fed level again?

Cheers. Great reply. What are PM's? China will have 2 workers for every 1 not. John Lee's work is worth looking into. Some smart people involved at the top in Aus's China policy.

I have been working on the assumption that the asset bubble has one more big blow to go. Wondering if Biden's election might mean that the last lungful of massive debt creation might go into actual investment in - infrastructure (not fossil-fuel based) and manufacturing (3d Printing) both of which will de-centralise the economy and raise the cost of transportation (shipping) which will encourage localized economic activity (ie. not in China) and therefore employment. The US's demographics are very good going forward, China's are absolutely disastrous, not sure about AUS. This wouldn't prevent the collapse of neo-liberalism (thank god) but might set the West up for renewal once the rubble is cleared away.... My timeline is 2025, but I'm willing to bring that forward. Is COVID just too much stress on a flawed model?

Think the neo-liberal era is coming to an end? Any thoughts on the size of that crash?