Adam The God

I've shown quite good restrain in the last two hours. I've very much felt like having some funnies and creating a thread titled Welcome to Melbourne Zach Merrett, but AF's kept himself in line. Good boy.

We shouldn't ever hear this again. I'm sure we will, but it's simply not true.

How good does the MFC polo look? Impressive young man is Ben. Look forward to watching him run around in the red and blue.

I don't think we need any more evidence that Tom shouldn't be seen within 50 metres of the backline, so hopefully he finds a new home this afternoon.

[censored] Josh Mahoney! We've been bent over again! Why didn't this deal get done three weeks ago?

I'd pay $600k a year for Treloar. What a bloody bargain.

Yep, changes like the wind. And reckon who he supports definitely has a say in this.

I think Strategy and Analysis would go hand in hand in these tighter soft cap times.

This kid is a no brainer. Nothing is ever guaranteed in the drafting process, but he has what we lack and could be the perfect partner to Oliver and Petracca.

Here are the ABS Labour Stats until the end of September, before Victorian lockdown ended. Still way too high across the board, but the state by state unemployment rate is illuminating. ACT 3.8%, NT 4.8%, Victoria 6.7%, WA 6.7%, SA 7.1%, NSW 7.2%, TAS 7.6% and QLD 7.7%. https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/labour/employment-and-unemployment/labour-force-australia/latest-release#:~:text=Back to top-,Key statistics,Participation rate decreased to 64.8%.

You'd think they'd release a couple earlier just to keep some interest up, but you're right. They did the same thing the last two years. Almost farcically so.

The Minsky double-century. We don't have to rely on foreigners to service our debts. We can sell domestically. Our external account has been in deficit since the mid 1970s. We're not concerned with a surplus on that account. The LNP Gutwein Government are looking at exporting renewable hydrogen. I'd suggest surplus renewable energy might become a major export. The two major parties at Fed level are so wedged on climate action that the community and consumers are screaming for renewable investment that will bring cheaper energy prices. Such a no brainer. So what does the SA LNP Government do yesterday? It places a tax on EV. Mindboggling. We could be a powerhouse in renewable energy, science and tech, but the two major parties are too conservative to move with the times. But as you say, the credit boom is going to end in tears very soon.

Alan Kohler's ABC Finance segment last night said the Vic economy had already caught up with NSW. A lot of this is credit driven, but so is the wider economy.

If it takes two second rounders to land Brown, who cares. We get an immediate best 22 player and I'd argue a better player than Cameron. The other thing about Brown is he's incredibly difficult to match up, because like Jackson, his reach is enormous. The King brothers and Daniher are similar threats for this reason. Brown improves us significantly.

I'm still not changing my stance on ruckmen, but I don't recall ever saying we wouldn't get a second rounder for him. This seemed very likely as soon as he requested the trade. Given our leverage in the situation, we needed to get something in the vicinity of a second rounder. I don't particularly rate Preuss as a player, but he'll be able to fill a need for GWS. We've hopefully now got the currency to land Brown and wriggle ourselves back into the first round of this year's draft.

I find it unbelievable that Phillips is on $600k. It must be an overestimate, because they can't be paying wingers $600k when they're paying Grundy, De Goey, Treloar, Elliot etc. It's really no wonder that they're trying to squeeze 3 guys out in the one off season just to re-sign De Goey. Their list and contract management has clearly been an utter disaster.

Most held off having a swing until the deal was invariably done. Preuss was always going to land a second rounder. Two years left on his contract and a commodity like a ruckman (yes, I know, I don't rate them, but clearly other clubs do) and it was always likely he'd be able to fill a #1 ruck spot. Well done, MFC though. ;)

Haha, like clockwork every year. Two weeks before trade period: "Mahoney's [censored]. WTF is he doing? Why haven't we landed the player we need already?! Melbourne being bent over again!" First week of trade period: crickets... Final few days and hours: "Well done, Mahoney. Well done, MFC."

That has very little to do with the state's balance sheet though...

That's true. He'd be a good signing for us, not St Kilda.

Certainly a good signing for St Kilda, but I think we have to take the trade period as a whole. At the moment, it's ordinary. Let's see what happens.

A state can't really become insolvent. It issues all debt in AUD, so the Fed can pay off any debt owing in AUD. The Victorian economy is nowhere near bankruptcy and has a decent balance sheet. And yeah, I'm sure his plan was to go from the strongest economy, propping up national GDP (at the same time the Fed was in recession) to one of the weakest. It won't take long to get the Victorian economy going again. It should be on top again by December. Andrews is an Essendon supporter by the way, not Geelong.

You say 'Dan's friends', but what you're really talking about is media hysteria. The ALP haven't been remotely unionist since the 1970s. The unions represent corporate power. They've been apart of the wage suppression through the neoliberal period (Shorten negotiated some shocking deals for workers and Hawke was the first president of the ACTU put in place by the executive arm). It was Hawke and Keating who smashed the unions with their multiple accords in the 1980s. If we put a strong plan together that embodies 'Melbourne' and employs people (ie jobs), I think you'll find the proposal will get through. Particularly, as we're one of those rare businesses right now without debt, it's a no brainer.

No worries. Precious metals. You can't pay your taxes in PMs but enough of the population still have no idea how modern monetary operations work. Crypto currencies for a start are ridiculous. They'll never be taken up, because the currency issuer provisions itself by issuing and then taxing. China understands its fiscal capacity. I think they'll be fine if they can maintain power and stay away from wars. I'll check out John Lee though. I was producing a project on the OBR at one point. It's fascinating.

I think it's less about Republican voters versus Democrat voters, although that's also in there somewhere. Many who voted for Trump were seemingly sick of not being heard by the political establishment. Trump was able to very effectively character assassinate Clinton by linking her with the establishment. Bernie Sanders is very similar. And it's happening all across neoliberal Europe too (Le Pen, Five Star, Johnson etc). They're anti-establishment. Where Trump is concerned, he represents himself, but in order to maintain some power he's pursued one off tokenistic moves like using the power of the US state to ensure Ford moved their factory back to the US, instead of going ahead in Mexico. His prison reforms also played to a certain base too and because he positioned himself as a non politician and businessman, his focus on jobs resonated with people more than the words of the establishment would. He didn't care about these people, he cares about power. It's how China works. It's why they're pursuing the One Belt One Road project. To lift their people out of poverty, but also and mainly, to maintain power. Despite being someone from outside the alleged political elite, he's a very effective politician and his political theatre (rooted in Russian political technology, blending theatre and politics - see HyperNormalisation) has had the establishment completely confused for 2-3 years. I think it's too simplistic to view groups of people in monolithic terms and the last 4 years has probably taught the supposed left that. Whether they recognise this is another thing.