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Fiscal Foresight

I am getting pretty annoyed with National going on about the "huge economic surplus". It's pretty obvious the the world in general is undergoing a market-correction (which is accountant talk for depression).

"I think the greatest threat to our future is our fiscal irresponsibility," warns David Walker, the comptroller general of the United States. Mr. Walker, an accountant by training, asserts that last year may have been the most fiscally reckless in the history of our Republic. Aside from the budget deficit, Congress enacted the prescription drug benefit - possibly an $8 trillion obligation - without figuring out how to pay for it. - nytimes.com

I really don't think that now is the best time for the Government to say "Well, good times are ahead!". I notice that Brash has started referring to his Tax Cuts as 'moderate' and to be 'implemented over time' so I'd say the lastest Poll numbers gave him quite a fright!

And In An Exercise of Balance

What if it all turns out swimmingly in Iraq, despite the Americans? Most of the societies that demoratised did so from internal civil pressure - Portugal, Spain, Eastern Europe, Georgians, Serbs - and there is certainly a force within the Middle East towards secularim. Maybe the American forces can just hold open that crack in the shell long enough for the creature too grow too large for its former home. Even a fledgling democracy is too big for the old shell of Saddam, and also does not fit back easiliy into tribalism.

Maybe all the Americans need to do to get democracy to flourish is stay there. After all, irritation causes pearls.

... Then Again

Some regions of the world are overpopulated with human beings. And, some areas of the world are simply not suitable to be settled in.

I am starting to suspect that these areas are:
Many parts of Africa
Many parts of Australia
The desert States of the USA
Most places with permafrost

Some places you could live in just fine if you had fewer people, and if the people weren't trying to live there permanently. Nomadic life has much to recommend it. Your environmental footprint is small and you spread the pressure on resources.

So next time they ask me to send money to:
Droughts and bushfires in Australia
Droughts and famines in Africa
Save the (Glowing) Nevada widelife
Education For Inuits

I shall write back and ask what they are doing to stop this happening again. I'm only going to donate to one-off emergencies now (for example, a meteor attack, or an invasive rose-bush) Frankly, it's like living in Wellington and expecting *not* to lose your home in an earthquake.

Posted by phreq at June 27, 2005 07:17 AM | TrackBack