[Nettime-bold] Re: <nettime> A16 digest

[McKenzie Wark <mwark@laurel.ocs.mq.edu.au>]

Good points, scot, except that when the stock market fell, so did
the Aussie dollar. Could be a few different explanations, including
the withdrawral of overseas investors.

Your point about the devaluation of the Aussie is a good one. Trading
at about 60 cents to the US dollar is a real boost to exports, esp.
in the mineral and agricultural sectors. Pity about the fascist
trade policies of Europe and America, however, which limits the
export gain. 

Of course, if the Aussie $ falls too far, you get inflationary pressures,
due to rising costof imports. Discretionary import buying may fall, but
a lot of capital equipment and components have to be imported as well.

I find the client state rhetoric a bit dated, but like all small economies
outside the major trading blocs, the self-interested trade policies of
the US and the EC are a real hinderance to export-led growth. The anti-
trade left are really just singing the tune of the Buchananite and
Euro-fascist right on this score.

k

__________________________________________
"We no longer have roots, we have aerials."
http://www.mcs.mq.edu.au/~mwark
 -- McKenzie Wark 

On Thu, 20 Apr 2000, scotartt wrote:

> > [ ... ] Australia is a client-state of the US economy. When Wall Street
> falls so
> > does the Aussie dollar.
> 
> This last sentence is a perfect inversion of the truth. The first sentence
> is true for everywhere. 
> 
> When Wall St falls, the value of the aussie dollar goes up, as investors
> take their money out of the uncertainty of the stock market and invest it
> in 'quality' (ie low risk, low yeild) investments like Government Bonds. 
> The US dollar usually falls after a stock market scare as money leaves
> that economy. A low dollar means we earn more from exports, too, anyway,
> its not "bad" for the currency to be "low" unless you are living
> completely off your credit card and like to buy only expensive imported
> things. 
> 
> It would really be handy for the left, if, perhaps, they bothered to learn
> the basic details about the thing they continually declare to be their
> enemy. It's irritating to say the least. 
> 
> regs
> scot@autonomous.org
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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