Ruddonomics: Is Rudd really an 'economic conservative'?

[Collin Li]

Read (warning: Liberal party bias)
http://www.liberal.org.au/info/news/documents/RuddonomicsWSJ231007.pdf

Share your comments here.

[brendan]

no he is a christian social conservative

[Collin Li]

no he is a christian social conservative

Yeah, that's about the only conservative he is, which means I dislike his views on an economic ground (I prefer economically conservative) and also on a social ground (I am socially progressive).

[melanie.dee]

no he is a christian social conservative

Yeah, that's about the only conservative he is, which means I dislike his views on an economic ground (I prefer economically conservative) and also on a social ground (I am socially progressive).

this indeed is my effing problem (well im clearly not as economically conservative as you ha, but i lean that way much more than the other). are there any parties that are socially progressive yet economically conservative??

this is why im even less likely to vote labor than liberal at the moment. now i have to decides whether i value my economic conservatism over my social ideals. maybe a vote for the greens will be in order ahha

[Collin Li]

I guess the Greens are better than Labor, but I'd still rank the Liberals on top of the Greens.

I guess a vote for Greens could help "hold the balance of power" in the Senate, but that wouldn't be particularly good. I want the Greens for their social ideals of legalising gay marriage, but in the Senate all they can do is approve. What I don't want to see is the Greens voting against every IR reform or tax cut that the Liberals try to pass.

[melanie.dee]

good point, didn't really think about that, to be honest i have no idea how the senate works etc

fuck i just really dislike rudd.

and id thoroughly oppose back peddling on work choices and ir reform. hence im very unlike to vote labour.

peter costello is growing on me a bit actually.

but gar. are we ever going to get some socially progressive in power?

[Collin Li]

fuck i just really dislike rudd.

and id thoroughly oppose back peddling on work choices and ir reform. hence im very unlike to vote labour.

peter costello is growing on me a bit actually.

but gar. are we ever going to get some socially progressive in power?

I completely sympathise with you. I hope that economic freedom will give people the ability to appreciate freedom in general, and social freedoms will follow, hopefully. A reverse in the IR would be horrible! Not only are we reverting to inefficiency, but all this money would be spent on 'fixing' the bureaucracy.

Not many people fully value that the western countries (or other economically liberalised countries), which have been labelled "lucky countries" are the ones that provide opportunities for everyone through deregulated economies. I hope more people realise this, and acknowledge it will be the free-market that gives people chances to pull themselves out of poverty.

I also hope people realise other people's sexuality (and anything like that, for that matter) has nothing to do with them, and they should stop self-righteously supporting the government that imposes beliefs against them (such as offering exclusive economic classifications for "married couples," but not for gays).

[brendan]

just a note, because of the ridiculous confusion of political labels, economic conservatism is effectively the synonymous with economic liberalism. This is because conservative politics tends to describe a mixture of social conservatism and economic liberalism. Hence, the term "economic conservative".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservatism
"The phrases "economic liberal" and "economic conservative" seem to be synonymous, encompassing modern neoliberalism, as well as classical liberalism in the tradition of Adam Smith.[10] Some conservatives look to a modified free market order, such as the American System, ordoliberalism, or Friedrich List's National System. The latter view differs from strict laissez-faire in that the state's role is to promote competition while maintaining the national interest, community and identity."

To make it simple forget the labels left and right. Just look at how each side approaches matters of liberty and freedom. Those on the right tend to support economic freedom but not social freedom. Those on the left tend to support social freedom but not economic freedom.

[Collin Li]

To make it simple forget the labels left and right. Just look at how each side approaches matters of liberty and freedom. Those on the right tend to support economic freedom but not social freedom. Those on the left tend to support social freedom but not economic freedom.

Hehe, I think of it like this: you've got:
Left, (not quite) right, then you've got wrong (authoritarian) and correct (libertarian). On a scale of economic liberty on one axis and political liberty on the other axis, left-right are negative in one, and positive in the other (with respect to liberty), while "wrong" and "correct" are negative in both and positive in both, respectively.

[brendan]

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2007/10/27/1192941402701.html

"Within just weeks of his election to the leadership of the Labor Party, Rudd had already proven himself a spin-over-substance man, cutting a TV commercial claiming that a number of people had declared him as an economic conservative, which was a badge he wore with pride.

Before that ad, I'd never heard Kevin Rudd described by anyone as an economic conservative and, in perhaps the biggest con of all, not even he himself had claimed to be one until he declared it on TV."

[brendan]

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22691365-601,00.html

PETER Garrett has reportedly told a journalist that Labor would change its policies once in power, in an enormous campaign gaffe.

"Once we get in we'll just change it all," Mr Garrett said to high-profile radio announcer Steve Price.

[Andy]

Peter Garrett will say many weird things and do many weird things