[paraclete]

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-11-...ation/11657984

I think it is time we asked the "experts" at Harvard to remove their head from that place where the sun does not shine and look at the facts, not those americanised facts but reality. How is it we rate behind Kazakistan and yet have such a dynamic society, How is it we educate so many international students, or maintain an economy that has not known recession in years, or that we are a mecca for tourists. You know what, I think there is some envy there

and here is another example of our ingenuity that puts us ahead

[https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-11-...ntion/11649104]

But such innovations are ignored

[Vacuum7]

Paraclete: I hope I don't offend anyone on here but here it goes: Your first mistake is worrying about ANYTHING someone from Harvard has to say about your homeland, Australia. I am not too concerned with Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Dartmouth, Brown, or, even, Duke (the Southern Ivy) graduates opinions on much of anything....I make exceptions for graduates from Cornell and Princeton, however, because I had a couple of great professors from those two schools...but the others, their opinions are not important to me. These people tend to be every bit as stuffy and high-browed as any grad you will find from Oxford or Cambridge!

Australia is a great nation and the only nation occupying an entire continent, you don't have anything not to be proud of here. You have some wild politics, too, like we do.....and I really like your racial policies: You just don't identify human beings based on race, plain and simple!

When someone who is EDUCATED BEYOND THEIR INTELLIGENCE type person, like this Harvard a$$hat is, puts Australia behind Kazakistan IN ANYTHING, that should be enough for anyone listening to them to immediately tune them out: They aren't worth listening to, ever!

[paraclete]

Well thank you Vac I am reassured noone outside the US takes any notice, however such things do seem to be reported here, which is worrying as it means our media is stupid

[Vacuum7]

Paraclete: Australia is afflicted by Media Disease, just like the all over the world: Media has become a slave to RATINGS and not much else.....by and large, ours is awful....I wish it was "Just the facts, Ma'am" but now its entertainment, too. If you are depending upon media to do what they are supposed to do, you will be waiting a long time!

[talaniman]

Now Clete, you well know that opinions are like arseholes, every human has one, and it's hard to really give credibility to one over another despite the ones that get published. Now I could give you many other opinions that are in fact more credible, balanced, and much broader, but why bother?

By the same token though you give this one article a lot more credit than it deserves as far as how Americans see Australia, or the reality of it's influence here. It's just one article, by one guy who happens to be from Harvard and it's rather dubious if it reflects how Harvard even sees Australia.

I mean by most measures you guys are still one of the richest in the world. A bunch of opinion articles won't change that fact will it?

[paraclete]

Tal, the disturbing part is this is touted as research and may be considered crediable thus affecting investment decisions

[talaniman]

Neither article is a bad reflection on the economic realities of Australia Clete, the opposite I would say as in some areas of investment would seem to be quite attractive and obviously a lot of room to grow. That was my meaning behind being overly sensitive, as I cannot see investors being scared away at all.

[paraclete]

No our stable government offers a big advantage, we don't go around starting trade wars or any other war for that matter,

[talaniman]

Yeah we have done those things, and if you don't like it go play with somebody else. We can throw rocks or we can discuss the topic.

[Vacuum7]

Paraclete: Despite the CURRENT state of affairs, the U.S. Government is the most stable in any democratic republic or "free" nation. And, I think Australia's Government is also quite stable.

[paraclete]

I think it was relevant Tal, perhaps what you need to get a high rating is conflict

Paraclete: Despite the CURRENT state of affairs, the U.S. Government is the most stable in any democratic republic or "free" nation. And, I think Australia's Government is also quite stable.

Stability isn't the issue, although the stability of the occupant of the White House might be. Our record on stability is we have changed leaders a few times, not a good look, maybe this is why we were down rated

[Vacuum7]

Paraclete: If "not changing leaders enough" was the reason that they downgraded Australia, then Harvard high-brow is even worse than I thought! He qualifies as a dingbat.

[paraclete]

Paraclete: If "not changing leaders enough" was the reason that they downgraded Australia, then Harvard high-brow is even worse than I thought! He qualifies as a dingbat.

No we changed leaders more than enough, Rudd, Gillard, Rudd, Abbott, Turnbull, Morrison in ten years and not all by election, and party leadership changed too through in fighting

[talaniman]

I have seen no evidence of Australia being downgraded because of this research opinion Clete, just as pointed out in your article, certain sectors of your are better investments than others and energy production is one of them. Now what you do with that data is strictly up to your government. There are many things you can do to make those under performing sectors more attractive to investors.

[paraclete]

I have seen no evidence of Australia being downgraded because of this research opinion Clete, just as pointed out in your article, certain sectors of your are better investments than others and energy production is one of them. Now what you do with that data is strictly up to your government. There are many things you can do to make those under performing sectors more attractive to investors.

I doubt my government will rely on research they did not commission, they are very busy at the moment looking at various sectors that have little to do with foriegn investment. The profit motive is very much under scrutiny

[talaniman]

I have to agree with that and think it's perfectly logical to pursue the course of action Australia has followed. So what if some of your sectors are not as proficient as other nations but you have done very well by those sectors that actually lead the world. I suspect in time you will develop further in other areas of technology as well.

[paraclete]

Yes we may even get into the space race, we are close enough to the equator to have some advantage

[talaniman]

Who better qualified to vet them martians from coming to Earth illegally. <JOKE>

[paraclete]

Who better qualified to vet them martians from coming to Earth illegally. <JOKE>

Any Martian who comes by ship will be sent back, we will only accept 10,000 martian refugees a year, but we do have a nice business investment plan for Martians, who are good people, by the way, suffering from the effect of climate change, so get in the queue