From Australia

Hey Peter

What a good show I’ve have put on and I truly like it. Its great that there are international listeners like me from Australia is tuning in for what your opinions on economics.

The one thing that you’ve mentioned about the Australian housing bubble. I think there is a bubble in property prices and particulary when back in 2005 to 2009. Both Howard and Rudd-Gillard government have continued to support the real estate market by offering the so called ‘first homes owners grant’ of $10,000 to $25,000.

Since these grants been to recent home buyers. Since the R.B.A rises interest rates to 7% during 2006-7. Mortuage stress was an all time high as home owners who wasn’t able to service their loans particlularly when more than 30% of thier income is being used to pay off their mortage repayments and interest. Since Kevin Rudd was elected in 2008, he made the grants bigger and since the RBA raise rates again to 4% in 2010, still a similar percentage of home owners are in mortague stress again and so as home reprocessions.  

So far I believe both the past and present governments have made the real estate market more vulnerable and more expensive for younger people to own a home.

By the way, Prime Minister Julia Gillard believes in communism since she was a student at Melbourne University and rejects the free market. she wanted like she’d said in a press conference days after since she overthrown Kevin Rudd that she believes in a command and control economy.

Khoa from Melbourne, CA