would snap up the offer, if it was available? Of course she would. This lady has kept on doing courses and upgrading her skills, yet no-one will employ her. She has applied for many jobs but the competition is fierce and 100 people, or more, are vying for the same job.

Anyhow, as I was saying, you would think tha

This morning, and in fact every morning for the past few weeks, one of the first news stories has been the state of the economy.

It seems that the stock market is falling and many people are worried about this. I, on the other hand, actually see this as a good thing.

So, how can I be so optimistic when everyone else is spreading doom and gloom?

First, let me tell you about another news story which I heard today. The headlines say “Unemployment levels fall. More people have jobs in Australia”.

At first, you would think this was a very good thing - that is, until you understand that the Australian Government has been systematically harassing and hounding people off the ‘official’ unemployment programs such as the dole. Here's an example:

I have a friend who is a single female who’s nearly 60 years old. Instead of understanding her situation (after all, who is realistically going to hire this lady?) the ‘system’ has been reworked so she is going to be forced to do 15 hours a week of either part time work or voluntary work. The lady tells me that she can scarcely afford to live on the unemployment payment and to use her car to get to voluntary work would put her over the edge, financially. As for part-time work, don’t you think she would snap up the offer, if it was available? Of course she would. This lady has kept on doing courses and upgrading her skills, yet no-one will employ her. She has applied for many jobs but the competition is fierce and 100 people, or more, are vying for the same job.

Anyhow, as I was saying, you would think that

eryone else is spreading doom and gloom?

First, let me tell you about another news story which I heard today. The headlines say “Unemployment levels fall. More people have jobs in Australia”.

At first, you would think this was a very good thing - that is, until you understand that the Australian Government has been systematically harassing and hounding people off the ‘official’ unemployment programs such as the dole. Here's an example:

I have a friend who is a single female who’s nearly 60 years old. Instead of understanding her situation (after all, who is realistically going to hire this lady?) the ‘system’ has been reworked so she is going to be forced to do 15 hours a week of either part time work or voluntary work. The lady tells me that she can scarcely afford to live on the unemployment payment and to use her car to get to voluntary work would put her over the edge, financially. As for part-time work, don’t you think she would snap up the offer, if it was available? Of course she would. This lady has kept on doing courses and upgrading her skills, yet no-one will employ her. She has applied for many jobs but the competition is fierce and 100 people, or more, are vying for the same job.

Anyhow, as I was saying, you would think tha

has been systematically harassing and hounding people off the ‘official’ unemployment programs such as the dole. Here's an example:

I have a friend who is a single female who’s nearly 60 years old. Instead of understanding her situation (after all, who is realistically going to hire this lady?) the ‘system’ has been reworked so she is going to be forced to do 15 hours a week of either part time work or voluntary work. The lady tells me that she can scarcely afford to live on the unemployment payment and to use her car to get to voluntary work would put her over the edge, financially. As for part-time work, don’t you think she would snap up the offer, if it was available? Of course she would. This lady has kept on doing courses and upgrading her skills, yet no-one will employ her. She has applied for many jobs but the competition is fierce and 100 people, or more, are vying for the same job.

Anyhow, as I was saying, you would think tha

een reworked so she is going to be forced to do 15 hours a week of either part time work or voluntary work. The lady tells me that she can scarcely afford to live on the unemployment payment and to use her car to get to voluntary work would put her over the edge, financially. As for part-time work, don’t you think she would snap up the offer, if it was available? Of course she would. This lady has kept on doing courses and upgrading her skills, yet no-one will employ her. She has applied for many jobs but the competition is fierce and 100 people, or more, are vying for the same job.

Anyhow, as I was saying, you would think tha

would snap up the offer, if it was available? Of course she would. This lady has kept on doing courses and upgrading her skills, yet no-one will employ her. She has applied for many jobs but the competition is fierce and 100 people, or more, are vying for the same job.

Anyhow, as I was saying, you would think that a low unemployment figure would be good news. So many more people with jobs but the reality is, most of those jobs are either casual (with no long-term security) and they’re part time (which hardly feeds a household of one, let alone a family).

You would also think that the stock market would react favorably to a low unemployment figure but no, those greedy, selfish corporate types see this as ‘more people with disposable income which could lead to more spending. This means the government will say ‘people are spending too much’ and they will raise interest rates in order to stop the spending spree. Since most people have mortgages and credit card debt, when the interest rates are increased yet again, this leaves us regular folks with even less available money.

So, the whole thing is a vicious cycle.

It’s OK for those who are wealthy. They don’t feel a thing. In fact, they have extra money to invest, so the fact that interest rates have gone up makes them even richer. They’re laughing all the way to the bank - at the expense of the rest of us. Of course they are the ‘elite’ of the planet and their friends are in the governments or corporations of the world. We, on the other hand, are the ‘other’ six and a half billion people who are living vi