More from Tim Worstall:
For here is what the US's Bureau of Labor Statistics defines as a green job:
Green jobs are either:
A. Jobs in businesses that produce goods or provide services that benefit the environment or conserve natural resources.
B. Jobs in which workers’ duties involve making their establishment’s production processes more environmentally friendly or use fewer natural resources.
What this means is that absolutely everyone who works at an oil refinery has a green job. For everyone who does work at an oil refinery is trying to "use fewer natural resources". In fact, everyone who works in anything at all of a capitalist or market nature now has a green job. For all of us are, always, attempting to reduce the resources we use in order to produce our output.
Read the whole thing.
The opposite is generally true in the public sector. Although every incoming government talks about squeezing an "efficiency dividend" from the public sector, it never seems to happen. That's because most public servants are mainly concerned with extracting a larger budget from the Treasury. "Doing more with less" is an anathema to most public servants.
Given that Tasmania is a mendicant state propped up by the rest of Australia, and that whole swathes of the Tasmanian economy are dependent on the largess of mainland taxpayers, the best way to Green the island would be to slash and burn their public sector. Many Greens seem to want the place preserved as a wilderness. Fine. If you cut government support, the place will depopulate within a few years and it will be back to where it was in 1803 in no time.
7 comments:
There a range of reasons why Tasmania is a net GDP importer, one of the most significant ones is that we are also a net importer of retirees, people spend their productive tax paying lives in other states then move to our state where they go through the highest healthcare and aged care burden period of their lives. That is fine, I support people's right to retire in our beautiful state. But if we are going to shoulder the high costs that come with a disproportionate share of Australias elderly population then shouldn't we receive a proportionately disproportionate share of Australia's taxation receipts?
No. No you shouldn't. What a totally spurious argument. You bludgers should get on and do something productive rather than rip the rest of Australia off.
Shameless scrounging socialist rent seeker. You have an over representation in Canberra and are happier voting yourselves a living than earning it.
Sorry how is it budging to want the tax contributions to flow on to the state that somebody moves to when they retire? That would be called paying your own way. Demanding to keep the tax contributions of people who no longer live in your state is ludicrous.
Have a look at retires in Coastal towns in !NSW and Queensland. You have diddly squat except for an egregious sense of over entitlement.
Rob, I find your claim that Tasmania is a net recipient of retirees quite surprising. Can you point me to some published stats which back up your claim? I have met many younger working age Tasmanian's who have moved to the mainland to find work. Is this the issue, i.e., working age Tasmanian's are moving out leaving the retirees behind? If the Tasmanian Government encouraged industry to move to Tasmania, the youth migration would slow as employment opportunities increased, keeping a more balanced age mix on the island.
I have only met one couple in my entire life who said they plan to retire in Tasmania. Everyone else I have met have moved from Sydney to NSW Central Coast or Queensland, and Victorians have moved to NSW south-coast or Queensland. Here in Perth, everyone wants to stay where they are.
http://www.ausstats.abs.gov.au/ausstats/subscriber.nsf/0/6F9CDA7774E409B0CA2573AE0017F78C/$File/32010_jun%202007.pdf
The chart on page 3 shows Tas,anis has the oldest median population age at 39.1 years and our population aged faster. Then any other state
The chart on Page 6 shows Tasmania has the 2nd highest percentage of the population over 65 at 14.8%
The TCCI attributes that high median age and rapid ageing to a combination of youth migration and retiree influx.
http://www.tcci.com.au/admin/..%2Fupfiles%2Ftcci%2Fcont%2Fmedia_releases%2Fa_report_on_tasmania_vz.pdf
i grew up in tassie, but like most of my generation, i had to leave to get a job.
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