The underyling philosphical difference

In no way am I claiming this to be an original thought and it's one that often been debated but it occurred to me this morning (again) that apart from all of the debate as to whether one policy is better than another, whether one is a believer or a skeptic the key philosophical difference between the Parties says it all; Labor would penalize and part compensate whereas the Liberals will reward and encourage, Labor wants a top-down big stick approach and the Liberals want a bottom-up carrot approach. Statism and Corporatism versus Individualism and Free Markets. There is the choice is increasingly clear for Australians.

I am stasggered that governments around the world and including Mr Rudd's think that they can create a marekt in a commodity overnight. The stock market has been evolving for hundreds of years and still has problems and will always do so but at least it is protected by history, experience and the clearer aspect of supply and demand. There is nothing clear about the supply and demand mechanism of any artificailly constructed market place and we'd all be hard pressed to think of any governement or bureacratic construct that doesn't eventually self-destruct because they think they know best,the Wheat Board and the Wool Corporation come to mind, the USSR!

Whilst the inexorable shift of history seems to demand more and more of governments we must become more and more vigilant to ensure that we do not end up tying ourselves in knots of our own creation with the constraint refrain of "someone (government)should do something about it."

Best regards, Jonathan
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