Prosper Australia

“Communally created values must be safeguarded, and it is the function of government to collect into the public treasury the value attaching to land by reason of the presence of the people, as that is the natural source from which public revenue should be drawn.”

“This small bespeckled man was always looked upon in the parliament” – so says Clyde Cameron – “as the greatest debater the Parliament of South Australia had ever seen”. Clyde (a cabinet minister in the glory days of the Whitlam government) also makes the claim “that Craigie really was a very great figure – I think really the greatest man of this [20th] century, and it is a tragedy that he was not given the opportunity to play a more important role in the politics of our country”.
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The Economics of Thailand

Karl Williams

A conundrum wrapped in a paradox is perhaps the best way to describe Thailand, and its economic system is no exception as our rolling travelogue will illustrate. To pick apart this puzzle, I had the assistance of the only two geoists in Thailand, who were also my gracious hosts in Bangkok – retired vice-admiral Suthon Hinjiranan and his son Pop, who has a PhD in town planning. Suthon recently translated “Progress and Poverty” into Thai and is battling alone against a tsunami of cashed-up property developers but, like a true Cat-Seer, agrees that “everything else is a waste of time”.

Firstly, a few basic facts on Thailand: population – 62 million (32% in urban areas); life expectancy – 70 years; GDP per capita – US$9000; ethnicities – 75% Thai, 14% Chinese and 11% other; religion – 95% Buddhist; literacy – 94%; economic system – speculation-fueled neo-classicism tempered by traditional cultural values. But let’s dig deeper to unearth how the vast proportion of Thais earn a paltry A$4 or $5, alongside an obscene number of brand new urban assault vehicles (4WDs) cruising the streets?

Why are there sparkling new skyscrapers and shopping malls alongside sprawling urban slums and vacant land?
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