The national political scene is about to heat up with the two richest, and probably smartest, members of parliament facing up.

You would hope that this would bring out the best in both parties:

Turnbull is the irresistible force, travelling at the speed of light his quick decisions often run the fine line between genius and madness.

Rudd is the immoveable object, with the absolute bureaucratic resolve to set up an inquiry. The speed of which can drive voters to madness.

In two years time all of these inquiries will have finished their reviews and evaluations and Rudd may formulate immaculate policy but in the meantime, the electorate gets more concerned about the country’s problems.

In the coming weeks Rudd will have to produce results, Turnbull will not let the government get away with another inquiry. He may even beat Rudd to the top of the news cycle.

While Rudd will need to put the bureaucrat behind him, Turnbull will have to put the merchant banker behind him. Losing $5 million on the stockmarket probably doesn’t worry our new leader of the opposition too much, to the electorate however, taking economic risks does not produce votes.

Sub-Prime Future

I find it hard to sympathize with the big players involved in the sub-prime crisis in the US. I cannot relate to a lot of these households having not owned a house or held a mortgage but I still feel enraged at those who have deliberately preyed on people they knew could not pay-back their loans.

These sub-prime loan sharks gave their victims little to no interest knowing that within three years their interest rates would rocket up to unbearable prices. These players bet that they could make a profit off shattering the dreams and lives of others.

The financial institutions are now reaping their just desserts. The tragic situation is that these institutions are bringing down everyone else with them. The traders traded these empty bonds and the crisis permeated across every industry.

These companies are probably the same bosses who pushed for de-regulation and smaller government in the market place. Ironically these companies are now losing their assets and are being bought out by government in a backwards socialist experiment.  The markets themselves turn into a major experiment when there is no regulation and people’s lives get affected when it goes wrong.

My biggest fear is that in a few years time Australia will forget this crisis and maybe an impulsive merchant banker may decide to hand over the reigns to these people again.