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Promised pies in the real world
Burden on the ratepayers
AS resentment against the political order bubbles and explodes around the world, most notably in Britain where the Brexit vote has left the country almost completely devoid of political leadership at a crucial time, a lot of people are turning their thoughts to the Ultimatum Game. Wikipedia describes it like this: “The first player (the proposer) receives a sum of money and proposes how to divide the sum between the proposer and the other player. “The second player (the responder) chooses to either accept or reject this proposal. If the second player accepts, the money is split according to the proposal. If the second player rejects, neither player receives any money. The game is typically played only once so that reciprocation is not an issue.” Game theory suggests that it is always better for the responder to take a bad deal than to get no deal at all. In the real world there comes a point where the responder says: “If you’re going to make me such a crappy offer you can miss out, too”. In Australian politics the game has a twist in that we the public have a choice of ultimatums. The Liberals offer us a smaller percentage of the pie, but promise to make the pie bigger so that overall we’ll get more pie in the future. Labor promises us a slightly bigger slice of the pie today, with a lingering fear in our
Wages in this country have been stagnant since the Accord years of the Hawke government. So neither party is giving us more pie. minds that there will be less pie tomorrow. The reality is that wages in this country have been stagnant since the Accord years of the Hawke government. So neither party is giving us more pie. At the same time the economy has grown enormously, so someone else is definitely hoeing into our pies. The generally obese nature of this nation’s public billionaires certainly underlines this metaphor. The reality is that most Australians already get a lot more pie than other people around the world, so our masters can probably get away with taking a lot more away from us before we start flipping tables, which is a sobering thought. How desperate do we need to get before we stop playing the game? One can roughly get a sense of this by looking through the lens of the cold war. Just how bad did conditions need to get for people to take a chance on Communism? The answer is that things have to get
exceptionally grim even in countries far more prone to revolution than our own. Starvation wages and crippling intergenerational debt seem to be the flashpoint. The hope here in Australia is that our political classes will, if only out of a sense of their own self-preservation, not take things down to the wire. Maybe they’ll be able to tame the demons of their real constituencies, make the deal a bit sweeter and leave something more on the table for the rest of us. Or maybe the sooner we stop playing the game and start flipping the tables over, the sooner we’ll be offered a better ultimatum. John Griffiths is the online editor of citynews.com.au
IT’S all very well for columnist John Griffiths (“Why are we listening to the wowsers”, CN June 23) to advocate for the right of grown adults to drink all night and for businesses to make a profit from them. But why should Canberra’s ratepayers have to provide several million dollars each
One of our lowest home loan rates ever Standard Variable rate for loans of $500k or more.
Stephen Brown, Forrest
Griffiths is joking, right? IS columnist John Griffiths serious or having a joke with us? If he is serious then he has a problem (“Why are we listening to the wowsers”, CN June 23). He says wearing ugg boots shows a concerning lack of self-respect, yet condones binge drinking because the participants are adults. Because some of us don’t go out on the town drinking until all hours doesn’t mean we don’t see the problems. The drinkers may be adults, but they show a remarkable lack of self-discipline and
a complete lack of concern for their family, friends, and the emergency services and police who have to live with the carnage that often results from their binge drinking. I was told by a surgeon that about 75 per cent of admissions in emergency are due directly or indirectly to binge drinking. John also asks why we are seeking to deny grown adults the right to make their own decisions. Wake up, John, we did that with smokers so why is drinking any different? Vi Evans via email
Refugees a long term gain! IN response to Don Bach’s letter (“Refugee intakes a long-term drain”, CN, June 23), I believe the refugee intake is our long-term gain! We all hope for world stability but this is not the reality of our time. It would be beneficial for Mr Bach to have a look at the Refugee Council of Australia’s Facebook page. I see families in our city with two expensive cars, more than one house, annual holidays and two good incomes. We are not all doing it tough in comparison to Syria or Iran, for example.
JOHN GRIFFITHS
year for the police presence necessary to manage the consequent violence and disorder? Is all-night binge drinking really an activity the community should support?
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I see and know refugees who are great contributors (actually wanting to help our homeless) and, from first-hand experience, helping the disabled. I seriously don’t think Mr Bach has much knowledge of refugees when he exhibits such a lack of understanding about persecution in their country of origin; it is no fun leaving behind your family and friends and fleeing. Margaret Freeman via email
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