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The Australian economy has been getting pumped hard during Covid, with hundreds of billions pushed in from the government, with another 507 billion more to come. With this amount, you'd think that people might be doing okay, but while the *average* bank account has grown in savings, credit card debt is on the rise - but perhaps more importantly, *thirty seven billion* was withdrawn from superannuation funds, which was allowed by the same government, which allowed for up to 20 thousand to be taken out. 

4.9 million applications to do so were processed with a 98% approval rate - but, 725,000 accounts were drained completely. What this effectively means is that if there was only 20,000 in there, it is likely a young person's account, which means that 725,000 young people are now behind a further 20,000 that will not see any kind of compounding interest added to it until their retirement, which will likely mean a massive reduction in their post-retirement financial availability. 

![image.png](https://images.hive.blog/DQmbpwFdGTCVaqQDYTeUQBE9fz3MajwJWcnGh5nMipDggnz/image.png)

Of course, you could argue that these people used their withdrawal and invested it into a higher yield asset, considering that they were also getting additional support from the government at this time and the stock market had some opportunities, but, you'd likely be wrong. The retail sector has seen a record year in 2020, with 350 billion spent, with some segments booming on the boom, namely the small appliance and electronics areas, as well as entertainment and alcohol, which with a 26% increase, is the largest area of increase - and Australians weren't shy about having a drink in 2019 either. 

So, people have taken their savings and their future income to spend, they have taken the helicopter payments from the government and spent it, they have taken the "jobkeeper" payments and spent them and the majority has spent it on consumables. Good game Australia. In less than 2 months from now, most of the government handouts will end, which will mean that those who were able to save during this time, are likely to start spending that instead, to keep their lifestyle rolling.

This has got to be the fastest and largest transfer of wealth from the average person to the narrow end of investors and owners at the top that Australia has ever experienced and I do not think it is over yet, as that taxpayer-funded 507 billion the government is earmarking for Covid relief, is still to be distributed. It is incredible, but people think that they are getting free money, so they don't care. People are idiots. 

The Reserve bank of Australia has said that the recession is "not as deep" as first thought, but this has been due to the government handouts of unprecedented size, which means that there will be reduced potential for decades to come. The level of fiscal irresponsibility is incredible, as the government has taken the approach of a person who buys using the overdraft on their account and covers it with credit cards, believing that next month they will be in a better financial position and have extra to pay it off. 

While I do not read the news in general, I have started reading some of the mainstream financial news that the average person might read, as a cautionary tale for my own thoughts and behaviors. Nearly every story I read is a reminder to keep taking a path away from the monetary blackhole that is the current economy, one that is insatiable and will keep consuming our value by encouraging unnecessary consumption, while the necessary goes begging. It is like a self-reflecting meditation that instills me with the vigor to not give in. 

This isn't about saving money, it is about generating value, something that we have largely disconnected from the meaningful. Rather than investing into goods and service that improve our lives, the investment is made into investment products to improve monetary yield, not improvement yield. The investments are made in order to earn a token, not generate a better life outcome. The more disconnected the financial vehicles get from societal well-being, the more harmful they will become to us, as the focus is wrong, much like the paperclip-maximizing AI that consumes and destroys us all, in its quest for more resources to make paperclips.  

This is what is happening now, resource transfer to satisfy the irrelevant needs of the few, at the expense of the many. Keep on spending until implosion - then open your eyes.


Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]


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