Australia, Japan Act to Shore Up Economies.

[elleng]

Source: Reuters/NYTimes

SYDNEY/TOKYO (Reuters) - Australia slashed rates and unveiled a $26 billion stimulus on Tuesday and the Bank of Japan said it would buy up to $11 billion of shares held by banks, as authorities stepped up efforts to revive foundering economies.



Read more: http://nytimes.com/reuters/2009/02/03/news/news-us-financial.html

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Lets see what OTHERS are doing.

[dkf]

1. $26 billion and $11 billion?

Chump change!

[elleng]

2. Relative to the size of their economies?

Just asking, to give everyone a means to compare.

[depakid]

3. Kevin Rudd and the Labor party is doing it right

The stimulus plan breaks down like this:

· $14.7b for schools - $200,000 each (for maintenance, construction and programs).

· $6.6b for 20,000 new homes (residential and low income housing).

· $3.9b to insulate 2.7m homes (anyone without insulation is eligible- and there are rebates for solar hot water installation)

· $890m for road repairs/

· $2.7b small business tax break.

· $12.7b for cash bonuses of up to $950 (one-off cash bonuses worth up to $950 will be paid to middle- and low-income workers and families, children going back to school, farmers in hardship and people undertaking training).

The Government brushed off predictions by the International Monetary Fund and other experts that Australia would record negative growth and slide into recession, and continues to predict positive, albeit flat, growth.

The cash splash in the mini-budget is predicted to add 0.5 per cent to GDP in 2008-09 and 0.75 to 1 per cent in 2009-10.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/bstimulus-detailsb/2009/02/03/1233423187648.html

This in addition to $1,400 Christmas bonuses for pensioners (folks on the equivalent of SSDI, etc) women with dependent children, widows of veterans and a few other groups I can't recall.

Imagine that- bonuses for people that need them- and would spend them to help the retail sector (and the rest of the economy) make it through the next year.

[elleng]

6. Do we think the reps will take anything from this? HA!

THANKS for the info.

[Zynx]

4. Japan has a $4.8 trillion economy. Australia is just over $1 trillion.

[Penance]

5. GDP 2007

USA - $13.8 trillion
Japan - $4.3 trillion
Australia - $822 billion

To be the same spending proportianal to GDP as our $825 billion stimulus package, Japan would have to spend about $250 billion and Australia would have to spend about $50 billion.