The dirty game

Australia did not win the rights to host the 2022? Soccer world cup.  The recriminations have begun.  Apparantly Frank Lowie said "We will not buy votes" and some observer has commented that that decision to play it clean has cost us the hosting rights.

Maybe.  Maybe not.
But it does cause me to stop and think.

So what if we did not get the rights.  If we lost it because we played it clean that to me that is a good thing.

It seems to me that every organisation has to go through some grief to come out stronger on the other side.
Churches & kids organisations had to deal with the scandals of child abuse.  Make tough decisions and then move on.  And they have.
Cricket is having to deal with the problems of gambling.

The GFC though?  As I understood it, part of the boom - bust cycle of capitalism is that during a recession, the weak companies fail and then as the economy starts to grow, the string survive and the new and dynamic identify opportunities in the market and establish a business.

We were told that some of those companies were too big to fail.  Hmm maybe.  Maybe not.  Obviously if we have our money in one of those banks then we would be varry happy if the Government were to bail them out.  But what has that bail out achieved?  Well it has kept big fat banks with inefficient & dishonest reporting structures.  It has also squeezed out any enteprenur who may wish to operate in that space.  Only it seems those far too inefficient and rotten get bailed out.  Anyone less gets nothing and even worse they get penalised because everyone flocks to the governerment guaranteed institutions.  Those fat inneficient institutions that caused the problem in the first place.

NBN - The government are going to pour $40 000 000 000.00 into broadband provision.  Remember back to the days of the PMG.  One only government telephone provider.  We still had those dial phones and a whooping choice of about 2 models and 5 colours.  What was it Red, Green, bone, black.  Could we even have a blue phone.  You know what got Dick Smith started.  He imported push button phones.  Illegal to connect but legal to sell.  We all bought them and plugged them in.

So I ask myself, why does the government want to PROVIDE the broadband rather than set the playing field rules such that others can play the game and provide the broadband that I want and you want and you and I may want different broadband.  But with them anouncing that they will spend this it means that anyone else basically shelves their plans to roll out broadband backbone and so eventually they will be the only provider and they will say "just as well we did it or we would have nothing because with out us there is nothing".  PMG.

In my view, the government should concentrate on setting the rules such that others can do the things that need to be done.  Education, communications,