Personal Economics 101

Actually, not just a teachable moment: Let's call it a moment of decades. Australia, where its "dysfunctional" conservative government (according to left-leaning Slate magazine) just won elections, has not had a recession in 28 years.   I put that in boldface because it's a remarkable fact. I've been reading more and more about Australia lately. Thanks to Netflix, I've been able to watch some Australian TV.  I read and heard that Australia is a lot like Texas, where I currently live. This alone makes it more interesting. I've never been there, but I've put it on my bucket list.  Sometimes we don't think about Australia at all, since it is literally on the other side of the world. When it's winter in Chicago, it's summer in Sydney. The quickest trip from Chicago to Sydney I could find with a basic Google search was 20 hours, 15 minutes via San Francisco. It's actually 19 hours in the air.  Australia -- like Europe -- recently had n...

From CNBC's the Exchange" newsletter May 20, 2019, quoted in its entirety. We should pay attention. The Australian dollar saw its biggest rise of the year overnight after a shock win by the conservative* coalition led by Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who replaced Malcolm Turnbull just nine months ago.  The results were such a surprise the win has been called a miracle and a bombshell--and it's right in line with Brexit and Trump's victory in terms of major electoral upsets that have caught experts and pollsters flat-footed.    After all , as the BBC noted , "For well over  two years , the coalition has trailed behind Labor in the opinion polls, and the assumption had been it would be Labor's turn to govern." (Emphasis mine.)    Morrison thanked "the quiet Australians" who turned out to vote:  "It has been those Australians who have worked hard every day, they have their dreams, they have their aspirations, to get a job, to get an ...