F&C wrote:

> Unemployment now at record lows in Australia at 4.6%.
> 
> Wonder what it is in those Euro-loser countries??
> 
> 9.6% in Germany and recent news reports say that's GOOD news? 8.8% in
> France. Probably some ridiculously high figure in Scandinavia.

Has anybody put himself into the trouble of making unemployment
statistics comparable internationally?  As the religion of "employment
for all" seems o be valid in a high percentage of nations around the
world, authorities have always done a great job of fine tuning the
numbers by changing the rules and point of view.

I wouldn't compare the French with the German rates or even the
Australian ones as the official definitions of who actually has to be
regarded as an unemployed person will turn out to be pretty different.

For example, in Germany, where I live, authorities have done a
tremendous job in putting unemployed people into cheap and useless job
trainings to move them from the state of unemployment to being "in
education/further training".  This way, they don't show up in the
unemployment statistics, which makes them - step by step - appear a
bit more appetizing: http://www.destatis.de/indicators/d/arb210ad.htm

By the way: The described method works much better since we got a
grand coalition of the two major parties (72 % of the seats in the
parliament), as the other three parties are just to small and
different to really control them.

I'm absolutely willing to believe you that Australia has a healthier
economy than, for example, Germany.  With 25 % of the inhabitants on
21 times the area, there are, well, certain chances and opportunities.
However, if you can guarantee that politicians in Australia are always
truthful and always will act to the benefit of their country and its
population and not with their re-election in mind, I will start my
pilgrimage to the nearest Australian consulate today to get my
residence and working permits.

Jens