Australia

There is a definite black art to the design of bank fees and charges.

I imagine a team with spreadsheets open. They design fees and charges based on the criteria of obfuscation and "death by a thousand cuts".

It seems that Australia's economy is being pulled in two directions. The US and most of the rest of the world's economies are slowing down, while demand for Australia's mineral resources remains strong.

The dilemma I can see is that the Australian government only has two main "controls" on the economy: