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December 9th, 20102010MAY020026
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KeenWalk
This story starts with a Professor, an Analyst and a lost bet. It ends nine days and 240 kilometers away at the top of Mt.Koscuiszko.
Swags for Homeless
Melbourne-based, Australian Defence Force member Duncan Winton has completed a historic walk to raise money for the homeless and highlight the dangers of Australia’s growing levels of personal debt.
Winton was invited by friends to walk from Parliament House Canberra to the top of the nation’s highest peak, Mount Kosciusko, as part of the ‘Keen Debt March‘ – a 230km hike undertaken by Professor Steve Keen, an economist from the University of Western Sydney.
Keen, 57, famously bet Macquarie Bank economist Rory Robertson in 2008 that Australian house prices would fall by 40 per cent within a 10 to 15 year time frame. When house prices rebounded after falling just 3.8 per cent during the global financial crisis, Keen agreed to undertake the walk.
However, in a twist to the ‘bet’, Keen argued that the government’s first-home-owners’ grant was the only reason for the rebound in house prices – during the period US house prices fell more than 40 per cent. He still expects house prices to plummet due to a continuing divergence between Australians’ incomes and house prices.
Keen’s critics argue, conversely, that the number of migrants flooding into Australia – 440,000 last year alone – plus limited releases of land in capital cities, are causing a chronic housing shortage that is pushing prices higher.
Steve Keen was joined by more than a dozen walkers for the march to Kosciusko, which also became a campaign to raise money for the charity ‘Swags for the homeless’.
When the Keen walking party arrived in the alpine town of Jindabyne last week [April 20], Winton volunteered to test the ‘swags for the homeless’ by sleeping rough in one in a park beside Lake Jindabyne.
Winton commented: "It was quite warm and I slept pretty well. The swag folds up as a back-pack, so a homeless person can carry it with them whereever the go. It’s not a warm comfy bed, but it’s a lot better than sleeping on a bench."
Anyone who wishes to donate to ‘Swags for the homeless’ can do so online at: www.charity.org.au/p/1044636/steve-keens-walk-to-kosciusz…
KeenWalker and embedded Journalist Rob Burgess
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This story starts with a Professor, an Analyst and a lost bet. It ends nine days and 240 kilometers away at the top of Mt.Koscuiszko.
This trip made the New York Times.
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