Monday, December 16, 2013

Monday Forum - what is the real meaning of current economic debate in Australia?

I am not sure that I can phase this helpfully as a Monday Forum topic, but I will try.

In advance of the release of the Australian Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook tomorrow, the Australian Government is clearly trying to clear its lines to present the whole thing as another Labor disaster, a clean-out by the new management. Then, too, we have the debate now raging over the NBN (National Broadband Network) whose message seems to be that everybody's plans are too costly!

Now this is your  mission, should you choose to accept it. Stand back from party affiliations and look at the discussion over the last week, the MYEFO that will come out tomorrow and the response. What conclusions would you draw?

That's an open-ended question, allowing you to go in any direction you want.   

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

It is all rather conflicting messages at the moment. A couple of days ago (was it?) Merryl Lynch who put out a note saying that because of our LNG, Aus would/could be in current account surplus as early as 2015.

I'm just getting a little tired of Mr Hockey's "we're all ruined; the sky is falling" posturings. So if he clears the decks at least that might start to change.

kvd

Jim Belshaw said...

Don't know on LNG, kvd, but with the mining boom now entering the production stage its conceivable.

Jim Belshaw said...

Oh, and I hope that your are right on the second point.

Scott Hastings said...

kvd you don't seem to understand, LNP will -always- depict the economy as a crisis, and above all a public debt crisis, as an excuse for the savage public services cuts their Thatcherite ideology demands.

Anonymous said...

Thanks Scott - but I thought Jim suggested we stand back from any sort of emotive party line, and just consider the facts?

(Unless you believe you are stating facts - in which case I politely disagree)

kvd