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Back in the early ’70s, Gough Whitlam appointed a literal Marxist as Treasurer. We all know how that ended. As if determined to outdo Labor’s golden idol, Anthony Albanese appointed an Arts graduate whose never had a job outside politics in his life as Treasurer.
It’s going about as well as you’d expect.
New figures published on Wednesday are expected to again show the Australian economy growing weakly overall but shrinking on a per-person basis, highlighting the strain on households which economists say has been masked by migration.
The only reason the economy has ‘grown’ at all is because Labor are flooding the country with half a million migrants every year, and splashing out tens of billions of other people’s money.
In true Labor form, Zippy the Pinhead is blaming everyone but himself.
Jim Chalmers has declared the Reserve Bank is “smashing the economy” with its aggressive run of rate hikes in comments that shift blame on to the central bank governor, Michele Bullock, ahead of data expected to show growth slowing to a crawl.
In fact, the economy hasn’t been this slow since the early ’90s recession – but only if measured by total GDP. On a more realistic basis of GDP-per-capita, the economy is in full recession.
Hardly anybody is buying Chalmers’ cheap effort at blame shifting. Not least former PM John Howard.
Interest rates are determined by domestic and international economic conditions, not by personal caprice of the Treasurer or the board of the Reserve Bank. It is well accepted economic belief that if government spending is too high, that exerts upward pressure on interest rates. There is little argument that the Albanese government has lost control of expenditure.
Dr Chalmers’ attack on the RBA a few days ago had a tone of desperation about it. They were the words of a treasurer who has lost his grip.
Bold of Mr Howard to assume that Zippy ever had a grip on anything in the first place.
After all, Bullock was appointed governor only 11 months ago, and by the Albanese government on the recommendation of the Treasurer. Her appointment was widely praised, enjoying the full support of opposition Treasury spokesman Angus Taylor. She was well qualified for the job and has demonstrated the wisdom of her appointment.
Another bit of Whitlam history repeating: it was Whitlam who appointed Sir John Kerr as Governor-General. When that went south, rather than reflect on their own failures, Labor chose to hound Kerr to an early grave.
Plus ca change…
But the more interesting story here is that economists, who’ve long spruiked the ‘benefits’ of immigration, are finally admitting that it’s all an illusion.
Economist Saul Eslake said […] While the effect of the recent migration surge on GDP figures is straightforward, Mr Eslake said its broader economic effect was less so.
What is clear is that, like all junkies, a feckless political class is using the opiate of mass immigration to try and cover up their failures. And, as junkies inevitably do, they’re having to take ever-higher doses to keep the high going.
“Real [inflation-adjusted] household disposable income has fallen more in the last 12 months than at any time since 1983, and in per capita terms since 1959,” he said […]
Migrants add to economic demand through their spending, but as workers also add to what the economy can supply. Mr Eslake said the former effect was stronger.
In other words, migrants are sucking more out of the country than they’re contributing.
Economist Nicki Hutley said the economic benefits of migration were a “sugar hit”.
“It gives you a spurt of activity, but it's not lifting living standards in the way that say productivity-driven growth is going to do. It’s not really increasing the size of the pie” […]
Jeff Borland, a labour market economist from the University of Melbourne […] warned the unemployment figures could be misleading in the same way as GDP because they were propped up by migration.
Meaning that we’re importing a whole lot of Uber drivers, but not so many skilled workers.
Does anyone think this is going to end at all well?
