Jim Chalmers gets nasty
In his latest act of spite, we glimpse the Treasurer's true character.
Jim Chalmers' outburst on Wednesday – launching a deeply personal attack on former Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe – was a lovely little glimpse into the Treasurer's emotional fragility.
Lowe had the temerity to say that "I hope the government turns out to be more ambitious than it currently looks like it will be because if… productivity growth remains weak, the supply capacity of the economy will remain weak… The government wants to keep spending and wants to keep offering people handouts, which adds to demand, which in the normal course of events would be fine. But if the supply is not growing, you can't do it and if you try to do it then interest rates have to go up".
Lowe made these remarks in his capacity as the new chairman of the ASX's corporate governance advisory body, a position for which, incidentally, his qualifications are virtually non-existent. Until barely two years ago, the bloke had never worked anywhere in his life except the RBA.
What Lowe is eminently qualified to do, however, is state the bleeding obvious about the maxed-out Australian economy. Indeed, the only economists not saying that Australia needs (and the Albanese government is failing to deliver) public expenditure restraint and productivity growth work at either the Australia Institute or the mealy-mouthed RBA. Lowe was making very similar observations to those also made this week by BHP chief executive Mike Henry and National Australia Bank CEO Andrew Irvine. And what retribution does vindictive Jim have in store for them?
