The bottom line is that restoring the COVID-19 hit to prosperity means the nation simply cannot afford to keep on paying people to sit at home and not produce.
Last week the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that Australia had a 6.2 per cent unemployment rate. Based on the collapse in hours worked, however, I guesstimate the jobless rate is closer to 9 per cent. An increase from 5.2 per cent unemployment to almost 9 per cent in just one month is a catastrophe.
To be fair, things could be worse. The federal government has committed to borrow an eye-watering sum of money and is subsidising businesses to maintain employees on their payroll. Right now a lot of people are still receiving an income, despite not actually working.
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Sinclair Davidson is a professor of economics at the RMIT Blockchain Innovation Hub.
