Voters may want more than spraying more money around in a world of slow productivity growth, increased trade barriers, dangerous geopolitics, and stagflation.
Pre-election budgets are rarely edifying, but they are not meant to be. They are about winning elections, and the Morrison government’s budget cash splash is aimed right at the heart of Labor’s appeal to voters: blue-collar jobs, wages and the cost of living.
Altogether, the government is spending almost half the fiscal year’s expected revenue gains from the economic rebound and the surge in global energy and food prices.
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Alan Mitchell writes on economics, policy, and infrastructure. Alan was formerly economics editor of the Financial Review and has also worked for the ABC and The Sydney Morning Herald.
