Notwithstanding this column’s preternatural optimism, there is, regrettably, more bad news to deliver. The latest data on Aussie inflation shows that it accelerated, rather than decelerated, in May and is not slowing in trend terms as fast as the Reserve Bank of Australia had projected. It is no wonder that financial markets are pricing in a 50 per cent chance the RBA lifts rates again in July (before the inflation data, this probability was priced at sub 30 per cent).

This worryingly echoes a broader dynamic that is evident both domestically and overseas: it is proving much tougher than anyone expected for tight monetary policy to destroy demand, kill bad businesses and generate the increase in slack and unemployment required to snuff out the nascent wage/price spiral that is brewing in Australia, the UK, Europe and the US, among others.