The government’s ‘tortoise and hare’ story on inflation and rates may soon backfire
Comparing Australia to the rest of the world has been a somewhat useful strategy during the cost-of-living crisis — but it may not hold for much longer.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers was keen this week to remind Australians that the country’s economic situation hasn’t been as dire as everywhere else in the world.
Delivering his second-ever Ministerial Statement on the Economy in Parliament on Wednesday, Chalmers pointed out that inflation in Australia peaked “lower and later than most developed economies".
“Interest rates also climbed higher than ours in almost every comparable country, causing worse unemployment, slower job creation, lower growth or a combination of all three,” he said.
“And even though rates are coming down slightly in places like the US, UK and New Zealand, they are still higher than ours.”
