Gross domestic press
Treasurer Jim Chalmers has faced a barrage of media criticism this week over his comments on the impact of high interest rates on the economy. Is it justified?
If Jim Chalmers had hoped to deflect blame for the sluggish economy away from the government and onto the Reserve Bank this week, it didn’t work.
Instead, following his throwaway and seemingly obvious remark on Sunday that higher interest rates are “smashing the economy”, the treasurer has himself been smashed in a barrage of headlines all week.
His comment, which foreshadowed data that today confirmed the weakest economic growth in decades, excluding the pandemic, has been depicted in sections of the press as an attack on the RBA and its independence.
The list of figures criticising Chalmers' comment is lengthy and growing and includes former prime minister John Howard, Wilson Asset Management chairman Geoff Wilson, UNSW economics professor Richard Holden, Daily Mail political editor Peter van Onselen and Sky News host Paul Murray.
