Hello Hasbeen,

No, Europe is no longer collapsing. Most countries are now recovering, some faster than others. Just google recent European stock market charts.

It is an intriguing exercise to compare the different economic strategies and see which nations are doing better.

This is a highly useful exercise for Australians who will be confronted at the next election with political parties with contrasting economic records and strategies.

I wouldn’t say Europeans love Mr Rudd. Just that they seem to hold him in greater esteem than most national leaders. Respect for making your economy the world's best goes more to Mr Swan than either Mr Rudd or Ms Gillard.

Incidentally, it is not only European economists who approve of your Government’s economic acumen, Hasbeen. Prof Stiglitz (linked above) and Prof Paul Krugman are both Americans. Juan Jose Daboub is El Salvadoran.

Regarding the apology, I watched the broadcast that day among the 8000 Koories and whitefellas at Melbourne's Federation Square. I can assure you everyone there supportive of Indigenous aspirations felt better off.

If you are implying there more must be done in practical terms, you are agreeing with Mr Rudd: “It is not sentiment that makes history; it is our actions that make history.”

Hello again Imajulianutter.

Not sure if there will be another leadership change. If there is, it will because caucus believes it will improve their electability.

I haven’t heard of any move against Treasurer Swan, though. Have you, Im?

Incidentally, Im, it is not my “rosy view of Australia's position”. I just read what economists and social analysts are concluding from their research.

Curiously, being abroad does give an observer an advantage. Unfortunately most Australian media deal with political, social and economic matters by disseminating ‘information’ and ‘news’ which are largely untrue. This has been proven by several recent court cases and Press Council findings, hasn’t it?

It is a bit like those studies in the US that have found that watching Fox News makes people stupid.

Fortunately we can all access independent research online which can give us a pretty accurate picture.

Cheers, AA

Alan please, it took Swan 2 years to learn to read a speech written for him well enough for anyone to actually believe he understood what the words meant, let alone what they meant when combined into sentences.

Here in Queensland we have had some pretty dumb ladies & more than a few blokes who have been made ministers, due to a sever lack of talent in the government. However I don't think even Anna here would have been silly enough to appoint Swan to anything approaching a real job.

It's the old Labor story, don't have anyone competent in senior positions, or they will probably try to take your job, there is no possible other reason for Swan in there. That of course didn't stop a totally incompetent in our Julia doing it, so I guess we will see future Labor PMs, if ever there is another, undertaking all ministerial jobs single handed.

Yes, perhaps so, Hasbeen. But Treasurers are appointed for their ability to assess the best courses of action for their economy rather than for their linguistic skills.

We can see now from international comparisons that Mr Swan was clearly the best economic decision maker in the world during the global financial crisis of 2009/10. His full-bore Keynesian-intervention-to-the-max was the only one that succeeded in averting recession.

And last November Fitch Ratings, dual-headquartered in New York and London, effectively accorded him the status of best Treasurer in Australia’s recent history.

You may wish to ponder, Hasbeen, what might have happened in Australia had alternative courses of action been followed when the GFC hit in 2009.

If Australia was still the 9th ranked economy in the world right now, as you were in 2007 when Mr Costello handed the ledgers to Mr Swan, then you would have taxation at about 48% - instead of 30.5% now (% of GDP) plus much higher unemployment, much higher prices, much greater poverty and a much greater national debt.

If there is another global crisis - which is always a possibility - would you really want Australia to respond differently next time - and join all the other loser economies around the world?

Cheers, AA

AA,

You paint a fairly rosy picture of the Aus economy (post GFC), and of Wayne Swann's contribution to this, but I wonder if your ratings take proper account of the relatively mild direct impacts of the GFC on Aus in comparison to other developed nations?

Aus did not have to bail-out any banks (or struggling enterprises), had no major housing bubble, had relatively small exposure to troubled overseas banks and foreign investment, either publicly or privately, and was blessed with sound trading and balance of payments arrangements (in resources, mining and primary production, particularly with growing demand from China and other Asian and middle-eastern nations), and Aus had a substantial fiscal surplus to work with - courtesy of Howard/Costello.

If the above is a reasonable portrayal (at least in part) of Australia's relative insulation from the worst impacts of the GFC, then Wayne Swann had a relatively straightforward task to address impacts on Aus' economic, industry and employment interests.

Interest rates set by our Fed Reserve remain relatively high in global comparison (at 4.25%), our $A has surged in response to US and EU problems - creating problems for our export industries - and our unemployment rate still sits around 5%. Our equities markets (and superannuation) have taken a substantial hit, and remain impacted by problems in US and EU economies.

Post GFC, resource exports have been impacted by an easing in China's development, and a general slowdown in Japan, US, EU and other markets, we have virtually lost our steel manufacturing due to Chinese imports, and our manufacturing sector has been badly impacted, both by a lack of development and by impacts of the high $A - as also has tourism and overseas student enrollments.

Wayne has done nothing for Aus manufacturing, little for healthcare or education, and emphasis has been on welfare, maternity/paternity leave, superannuation, first home owner grants and the NBN - and a budget deficit.

Though an obvious simplification, Wayne inherited an extremely buoyant economy, which has since gone downhill by any measure.

Hi Saltpetre,

Would you agree the recent GFC was the most severe global downturn since the 1930s? Australia was definitely negatively impacted - hugely.

Would you also agree that Australia now, post GFC, has the best set of numbers overall of any nation - on economic growth, income levels, inflation, jobs, interest rates, debt to GDP ratio, social services, superannuation, and poverty?

In other words, Australia went from 9th best-managed economy in the world in 2007 (measured by these indicators) to clearly number one now.

How did this happen? Yes, contributions of previous Treasurers are significant. Particularly the structural reforms of late 1980s and early 90s. They gave Australia surplus budgets, low debt, low inflation, a sound banking system and trade with China. All highly positive.

But independent economists do not believe those factors explain Australia's spectacular rise to top of the pops during the GFC.

They have found other countries had strong deficits and low debt before the GFC but still went backwards badly. Most other countries that came out of the GFC in almost as good shape as Australia went in with huge debts at the outset. These include Israel, Switzerland and Singapore. So the deficit and debt situation seems to have had no impact.

Other countries also had well-regulated banks but were not protected. And several countries had higher exports to China than Australia, yet neither were they protected.

The consensus – articulated in the popular media most accessibly by Prof Joseph Stiglitz – is that the all-out full-belt Keynesian stimulus packages in 2008-09 did the trick. Because Australia clearly went out hardest, earliest and best-targeted.

This plus your Government's initiatives in spending controls, lower taxes, improved job training and better targeted industry assistance.

Anyway, Saltpetre, it looks like the Stiglitz hypothesis will be tested. According to polling, there will be a return to the Coalition at the next election. It will be intriguing to see if Australia then slips back down the order, as happened during the Howard-Costello years, if the AAA rating stays, and if the smart investment money is withdrawn. We shall soon see.

AA,

I thought so, no economic reforms by Rudd or Juliar, only lots of gestures and a litany of failures.