Todays Herald Sun headline achieves a new low in journalistic integrity by proclaiming the Rudd Govt is responsible for inflation and is a classic case of not allowing the truth get in the way of a good story.

The truth is that the ideological activities of the former Howard Govt are the cause of inflation.

In the beginning the Howard Govt's first move was to change the way we calculate inflation to include imported goods thereby disguising the real inflation figure/cost of essential services etc. GST was an inflationary measure, and its effect was somewhat diffused by re-interpreting figures.

The selling of profitable assets such as Telstra and Power and Water utilities (by State Govts as well) Roads in Vic, and Banking in a privatisation madness, did not come before laws removing constraints upon business were instituted by the Howard Govt to sweeten the deal for the recipients.

If you want to know why the price your paying for: Phones, Electricity/Gas, Fuel, Banking, Water, Education and Health, even Employment, in fact all essential services is rising, ask your local corporate monopoly or cartel. The reason charges are rising beyond the inflation figure in Australia is because they can. And private interests now control most of our essential services.

What can Rudd do. Buy back Telstra ! , (they wouldn't be stupid enough to sell it back to us for a price we could afford ! ).

Could he re-institute restraint on profits and restore rights in the workplace, guaranteeing all working people wage rises equivalent to inflation yearly, to negate the effect of inflation on living standards. What can Rudd do?. To make them stop doing it.

As for the Herald Sun it obviously wants a change of Govt and Tony Abbott as Prime Minister. Could most Australians imagine that ! ?.

I couldn't imagine Tony running my local council ; even though the Rudd Govt hasn't ignited my fire; nor is it the cause of inflation.

Thinker 2 it would be worth your while Goggling the press from the years 1974 and 1975.
A heated campaign of miss information ran in those days only a little less than some who write today.
Inflation as we know is far lower than it has been for years.
This country for a lot of reasons, is doing best of the developed economy's.
We have a brick wall opposition in place.
Abbott, surely, is nothing but Australia's weeping wall, he blocks every thing.
And crys crocodile tears about every single government act.
We unfortunately, are a bit more like America each day, powerful people, such as Medea barons, try to slant views in the name of self interest.

Thinker2

Economics 101, When there is close to full employment, excessive government spending competes for labour and pushes up wages and thus inflation.

The coalition was spending less than its revenues and in spite of this the economy was still overheating. Labor is doing this by spending tens of billions more than revenue, and continuing to do so when the economy is clearly overheated.

Rudd needs to put on the brakes fast, but continues to ramp up spending with the new health policy etc.

Thinker...as I recall, the 'new economy' started with Whitlam slashing tariffs overnight.... and was carried on by Keating and Hawke following the lead of Reagan and Thatcher in the creation of our neo-liberal economy of today.

It was the ALP who sold off national assets, CBA, TAA, QANTAS, ANL QSL(was that them or Howard?), and state ALP governments who are doing the mopping up and delivering all to 'private' enterprise, the much fabled 'mums and dads' of the world.

Howard, of course, added his own toxins to the brew.

Maybe 'the workers friend', superannuation, with its overly high expectations of living a better life in retirement than during work is partly to blame as 'mum and dad' investors expect stratospheric returns, for doing nothing?

Hi ShadowMinister, I believe that it is economic myth #1 to label wages "the seed of inflation".

An example " it takes 37 labour hrs to manufacture a motor car".
If the manufacturer is paying $22 an hr for that labour, the cost of labour to the manufacturer would be $814. "If the labour was free" it would only make an $814 dollar difference to the price the end consumer is paying.This is more 101 to me SM.

And The Blue Cross correctly suggests that the field is murky as to who it was that actually sold the farm. But my point is " that the problem remains that we did ", and this now is the primary cause of inflation and laws that were changed during the Howard era removing checks, balances and constraints on business combined with selling the farm, has left us in a position over which we have no control.

What can Rudd do? I ask again

'resign' might be a good start for Rudd, but then what, and who, next?