ttbn,

Xi Jinping just announced: "Australia, this is the recession WE had to give YOU."

PS I hear China is going to start having a Happy WuFlu Day to celebrate the way it managed to damage Western economies by unleashing the pandemic on the world.

And of course China won't go into recession because - yes you guessed it - it is a planned economy. (Maybe Soot and the boys should convert to communism during recessions and in order to make everything look rosy just like the Chinese.)

Maybe you didn't mean those public servants? The ones we depend on?
Cossomby,
You guessed correctly ! I'm on about the bureaudroids & other BA flashers who don't even know what they get paid for & why !

Dear Paul,

What we have have this time around clearly is a
self-imposed recession with health measures forcing a
shutdown of the economy and people movements.
Yes, the health measure that we've put in place have come
at a cost and the Finance Minister, Mathias Cormann said,
"it is nigh impossible to make realistic and credible
forecasts in the current environment".

However, even before COVID-19 the Australian economy was
tepid with the bushfires and weak wages growth dampening
consumer spending. However, there are forecasts that
may prove optimistic - depending on conditions and
programmes put in place. Realistically some businesses
may not survive and some consumers may decide to remain
cautious about their spending for sometime.

However, the current government under the leadership of
Scott Morrison is doing everything it can to manage not
only the health crisis but encourage economic growth
with the packages it's making available.

We will recover. It may not be as fast as some would like.
But it will happen. Our country is in good hands under
the current government. Of that I am sure. And as I have
stated previously, we are lucky to be living in this country
rather than any where else at present.

"the federal public service is at its lowest number for years"

Bulldust.

"Australia is experiencing a ‘K’ shaped recovery, WHERE THE PUBLIC SECTOR CONTINUES TO GROW AND RECEIVE PAY RISES while the private sector languishes. This is made worse by the fact that those on the upward sloping arm of the ‘K’ make the decisions about when and how those on the downward sloping arm can return to work.” (Cian Hussey, IPA researcher).

Individual, perhaps you should be more careful of your word usage. When you denigrate 'public servants' you hurt a lot of people who do great work on our behalf, often at risk to themselves. I am hopeful that the economy will survive covid, but we would be in real trouble if all public servants walked out.

The latest ABS figures reveal a GDP fall of 7.0% for the June Quarter, the largest drop on record. Not enough people producing, and too many in that sheltered workshop, the Australian Public Service.