Government asemmetry to stimulus

Comments on Michael Stutchbury “Timing the stimulus exit”, 10/10/2009, http://blogs.theaustralian.news.com.au/currentaccount/index.php/theaustralian/comments/timing_the_stimulus_exit/

The government has whown asemmetry approaches to the stimulus processes: a very swift and somewhat hasty to its introduction and a aluggish and very unwilling to its adjustment or unwinding, even in the wake of wasteful spendings being exposed and strong signs of a strong economy with no recession and rapid recovery from lows.

It shows the combination of three factors.

The first is that the Treasurer is incompetent in managing the economy and budget. When the Treasurer is of no opiniens of economic management, he would listen to every thing and follow others, mainly his master and bureaucracts.

The second is that Rudd the Prime Minister is a strong government interventionist in order to show his role in history. It appears that to him, the more the government involves in the economy the better the government will be perceived to be doing better and contribute more. That is likely to be his obcession with history and his role in it.

The third is that some of the bureaucratic agencies or their key managers are politicised and are keen to go with what the government wants as opposed to what is the best for the nation. They will do what the government asks them to do and will design policy reponsise with the government’s preference as the key objectives.

When there is such a combination of three factors, what Austealia has got has been exaggeration of the economic situation in Australia by the prime minister and the treasurer, the “go early, go hard, go household” advice from the Treasury, the wasteful government spending at all costs at the expenses of all current and future taxpayers.

It is not too late for both the government and the bureaucrats to make reponsive and responsible changes to the stimulus package. It is not a case of having passed the point of no return.

But the problem is that the Treasurer can’t lift his game in a short while, the prime minister is only interested in government interventions using every excuse available, and some of the bureaucrats are only interested in ways of sucuring and extending their tenure.

So the likelihood of a change in the quality of public policies especially economic policies is extremely slim.

However, there is no real alternative government available and the current government under the jelm of Rudd is very skillful in spins.

Now you have an interesting Australian government and federal politics.