Can government handouts actually help kickstart a flagging economy? Possibly, says Andrew Leigh, but it all depends on how you measure it…
Rudd money
Rudd’s stimulus furphy won’t create jobs
The government is arguing that their stimulus packages have “saved jobs”. But it is difficult to reconcile that statement with this data, writes Sinclair Davidson.
Australians get stimulated: where the money went
Do stimulus packages work? To answer the question, you need to know what people do with the government handouts. Andrew Leigh looks at what Aussie households did with their $12 billion.
Rudd’s stimulus has nothing to do with the economy
The Australian economy has proven to be remarkably resilient — but it has very little to do with the Federal government’s stimulus package, writes Sinclair Davidson.
Feds build 1000th home in three months… in Rudd’s electorate
Stimulus package housing is one thing, intervention housing quite another, writes Chris Graham.
Time to stimulate jobless, whatever conservatariat thinks
The new issue is whether things are going well enough that the Government could actually ease off on the stimulus package. Not so fast.
Economy a mass of vaguely positive ups and downs
The Government’s stimulus spending can now be seen enough in the retail sales figures, building approvals, and manufacturing figures to say that without it, things would be looking pretty miserable.
Political snippets: ABS paint a very pretty picture
Good economic news for the Government, news from the Afghan front and more from the eagle-eye of Richard Farmer.
Dishonesty, hypocrisy, stimulus and The Australian
The Australian newspaper’s current campaign against the Government’s stimulus package has to be one of the more dishonest and hypocritical of recent years.
Why Australia’s economists are wrong about the stimulus
Should it turn out that the stimulus packages have been quack remedies, writes Steven Kates, we are soon going to know. Economists don’t need to write a letter about it.
Laissez faire still rules, OK?
Yesterday’s letter signed by 21 leading economists backing the Rudd government’s cash handouts is fatally flawed, says Henry Ergas.
Crikey Says: The results are in: Labor’s stimulus worked
The Government targeted retail and construction, two of the biggest-employing sectors, and bombed them with cash, and it has worked.
Why didn’t we hear about ‘grateful dead’ under the coalition?
Is Labor’s complaint that it is held to a different standard to the Coalition on economic management correct?
Political snippets: Interest rates to stay unchanged
Richard Farmer on the possibility of an interest rate change, and stimulating the dead.
So which is it, recession or recovery?
If we have somehow segued from recession to recovery without noticing it, we’ll be in a very peculiar position regarding our official forecasts, writes Bernard Keane.
Your Say: Daily Mail readers' feedback: The decline of newspapers? Crikey readers weigh in.
Are newspapers dying? Some Crikey readers certainly don’t think so.
Tips and rumours: Franking credits, oh dear: Rudd money doesn’t give a damn
Franking credits. If you have them will you get your Rudd money?
ATO stuff-up could pull $22 out of your stimulus
A problem at the ATO is the reason why many Australians haven’t got their $900 tax bonus from the Federal Government yet, says Crikey intern Elly Keating.
Labor’s GFC: The hare, the tortoise and Father Christmas
A tortoise will never outrun a hare by acting like one. The Coalition must run its own race, writes Rowan Cross.
Rudd’s Package III: Stimulate with a Vengeance
This might be the most difficult budget in decades, but at the moment, there’s no Opposition worthy of the name to pressure the Government.
KRudd stimulates Facebook and Twitter
A growing number of Facebookers are using the social networking site to express their gratitude, or frustration, with Rudd and his $900 stimulus hand outs, writes Crikey intern Elly Keating
Tips and rumours: Accountants cash in on stimulus payments
One tipster explains how accountants processessing stimulus payments are charging for the service, and which law firm is penalising its Brisbane and Melbourne employees for its Sydney office losses?
