Avoiding a recession has become both a gift and a burden to the Rudd government, writes Paul Kelly. Expect a battle between managing the economy recovery and spending on big ticket election issues — climate change, health and households. Can Swan reign in spending?
Wayne Swan 
Hartcher: Is Swan the anti-Keating?
Wayne Swan is acting a lot more modest over the Australian economy’s GFC rebound than Paul “the recession we had to have” Keating, writes Peter Hartcher. But it’s thanks to Keating and Peter Costello that we avoided further trouble
Swan: we are “fair dinkum” about sticking to our fiscal strategy
Wayne Swan has unveiled a significant improvement in the Government’s fiscal position from next year, with this morning’s Mid-Year Economic Forecasts showing far higher economic growth and lower unemployment than the Budget forecast back in May.
Farr: Glenn Stevens — the breakaway star of Australian finance
The rising star of “celebrity central banker” Glenn Stevens is overshadowing Treasurer Wayne Swan — the guy who’s supposed to be the authoritative voice on the nation’s economy. So who should voters listen to? asks Malcolm Farr.
What the GFC failed to teach Wayne Swan
When Washington meddled in the mortgage market, the end result was the Global Financial Crisis. So why is the Rudd government continuing to invest in housing finance — and putting taxpayers at risk?
Swan’s Frontier moment shows just what Turnbull is up against
Nothing is left to chance with the Rudd government. No detail is too small that it can’t be deployed in the remorseless bombardment of the Opposition. Like Wayne Swan picking holes in their CPRS proposal.
Wayne Swan’s $3.2b CPRS con job
Wayne Swan has told the media that Frontier Economics’ greenhouse gas proposal has a $3.2b hole in it. There is no such black hole, writes Frontier chief Danny Price: it’s just a good old-fashioned beat up.
Essay: Labor acts to keep the bankers honest
The Labor Party has a long and colourful history of trying to keep Australia’s banks on the straight and narrow. Has it succeeded? asks Christopher Joye.
Swan: Budget deficit $5 billion lower than expected
Treasurer Wayne Swan says that Australia’s underlying cash deficit is $27.1 billion, which is significantly lower than the $32.9 billion blowout forecast in May. As Peter Martin explained recently, the RBA’s currency windfall has been a big help.
Wayne Swan rings hollow on executive pay
Treasurer Wayne Swan and Prime Minister Kevin Rudd certainly know how to make the right noises about excessive executive pay. But will we see more than talk on the issue?
G20 Summit too late to be useful
The Group of 20 Summit in Pittsburgh is probably three to four months too late for the politicians to make much of an impact. The recovery in financial markets has drained much of the impetus for re-regulation and change.
Inside the inner Rudd sanctum
The design of the parliamentary office of PM Kevin Rudd’s inner circle says much about the power factions of the Rudd government. Mark Davis examines who sits where.
Putting the pop into population: Swan’s on the job
Australia keeps getting the sort of problems that other countries would pay good money to enjoy. Like, a far more rapidly growing population than previous Treasury estimates!
G20: home of the real economic
debate
Did the stimulus package work? That’s the only economic debate the Opposition and much of Australia’s media are mired in. But a lot more went down at G20 over the weekend. Like the Rudd government’s vindication.
Political economy: costs of economic stimulus
As Wayne Swan heads for London to talk to less successful finance ministers with a positive GDP for the last quarter under his belt, some economists are questioning whether the number is fair dinkum, writes Henry Thornton.
G20 leaders back Swan on stimulus
The world’s finance ministers at this weekend’s G20 meeting are expected to support Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan’s claim that it is too soon for countries to stop stimulating their economies to alleviate to world’s GFC woes.
Swan: G20 to the rescue
In an op-ed for the WSJ, Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan lauds the “financial and economic expertise” of the G20 as the great white hope for the ailing global economy, ahead of the body’s meeting this weekend.
Nothing more stimulating than press gallery groupthink
This “debate” of whether the government should withdraw the stimulus package due to the economy’s growth, is run entirely by the press gallery and the Federal Opposition.
Crikey Says: A case study in political reality and the real world
News that the Australian economy grew at 0.6% in the June quarter is a political headache for Kevin Rudd and Wayne Swan and the first bit of good luck for Malcolm Turnbull. Crikey explains.
Ask the economists: we’re seriously going gangbusters
Crikey asked a varied bunch of leading economists for their views on the latest GDP figures, a rise of 0.6%.
The economic conservative pulls it off
Before the wind-back-the-stimulus debate gets too wound up, notice that most of the 0.6% in GDP growth is derived from the stimulus package.
The Media Monitors' Top 20: Stephen Smith in top five
The Airlines PNG crash and icy diplomatic conditions with China took Stephen Smith up ten places to a rare appearance in the top five, while Wayne Swan dropped off.
