Tonight's budget is a major piece of political theatre for the government, but it doesn't have a lot to do with fiscal policy or the economy.
The Reserve Bank has the luxury of waiting for new data to clarify the state of the economy, but Josh Frydenberg has had to prepare the budget amid general confusion about whether the economy is slowing.
The Reserve Bank has confirmed that income taxes have risen far more quickly than usual in recent years, demonstrating the Coalition's claim to being the big tax party of Australian politics.
For nearly two decades the Coalition has been committed to an open-door policy for workers and foreign students in service to a neoliberal agenda. Now this, too, has backfired on them.
Claims that minimum wage increases hurt employment have now been completely discredited. Time for advocates of wage stagnation to find another argument.
The Reserve Bank has confirmed that banks, business and investors must think about the economic impacts of climate change — and that is what it is doing in its monetary policy decisions.
Retail sales figures show NSW consumers shutting their wallets from August last year, when Scott Morrison became Prime Minister.
Wages growth has surged onto the election agenda and the Coalition and business are visibly at a loss about how to respond to Labor's offensive.
Business' refusal to pay higher wages, and the indifference of policymakers towards the issue, is an act of economic warfare by wealthy elites against ordinary people.
Scott Morrison has been hysterically talking about a Labor recession. Instead, the economy has stalled since he became prime minister.
