, Columnist
Australia Must Lose Its Distaste for the `D’ Word
Deficits aren’t going away, and the sooner the issue can be discussed openly, the better.
We need to talk about Australia’s budget habits in the pandemic new normal.
Photographer: WILLIAM WEST/AFP/Getty Images
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The pandemic is forcing a profound shift in Australia’s economic philosophy. Few people want to talk openly about it.
Ministers last week projected a budget deficit of A$185 billion ($132 billion), or almost 10% of gross domestic product, in the year ending June 30, 2021. That would be the most since World War II. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and Finance Minister Mathias Cormann went out of their way to avoid using the “D” word at their July 23 press conference announcing the estimates, instead preferring “support.”