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We are about to discover that we can't have our cake and eat it. Unpleasant choices have to be made.
On Thursday, the unemployment figures are published and they may well show that the rate of unemployment is at its lowest for 48 years.
At the same time, the Reserve Bank of Australia is raising interest rates to try to take steam out of the economy, and that implies a rising rate of unemployment. Now, it's not clear that higher interest rates can do very much about inflation generated by global forces, but the idea is that cramping our spending might help.
We can have a hot jobs market (though it might not feel like that to those on casual jobs) and low (virtually zero) interest rates or we can have a slower jobs market with higher interest rates. So runs the reasoning.
We can't have our cake and eat it. But I wonder if we've come to think that we can. If we have, that is a problem for sensible politicians in democratic countries.
Think of Anthony Albanese's emphasis on rising real wages during the election. Who wouldn't want rising real wages - but what if rising real wages may not be sensible in times of swiftly rising prices and a wage-price spiral has to be broken. No politician is going to get elected on a slogan of "vote for me and your spending power will fall".
By the way, it isn't clear why the appeal is always for wage restraint but rarely, if ever, for restraint of dividends to share-holders or of bonuses to those in boardrooms (can I call them "fat cats"?).
But at least Mr Albanese wasn't dishonest when he talked of rising wages. He crafted his words carefully.
The true father of "cakeism" is Boris Johnson. He did actually once say: "My policy on cake is pro having it and pro eating it."
So he promised incompatible things to different people. And now the chooks are coming home to roost.
If you think that Australian politics is in a mess, look elsewhere and rejoice. This country remains sensible in the way it conducts itself. It remains old style in the best sense. It hasn't embraced Trumpism or cakeism.
If sensible politics is returning - and it's a big if - in Britain and the United States, with the demise of Johnson and Trump, then the election of Albanese may come to be seen as a pointer of the change in direction.
HAVE YOUR SAY: Do our politicians talk straight in elections, or do they bend the truth? Do some forget the truth altogether? Should Mr Albanese have been so emphatic about rising real wages? Can there be honest politics in an election? Do you feel like a slice of cake? I do. Email us: echidna@theechidna.com.au
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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
- Jason Roberts has been cleared of the murder of two Victoria Police officers who were ambushed and killed in the early hours of August 16, 1998 while staking out armed robbery targets. In 2003, Mr Roberts was convicted alongside another person, and jailed for a minimum 35 years. But a fresh trial was ordered and a jury has now found Mr Roberts not guilty.
- Australia's approach to China has not shifted despite the change of government, according to the Pacific minister. Following talks between Foreign Minister Penny Wong and her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, China outlined ways ties could be restored.
THEY SAID IT: "Look, Australia doesn't respond to demands. We respond to our own national interest,'' - Anthony Albanese.
YOU SAID IT: You had a lot of imaginative suggestions for Scott Morrison after the demise.
"Maybe Scomo could get a job making curries for hungry firefighters, that way he's serving the public and is not required to hold the hose!" Darrell said.
"Australia Post could beef up its workplace health and safety by employing him as a dog whistler," Iven said.
John was a little unkind: "I think the perfect job for Scott Morrison would be the roadworks 'Stop-Go' position for his local council as he would be out front with the big announcement, but as you progress through the road works you realise there is little being done!"
Kay said: "He already has a job which is to serve in Parliament as representative of his electorate."
Simon said: "I think Scomo would make an excellent leader of Hill Song Church. Whenever he spoke as PM, he used the rising and slower/lower lilt of a Christian revivalist."
Lyn agreed: "I've always thought Morrison is his happiest behind a pulpit."
"As long as they do no harm and stay out of my face, I don't care what Scomo or Boris do from now on," Linda said.
And another John deserves a mention because he is the only person who took a different line on Mr Albanese's travels. "I think Airbus Albo should now concentrate on doing something in regard to the country's ever rising living costs and our health and old age management that is currently sadly lacking."