Sunday, May 26, 2013

Treasurer independence

Many prime ministers have succumbed to the desire to hold the country's purse strings, but it's instructive to see how many state leaders took to the task and how quickly WA's premiere premier would hold the post a number of times and end up, as we see on his link, be reported reigning in the states.

Where you might find the Attorney General's Department lousy with lawyers, so the Treasury is bursting with accountants. Many of whom aspire to be head bean counter.

Economists tell us the expected effect of a Budget, financiers grumble in private consortia.
Households and businesses feel the real effect.

But is it the Treasurer or the government who dictate the state of the economy? At best they buffer certain sectors from the worst impact and make it more difficult for some practices to take place that are harmful to the hip pocket nerve.

It's a different job to that of some of the massive drivers of our economy: your Adelaide Steamship Company, BHP, Coles Myer, or Lend Lease.
The Treasurer is not meant to lock horns with entrepreneurs or prevent invention.

Given the two party system, it's not always one side or the other that makes financial decisions on the voter's behalf in a consistent fashion. The Hawkeating years are marked by such measures as floating the dollar and selling off the Commonwealth Bank. Though Bob only gave himself the job for a day, and Gough a couple of weeks, which rather defines the tumultuous tenure.


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