One would think that scomo would start talking more about the coronavirus instead of running down Labours stimulus package yrs ago, Christ this government is useless.
Perhaps this is why.
Throughout the developed world, the political Right has spent a decade denouncing the modest measures of fiscal stimulus adopted in response to the GFC by governments including the Obama Administration in the U.S. and the Rudd Government in Australia. As the corona virus crisis developed, both U.S. President Donald Trump and Australian PM Scott Morrison held the line against stimulus. But a few bad days on the stock market have seen humiliating capitulations to reality.
Trump is calling for a cut in payroll tax for which he will almost certainly rely primarily on Democratic votes. The Morrison Government’s proposals have morphed from a modest and tightly targeted package costing no more than $5 billion, to a downpayment of $10 billion or more, with the promise of “scalability” and cash handouts on the model adopted by Rudd.
The corona virus crisis has also demolished the reactionary appeal of nationalism. Both Trump and Morrison rushed to close the borders to visitors from China. That made sense for the brief period when the virus was contained within China. But once that period ended, national boundaries became irrelevant. Governments that have taken the virus seriously, such as those of Italy and China, have limited travel of all kinds, not merely travel across national boundaries. By contrast, nationalist governments have blocked travel from “unfriendly” countries but have otherwise done little.
