What a load of garbage. I am not pre-disposed to either political party but his comments are ridiculous. If anything the policy and direction Australia took under his guidance has a far greater bearing on our current predicament then Rudd/Swan could possibly have. Sure i dont agree with some of Rudd's policies (i.e. first home owners grant, and complications with the deposit guarantee), but generally they are responding correctly to what is a very difficult circumstance.
We are a very high beta economy, i.e we are highly correltaed with global economic growth, so any dowturn (and this is a doozy) we are heavily affected by.
Sure Costello did a resonable job on the surface, but he did it in a period where it was very difficult to go wrong. He presided over the treasury in a period of massive debt growth that is the root cause of all of the worlds current problems. He embraced this whole heartedly (mainly through his encouragement of securitization) and put us in a very vulnerable position for the time when global growth slowed. He presided over a period when personal debt more than doubled to 160% of income (one of the highest in world), and despite being in the greatest commodity boom of all time also managed to see Australia producing current account deficits of 6.5% of GDP. He encouraged a debt addiction, and at the same time enabled 50% of this addiction to be financed via overseas funding (this will never disapear will it??). In the long run economies only progress by improving productivity and re-investing profits in rationale and feasible projects not some pyramid scheme based on ever more debt and higher asset prices. Productivity gains in Australia during the last decade have been pitiful considering some of the competitive advantages we have had.
He bought into the whole debt/asset price cycle and if there is anyone responsible for a destruction of household growth it is him, as he encouraged it. Just have a look at his policy of allowing $1m tax free into Super in Jun 07, right at the top of the market. Self funded retirees and soon to be retirees (well maybe not anymore) must have dusted billions in this past year. They have Costello to thank for this
He is a self obsessed and stubborn man who will never admit his failings, of which there are quite a few.
