Keating & Costello, compare and contrast

Paul Keating is talking more economic sense than any of our current crop of pollies. He gets better with age.

Former prime minister and treasurer Paul Keating says fiscal stimulus is reaching its limits and even advanced nations are at risk of debt default if they continue to amass huge budget deficits and borrowings to rescue their economies.”There is a limit to what fiscal policy can do simply because there is a limit to fiscal policy,” Mr Keating told a Lowy Institute gathering in Sydney on Thursday.

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Well worth a read and some great comments. From ArgusTufft:

Interesting the comment about Keating being a “neo-liberal” for in the true meaning of liberal this is the philosophy of the current Labor Govt and certainly was of Keating’s Govt.

The real problem is that our Aust Liberal Party has been not following “liberal” policies and philosophy for many decades, especially under Howard & Costello (& most certainly Abbott). They should really be named “The Tory Party” or “Conservatives” or “Imperialist Party” – something along those lines. But …

There is some hope under both Turnbull and to give him his due, the previous leader Brendan Nelson, that the Liberals could live up to their “Liberal” name further down the track. No hope for Joe Hockey however or Julie Bishop, they are tarred in indellible “Tory” paint.

Meanwhile, elsewhere on the planet, poor old Pete is still fighting the last war, back when he was the World’s Greatest Treasurer and Australia was the best little whorehouse in Texas.

Filed under: Big Picture, Economics, Politics, Fiscal Stimulus, PaulKeating, Peter Costello