The most disappointing thing about Jim Chalmers is that there are so many reasons he should be a better Treasurer.
asserted
he → be → Chalmers
Chalmers is intelligent, well-educated and comes from the sort of background that ought to keep an economic policymaker nicely grounded.
asserted
that → educate → policymaker
He's certainly no nepo-baby pretending to be a man of the people.
asserted
He → pretend → people
Instead, it increasingly illustrates the distance between understanding disadvantage and understanding how to overcome it.
asserted
it → illustrate → it
Forget the cheap shot I and others have made that he lacks an economics degree.
asserted
he → forget → degree
So did Paul Keating and Peter Costello.
asserted
Keating → do → ?
Chalmers has degrees in commerce and arts, first-class honours in public policy and a doctorate examining Keating's prime ministerial leadership.
asserted
Chalmers → have → leadership
It's insufficient willingness to question the assumptions he brought into office.
asserted
he → question → office
Growing up in Logan, in the electorate he now represents, should provide an instinctive understanding of what inflation does to a household without financial cushioning.
asserted
inflation → grow → cushioning
Being a Queenslander should also help him recognise how little patience voters outside the progressive metropolitan bubble have for ideological self-congratulations.
asserted
voters → help → congratulations
'Chalmers is intelligent, well-educated and comes from the sort of background that ought to keep an economic policymaker nicely grounded,' writes Peter van Onselen.
asserted
Onselen → educate → policymaker
(Jim Chalmers is pictured with his wife, Laura)
asserted
Chalmers → picture → wife
His own advancement demonstrates the value of education and opportunity.
asserted
advancement → demonstrate → education
The challenge is to build an economy that makes such advancement possible for others, especially within the private sector rather than simply within the political bubble.
asserted
advancement → build → bubble
Chalmers entered Labor's tribal world young and built his career largely inside it.
asserted
Chalmers → enter → it
He lacks substantial private-sector experience, something Pauline Hanson scolded him for during the week.
asserted
Hanson → lack → week
Neither fact, however, disqualifies him from higher office.
asserted
fact → disqualify → office
Again, Keating was hardly a corporate executive parachuted into politics.
asserted
Keating → parachute → politics
The distinction is that Keating learned to see beyond the institutions and prejudices that had formed him.
asserted
that → learn → him
He understood that caring about working Australians requires more than protecting existing arrangements or promising a larger government cheque.
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caring → understand → cheque
It needs a more productive economy capable of supporting higher living standards.
asserted
It → need → standards
Growing the pie, as Keating liked to put it, matters as much as arguing over its divisions.
asserted
Keating → grow → divisions
That insight challenged Labor's inherited economic reflexes.
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insight → challenge → reflexes
Protection can preserve an industry's privileges while making everyone else poorer.
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everyone → preserve → privileges
Sheltering the economy from competition shelters it from genuine improvements.
asserted
Sheltering → shelter → improvements
Keating did not arrive in Treasury with every answer.
asserted
Keating → arrive → answer
But he allowed the responsibility of office, expert advice and economic reality to change his thinking.
asserted
responsibility → allow → thinking
The Campbell Inquiry, commissioned by the Fraser government, provided important recommendations that remained substantially unfinished business.
asserted
that → commission → recommendations
I remember Keating joking to me that he discovered the report gathering dust on the shelf after taking over as Treasurer.
asserted
report → remember → Treasurer
Paul Keating is pictured with his former wife, Annita van Iersel
Under Bob Hawke and Keating, Labor floated the dollar and opened up the financial system.
asserted
Labor → picture → system
The wider reform project dismantled tariff barriers and reshaped taxation in this country.
asserted
project → dismantle → country
These were politically difficult choices made because Labor understood that its social ambitions depended on economic success.
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ambitions → make → success
Chalmers studied the man, but too often he seems to have missed the lesson.
asserted
he → study → lesson
His more immediate apprenticeship was with Wayne Swan, for whom he served as chief of staff.
asserted
he → serve → staff
Swan deserves some credit for helping steer Australia through the global financial crisis.
asserted
Swan → deserve → crisis
But emergency economic management is a different task from building a lasting reform settlement.
asserted
management → build → settlement
My concern is that Chalmers has absorbed more of Swan's political defensiveness than Keating's intellectual restlessness.
asserted
Chalmers → absorb → restlessness
The harder question is whether his policies make it easier to produce, compete, employ and take risks.
asserted
it → make → risks
It removed income caps, uncapped places and raised property price limits.
asserted
It → remove → limits
Helping more buyers bid for scarce housing risks pushing prices higher before supply catches up.
asserted
supply → help → prices
…and 44 more, not listed.
The Aporia
