The estimable David Llewellyn-Smith (aka Houses and Holes) of macrobusiness.com.au has coined The Truth Statement of the Year in summarising the latest consumer sentiment survey results:
Consumer sentiment crashes
It seems a little bit of reality goes along way in Australia with the May consumer sentiment number crashing in the wake of the Federal Budget, down 7%. The full release is worth a read:
[click here for macrobusiness.com.au article]
So, despite 200bps of rate cuts and ceaseless prattle about it being all good from all quarters, the fiscal instability canary has reminded the kids once again that Australia is not not what it used to be.
In fact, sentiment has crashed out of its uptrend and is now well below where it was when the rate cuts began:
And versus the average of previous cycles, is very sick indeed:
Something is wrong and everybody who is not paid to say otherwise knows it.
Indeed.
Barnaby Is Right 
Is there something wrong? Well let’s have a look.
The government debt, run up in just the last 5 years will take centuries to pay off,(if ever), assuming any future govt can run consistent surpluses for a century or more.. And what do we have to show for it??? 40,000 boat people, a Climate Change Department, a carbon tax (of sorts) and a massive increase in the Federal & state bureaucracies..
There’s NO mining boom coming to save us again, the Australian economy has been hollowed out over the last decade or so and is suffering from a serious bout of Dutch Disease, Aussie citizens carry around a trillion dollars of consumer debt, (heaven help us when rates rise should the bond markets implode and/or the housing or stock markets markets tank). Official statistics on inflation and unemployment are being doctored to indicate “all’s well”. Our media treat constantly give us “the mushroom treatment” on everything from Syria and the Middle East to the real state of the economy.
Our farmers are being screwed, from West Australian wheat farmers to QLD cattle farmers. Let’s make it really tough to be productive.
Our politicians are being exposed like never before as criminal filth. Gillard’s AWU Scandal, Williamson & Thompson’s HSU Scandal, Obeid, Maitland, Combet and Macdonald’s Bylong Valley Coal Mine Scandal, (and no doubt dozens of other scams and ripoffs we just haven’t found out about yet).
Other than these minor issues, things don’t look too bad.
Could be worse……..