While MPs take a welcome break after the fire and fury of the May election campaign, the economy is ticking over nicely, asAlan Austinreports.

NATIONAL ELECTIONS that change governments in liberal democracies, or threaten to do so, risk economic instability. Canadians, who went to thepollsin late April, watched their jobless numbers increase every month from January to April. The stock market index tumbled from a peak of 25,808 in late January to 24,763 on election eve. Business confidence fell from 55.3 index points in February to 47.9 in April.

Much the same happened in the United Kingdom last year as votersoustedthe Tories after 14 years. The stock exchange lost 2.7% from its all-time high in May by election day in July. The unemployment rate lifted from 3.8% in December 2023 to 4.4% in April and May 2024.

The U.S. economy has been inturmoilsince President Trump took office in January and has been proclaiming destructive tariffs, thenchickeningout. Someindicatorshave improved, including employment, retail sales and exports, as businesses have sought to beat the looming calamity and chaos. Others deteriorated immediately, including businessconfidence, gross domestic product (GDP) and stock exchange values.

Few hold out hope for economic success there as long as the lifelong criminal grifter and his clown car of misfits continue to try to run the White House.

While more still needs to be done, efforts to combat severe disadvantage in Australia are working.

Australia the stand-out success

Meanwhile, Down Under, Labor TreasurerJim Chalmersdeft economic management continues to chalk up records.

Exportssurgedto a 14-month high of $45.35 billion in March, reversing the February decline as negotiations with the White House over its tariffs appear on track. Expansions with China, India and South Korea balance any disturbance with U.S. trade.

Thejobless ratein April was steady at 4.07%, marking 41 months below 4.25%, the longest streak since records began in 1978.

Youth unemployment, job participation, underemployment and underutilisation are healthier now than at any time sinceWayne Swanwas Treasurer in 2008.

Inflationdeclinedagain in April to 2.34%, making three consecutive monthly falls and nine months within theReserve Banks optimum band between 2% and 3%. Thats the best run since monthly records have been kept.

Core inflation was 2.8%, within the optimum band for the fifth consecutive month. Interest rates were cut again in May to 3.85%, with further reductions likely soon.

Australia is now the worlds only major economy with its jobless rate below 4.2%, inflation below 2.4% and continual GDP growth for the last three years.

Saturdays electoral mauling of the Coalition was a resounding rejection of media lies and distortions.

Consumer spending boom accelerating

All recent releases from the Bureau of Statistics (ABS) and other agencies confirm the Coalitions destructive surges in living costs are behind us as consumption of luxury items reaches new records.

Australians returned from 840,080overseas tripsin March the highest for March in any year and 9.5% above the second-highest, in 2024.

Retailsaleson discretionary items continue to surge, with dining out, cosmetics and other luxuries in April at a fresh record 31% of all retail turnover.

Housing program well underway

Houses approved to be built by the private sector increased to 9,349 in April, according to last Fridays ABSreport. That brings the total for the year to date to 36,797, which is 4.7% higher than for the same period last year and 8.8% above 2023.

Total private sector dwelling approvals, including for apartments, have now reached 62,473 for the year to date, a thumping 18% higher than last year.

Overall approvals for all new dwellings, public and private, are 63,586, up 17.9% over 2024.

Where to for economics reporters?

This leaves the mainstream newsrooms in an exquisite dilemma. Their main charter is to convince voters that the Coalition manages the economy better than Labor. Yet all the data proves the opposite.

What has happened already atSky News, theMail Onlineand probably the Murdoch tabloids which we seldom read, so cant be certain is that they have discontinued virtually all economic reporting.The AgeandThe Sydney Morning Heraldhave scaled this back dramatically. None of those outlets has reported fully the favourable outcomes summarised briefly above.

Recent World Bank data provides another endorsement of Prime Minister Anthony Albaneses economy.

Australias principal journal on economics and finance, the Australian Financial Review (AFR) has also studiously avoided reporting Australias remarkable surge through the global rankings over the last three years.

Instead, it now devotes extensive space to a range of fanciful future scenarios with scant factual basis and hence little likelihood of realisation.

In recent days, these have included:

• AI could kill WFH and send unemployment to 20pc. Are you really ready?;

• Trade war would be worse than the GFC: RBA;

• A complacent Wonder Down Under is heading for a productivity fail;

• Bond markets GFC echo points to turmoil ahead;

• ASX tipped to collapse 20pc as profit alarm bells ring;

• Trumpian uncertainty upends Australias inflation challenge; and

• Albaneses triumph could also mark Labors use-by date.

In the last of these, AFR editorMichael Stutchburyidentifies Labors policy goals as growing the economy, delivering lasting cost-of-living relief, strengthening Medicare, building more homes and increasing investment in renewables. He laments that Labor's progressive patriotism has no plan to actually deliver on most of these politically attractive promises.

That is pure nonsense. Labor is delivering, as data from the ABS and the other local and foreign agencies proves.

The AFRs problem is that it shows no interest in reading these reports, let alone conveying them to the public which should be its principal job.

Imagining whimsical future scenarios involving AI, WFH, the RBA, the ASX and GFCs may fill column inches in the AFR. But is it journalism?

Alan Austinis an Independent Australia columnist and freelance journalist. You can follow him@alanaustin001.

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