Vital Signs: 3 economic facts point to a big-spending federal budget

By Richard Holden, Professor of Economics, UNSW

“It’s difficult to make predictions,” the saying goes, “especially about the future.” The many predictions federal budgets make about the economy over the coming four years must therefore be taken with a large grain of salt.

But in the lead-up to the 2021 budget (to be announced by Treasurer Josh Frydenberg on May 11) three notable economic facts, about which no speculation is required, loom large.

Inflation at record low

Fact No. 1 is the inflation figure for the first…

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