In the Weekend Australian today a fascinating article about the Australian Government’s record on Surpluses and Deficits.

David Uren writes, 

“Since the outbreak of World War I a century ago, there have been only 18 budget surpluses, 10 of them achieved under the government of John Howard….

Deficits are not a problem provided there is strong economic growth, and through the 1950s and 60s Australian registered tearaway growth rates averaging 5 per cent.

However, Australia has had a succession of budget crunch points, such as the one faced by the Abbott government now, where big budget turnarounds were required to keep faith with creditors or to control inflation.”