In his years as Shadow Treasurer, Jim Chalmers would often examine claims made by then Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and Prime Minister Scott Morrison through an analytical lens, placing a heavy emphasis on per capita figures and metrics that more closely relate to real-world outcomes than headline numbers.
At the time, he brought to the forefront some of the key arguments made by economists, noting that things weren’t nearly as rosy for the average Australian as the headline figures, boosted by resources exports, the growing scale of government, and high migration, suggested.
But since becoming Treasurer, Chalmers or ‘Spin Jim’ as he is known by Digital Finance Analytics Principal Martin North, has followed the same path as his predecessor, attempting to spin headline figures and whatever positive data he can get his hands on into a narrative win for the Albanese government.
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