This article evaluates the effects of budget consolidation on the Australian economy in the 1990s. As the economy recovered from the 1991-92 recession, the need to improve the fiscal balance to lift national saving became the dominant influence on fiscal policy. The article argues that spending...

A modified Treasury Macroeconomic model is used to assess the relative effects of policy options to reduce unemployment. Simulation results are reported for the Australian economy starting at either a high or a low rate of unemployment. Over the next 10 years or so, all policies are projected to...