James Thompson

You drive past it every day.

You sort of get a referendum on prices every single day.

And it eats away at people.

And then you've got the combination of higher interest rates with more rate rises predicted.

People start to think about, oh, well, if I'm slowing down my purchasing decisions, what's everyone else doing?

Well, they're probably slowing down too.

So this is that stagflationary effect.

High inflation, crappy growth.

This is the mood of the place.

So you've given us a great description, Anthony, of how the economic landscape's shifting, sentiment's clearly shaken.

Give us the next bit.

How's it flowing through to company profits?

Good point, Anthony.

And it's interesting, once a few go, everybody else feels that they've got permission to do it.

I agree with you on Westpac.

I thought this was super interesting.

If you think about what data a bank has, they are seeing weekly transaction data on credit cards and debit cards.

They are seeing how people's pay hits their bank account.

They're seeing how home loan payments or working capital might be changing in a business, how suppliers and trading is happening inside small businesses.

That warning that they've given and the provision that they've taken, that wouldn't have been done based on someone sticking their finger in the air and going, oh, it doesn't feel too good, does it?