James Thomson

Yeah.

And it's interesting that I've been thinking a little bit about this since budget night.

On Tuesday night in America, we had a rather hot inflation print, 3.8%.

Inflation there has just been nowhere near the 2% target since basically 2020 or the latter stages of 2020.

There's now a 35% chance of a rate hike where we'd been conditioned through the combination of gently falling inflation and the arrival of Kevin Walsh as the new Fed governor to expect rate cuts.

So, you know, a lot of this is premised on a fairly rosy – a lot of the budget assumptions are premised on a fairly rosy economic outlook, which says that the Australia FAMUS is open relatively soon.

You know, there is a downside estimate there where, you know, the government's modeled oil going to $200 US a barrel.

But it just strikes me, Alan, that the RBA, Treasury, most investment banks, basically everybody still, you know, three months into this war or the best part of three months into this war still thinks this is all going to be done, you know, next week.

It is fascinating to me.

Well, who knows, they might be right.

Alan, do you expect much investor blowback here?

What do you mean by investor blowback?

Well, you know, the framing of this has been that it's sort of a hit on boomer wealth and the calculation here

I think very clearly by the government, is that the 2028 election is going to be the first election where Gen Z millennials and what they call Gen Alphas, who are sort of teenagers now, are going to account for a bigger share of the vote than the builders, boomers and Gen X. So the calculation here seems pretty clear that

older Australians take a whack so younger Australians can have a crack to coin a frat.

To quote yourself.

Yes.

Well, yeah, I haven't actually used that, but now I say it, I might.

But, you know, those well-established, wealthier, older Australians are still a powerful group.

And, of course, they're represented by lots of, you know, the financial institutions and all that sort of thing.