Our PM has been doing a lot of hand wringing on economic issues lately.

Inflation up. Bananas and fuel price increases are to blame.

Petrol prices up.
"We can only have cheaper petrol in Australia if there is cheaper crude oil around the world ... and I'd be misleading the Australian public, and so would anybody else, if they pretended otherwise."

"We're going to have to unfortunately live with higher prices that we used to have as recently as 18 months ago, but I HOPE not indefinitely with the current very high prices". Johnie then told us he HOPES prices will stabilize around the $1.15 a liter, and he told us this isn't a educated analysis of prices more a desire (paraphrasing here).

Interest rates up due to spiraling debt and inflation.
"One of the reasons they borrow, many of them to the hilt and some too much, but one of the reasons they do it is they feel secure, they feel they can take the liability, assume the liability.

"That is a product of them feeling that there are a group of people responsible who are steady, dependable and prudent,"

House prices for McMansions and big screen TVs? Unrealistic lifestyle expectations? Johnie has more chance of saying "sorry" for the Stolen Generation than mentioning that to the aspiration voter.

So folks there you have it. Howard's economic credentials. They are based on unrealistic hopes on petrol prices rather than a sensible plan to bring alternative fuels into the mix. On interest rates, Howard's delusion of responsible, steady, dependable and prudent borrowing, doesn't match the reality of totally unsustainable personal debt.
And when it comes to inflation he blames bananas, "hopes" for petrol price stability, and will no doubt offer billions of dollars of highly inflationary voter bribes again in 2007.

And I haven't even touched on foreign debt.

And you really thought this supreme economic manager would "keep interest rates low" didn't you?