20 20 hindsight

The release of the 1975 Cabinet papers has spurred the inevitable onslaught of invective, usually disguised as opinion, on the record of Whitlam government in its final year. There's little doubt that there was a pretty amazing amount of ineptitude in economic policy - particularly before Hayden came in as Treasurer. Given Whitlam's obsession with 'The Program' - and the need for a lot to be done after 23 years of conservative - very conservative - rule, an 'ambitious' set of budgets was always going to happen.

But what gets lost in all of this is the effect of the 1973 (?) abandonment of the gold standard as a first step in unwinding the 1945 Bretton Woods accords. A more economically literate, and a more seasoned, government would conceivably have acted appropriately. But after 30 years of postwar growth and stability, it seems that no-one really foresaw the consequences of walking away from Bretton Woods. Unintended consequences, they're everywhere. And so we got stagflation and everybody said "how did that happen?". Hence the end of Whitlam.

How would a McMahon government government have handled the situation, I wonder?