Chalmers stokes economic fire, Bullock hits brakes in Knight toon
Award-winning Herald Sun cartoonist Mark Knight returns to Kid News with the Reserve Bank and Treasury clashing at the coalface of our economy as Aussies become nervous passengers
READING LEVEL: ORANGE
I know it sounds crazy but economics relies on the laws of physics. Take Newton’s* third law of motion.
“For every action”, Sir Issac said, “there is an equal and opposite reaction”.
So if we paste that law into Australia’s current economic landscape, it demonstrates that we have had all this money pouring into the economy, which has created great stimulus*. To counter that, the Reserve Bank of Australia* (RBA) decided to push back by raising the cost of money with higher interest rates*. An equal and opposite reaction to counter an overheating economy.
Too much monetary stimulus causes inflation – that’s where prices rise, reducing the value of our spending power. For years during and after Covid, governments have been tipping lots of money into programs to keep economies out of recession*, but all that cash caused inflation to surge. Prices of everything rose and the cost of living* went berserk*.
It’s hard to cut government spending and when our private sector* started to splash the cash as well, the Reserve Bank governor Michelle Bullock pulled on the reins and said, “WHOA!”
This past week, she raised interest rates by 0.25 per cent, making money that little bit more expensive, to slow the economy down a touch.
This was big news and I felt I should draw a cartoon about it, but economics can be deathly boring to readers; eyes glaze over and attention spans disappear. So, hoping to maintain my reader’s gaze, I had to create a cartoon that illustrated what was going on in the economy but at the same time make it visually interesting and fun. That’s a challenge.
I started creating my concept by looking at analogies* and metaphors* that I could use. We have an economy with a full head of steam, barrelling along, so my mind turned to steam locomotives. Great to draw! With that, I could put the RBA governor Michelle Bullock and the Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers at the controls in the drivers’ compartment.
What would they be doing?
The RBA wants the economy to slow down, so I started to sketch the governor on the handbrake. She is pulling on it with some gusto*. In the foreground is the Treasurer; he wants to see a strong economy and keep voters happy, so I draw him stoking* the boiler fire of the locomotive with cash from government spending programs. It seems they are not quite on the same page!
Body language is important in this cartoon. Note how the RBA boss is pulling back and Dr Chalmers is leaning forward as he shovels. This contrast illustrates the differences between the two positions economically. Let me also remind you that we are all passengers on this train. Hang on!
POLL
GLOSSARY
- Sir Isaac Newton: considered one of history’s most significant physicists, this brilliant English scientist and mathematician (1642-1727) developed calculus and the laws of gravity and motion
- stimulus: something that causes growth or activity
- Reserve Bank of Australia: the nation’s central bank is responsible for producing and issuing Australia’s banknotes that everyone can trust, setting the cash rate and balancing inflation
- interest rates: extra money set as a percentage that a bank or other financial company charges you to borrow money from them
- recession: a period, usually at least six months, of low economic activity, when investments lose value, businesses fail, and unemployment rises
- cost of living: the amount of money that a person needs to buy food, housing and other basic things
- berserk: crazy, out of control, frenzied, wild
- private sector: the part of a country’s economy made up of companies and businesses that aren’t owned or operated by the government
- analogies: comparisons between things that have similar features, often used to help explain principles or ideas
- metaphor: an imaginative way of describing something by referring to something else which is the same in a particular way
- gusto: liveliness, enthusiasm, doing something with great energy
- stoking: feeding, adding fuel to a fire
EXTRA READING
Is panning for gold a prospect?
The rate rise that stopped a nation
Little to celebrate in budget break
QUICK QUIZ
- Which famous physicist defined the third law of motion?
- Reserve Bank governor Michelle Bullock raised interest rates by how much this past week?
- Why have governments been tipping money into lots of programs during and after Covid?
- Who is Australia’s Federal Treasurer?
- How does Mark Knight illustrate the difference between their two approaches economically?
LISTEN TO THIS STORY
CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Metaphors and analogies
Mark Knight talks of thinking about analogies and metaphors that he could use in his cartoon to show us what is happening in the economy. Start by finding out what an analogy and a metaphor is and write a short definition to show your understanding of each of these words.
Then, think about the situation and identify three other analogies or metaphors that could also be used to demonstrate the same point.
Time: allow 30 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English
2. Extension
Choose one of the analogies or metaphors you identified above and sketch your own cartoon to tell the story Mark Knight is trying to convey.
Time: allow 20 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English
VCOP ACTIVITY
Describe it
Look at the cartoon and make a list of five nouns that you see. Then describe those five nouns with five adjectives. Now add a preposition to those five nouns and adjectives.
Finally, choose your favourite bundle and put all the words together to make one descriptive sentence.
(For lower reading level articles, remove “add a preposition”)