Home About Our Blog The Economy. Be In It

 

It was called ‘Life. Be In It’. 

 

I was reminded of this campaign by the Governor of the Reserve Bank, Glenn Stevens’ recent address to the Federal House of Representatives Economic Committee in Canberra. Glenn Stevens outlined that the economy was in solid shape but urged business to be optimistic and embrace risk-taking ‘animal spirits’

 

The television advertisements for ‘Life. Be In It’ featured, Norm, a middle aged Australian with a large beer belly who needed to escape his safe but lethargic lifestyle and have some fun, do some exercise and avoid obesity. 

 

This is exactly what Glenn Stevens is telling us to do when he talks about animal spirits and states “as a nation, Australian households, business and politicians need to stop waiting for someone else to fix their problems and get out there, spend, invest and hire”

 

Undoubtedly, we are going through a challenging transition as the mining sector steadily slows and the construction and services sectors start to grow. Nonetheless, we are in a far, far better position than during the global financial crisis. Business and family balance sheets have been repaired and strengthened, interest rates are at historical lows and our economy is in solid shape. 

 

Internationally, the Chinese economy is expanding at 7.5% per annum, the US economy is growing and even the European economies are grinding out a slight improvement, on five years ago. Yet, business and consumer confidence in Australia continues to languish. 

 

The problem is that many Australian businesses are far too focused on slashing costs, eliminating debt and paying higher dividends to shareholders. While, this is not unusual and is relatively normal business behaviour at this point of the cycle, it does delay economic growth. We are in a situation where businesses and households can’t see that many of the conditions for strong economic growth are already in place but instead remain fearful about the future. The reality is we are at a point in the economic cycle when large, medium and small businesses should be preparing plans for future growth. Business and consumers need to get out of their armchairs and embrace the economy. We all need to be part of a campaign called ‘The Economy. Be In It’. At some point during 2015, the economy will gather pace and rapidly expand. Don’t be one of those businesses that once again is left behind, adopt an optimistic attitude, do something positive and implement a growth strategy for your business today.

 

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