PATTRICK SMELLIE: Government Debt and the Magic Pudding

Ask a New Zealander who Hairy Maclary is and most will know it’s the shaggy dog in the much-loved children’s tale of that name.An Australian equivalent is The Magic Pudding, a 1918 children’s classic that tells of a pudding that – no matter how often it’s eaten – is constantly self-replenishing.In Australian politics, to call something a ‘magic pudding’ is to promise something that sounds wonderful but does not exist in the real world.A hardy perennial ‘magic pudding’ formula in politi...