The national broadcaster is failing the nation badly by misreporting Australias economy, asAlan Austinreports.

THANK GOODNESS we can switch offABC Newsand go to the footycoverage. Multiple recent broadcasts confirm the ABCs newsroom is now a more destructive source of misinformation and misery thanRupert Murdochs treacherousnetwork.

Fomenting fear and loathing

ABC News secured an interview last week with the chief economist at the National Australia Bank (NAB),Sally Auld, one of the countrys most insightful economists.

Thesegment, titled Business confidence crashes to levels not seen since COVID onset, drew on the NABs monthly businesssurveyfor March. Predictably, business confidence has plummeted since U.S. PresidentDonald Trumps madness has caused global upheavals.

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The presenter said:

The answer, of course, is that there is no crisis in Australias economy. But we did not get to hear Dr Auld say that. She got as far as mentioning recent mild interest rate rises and everything that has transpired in the Middle East over the last four to five weeks.

A sharp edit prevented us from hearing whatever she said next.

The presenter then asserted:

Pure nonsense. Inflation hasremainedbelow 4% for the last 26 months. Februarys inflation was lower than Januarys.

Of course, most of the world must pay more for petrol while supply is disrupted, but that ought not cause debilitating anxiety.

It would be intriguing to hear what Dr Auld told ABC News, which they edited out.

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Auld has been quite upbeat all year, including earlier this month whenassuringthe NSW Rural Press Club that:

The confidence trick of business confidence

The ABCs main failure here was implying that the business confidence index measures anything tangible. It doesnt.

Australian entrepreneurs are basking in an economy with the bestcombinationof full employment, low inflation, optimum interest rates and stable GDP growth ever reported.

So what is the correct response to a pollster who pops this question: Excluding normal seasonal changes, how do you expect business conditions to shift in the future?

Naturally, with all of Trumps malicious follies, an intelligent respondent will anticipate deterioration. But that does not signal anything material has shifted, nor that it inevitably will.

The interview ended with the monumentally stupid question: Are we heading for a recession?

A recession is usuallydefinedas two quarters of negative GDP growth. So the time to speculate about that is well after the first negative quarter. That is nowhere in sight.

Dr Auld answered emphatically: No.

The 2025 fourth quarter results confirm Australias economy is again among the worlds best.

So what did ABC News do then? They incited anxiety all that day and every day since with dire threats of recession.

A companionreportin the same bulletin was headed The risk of a recession escalates as the Middle East war continues.

The presenter asserted that:

This is speculative fear-mongering with no foundation.

Multiple blatant falsehoods

Asegmentaired last Wednesday was titled World on brink of global recession if oil price shock continues: IMF.

The presenter began:

That is manifestly false. TheIMFhas not forecast a global recession. In fact, the principal graphic in this segment was the IMFs severe scenario presented to recent Spring Meetings in Washington. This clearly showed growth forecasts at 2% this year and 2.2% next year. Those are not recessions. See screenshot below.

Screenshot from an ABC News segment showing the IMF's 'severe scenario' still has positive global economic growth (Image supplied)

Other recent highly irresponsible negative ABC News stories include:

• Westpac CEO warns 'there's a chance of a recession' as interest rates rise. [3 April];

• Nightlife News Breakdown Ceasefires and recessions. [9 April];

• IMF warns of inflation surge. [15 April];

• Consumers are cutting back on spending amid higher risk of global recession. [17 April]; and

• Complacent market drifts lower as economic outlook sours. [17 April].

These confirm that those who produced these reports dont understand what a recession is. Does anyone at the ABC?

Classic historic blunders

Some readers will recall similar alarmism 17 years ago when theGlobal Financial Crisiswhacked most of the developed world.

The ABCs AM program in February 2009 featuredChris RichardsonfromAccess Economicsdeclaring:

Happily, that was quite false. Australias economygrew1.01% in the 2009 first quarter, generating annual GDP growth of 1.63%, thehighestof all 36OECDcountries.

The personnel credited with the worlds best decision-making in 2009 included then Treasury SecretaryKen Henry, Prime MinisterKevin Rudd, TreasurerWayne Swan, and a promising lad designated as Swans deputy chief of staff and principal adviser.

A news outlet intending to reassure its audience today that Australias economy is in good hands might note that should another downturn loom, all those wise counsellors are still on hand. That young adviser back then is Treasurer nowJim Chalmers.

Actually, he could trim the debt by flogging off ABC News to Rupert Murdoch, who seems to be controlling it already.

Keep the footy department, though. They do a great job.

Alan Austinis an Independent Australia columnist and freelance journalist. You can follow him@alanaustin001.

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