Australian treasurer pledges austerity during US trip
Patrick O’Connor: Australian treasurer pledges austerity during US trip ■ Hockey travelled to the US to participate in meetings of the G20 finance ministers and central bank governors, as well as International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank annual meetings. He met with Congressional Democrat and Republican figures, outgoing US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke, IMF managing director Christine Lagarde, World Bank president Jim Yong Kim, and finance ministers from several countries. Hockey also scheduled meetings with the CEOs of Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, before concluding his trip with discussions with leading credit ratings agencies. Hockey’s US visit had the character of a loyal servant of finance capital reporting for duty and receiving orders. It came just a month after credit ratings agency Standard & Poor’s stripped Western Australia, previously the centre of the country’s mining investment boom, of its AAA status, on the basis that the state Liberal government had demonstrated “limited political will” in slashing spending.