49 Days Since That Carbon Tax Ended Life As We Know It

Or is it?

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has now spent years telling Australians that the sky would fall and our way of life would end once the Gillard Government put a price on industrial greenhouse gas emissions.

Forty-nine days have now past and there appears to be little discernible difference to life before and after July 1, 2012.

At Day Two according to Peter Martin:

Also from July 1...
PAY RISE $17.10 per week for low-paid workers
TAX FREE THRESHOLD No tax until $18,200
TAX CUTS For everyone up to $80,000
PENSION INCREASE 1.7% from May 2013
FAMILY TAX BENEFIT BOOST $300 per child
DOUBLE NSW FIRST HOME BUYERS GRANT $15,000 for purchase of new home
CREDIT CARD LENDERS Forced to clear high interest debts first
TICK AND FLICK BANK SWITCHING Sign one form once
TOUGHER MEDICARE LEVY SURCHARGE 1.25% to 1.5% for high earners without private insurance
LOWER PRIVATE HEALTH INSURANCE REBATE 10% to 20% instead of 30% for high earners
INSTANT ASSET WRITE-OFF Up to $6500 per small business
MINERALS RESOURCE RENT TAX To raise to $3 billion in its first year

On Day 20 according to Market Economics:

Since November 2007, there have been a series of income tax cuts, some large, some small and all set across different income brackets. Suffice to say that for the high income earner in the above example, they will be paying around $1,850 less income tax than had the tax scales prevailing in November 2007 been left in place. The lower income earner in this household is paying around $2,050 less in income tax, meaning an ongoing saving of around $3,900 a year. The combined effect of the wage increases and lower income tax rate translates to a rise in take-home income in this household is around $16,500 a year.

Day 21 from The Finnigan's Home of The BISONs:

No interest rise for the 20th consecutive month Vs 10 consecutive rises under Howard/Costello. Last interest rise was Nov2010. At July 2012. And an economy that is travelling well above trend growth.

Again at Day 27 according to Market Economics:

Indicator	Change since end June 2012
Market Indicators
Official cash rate	No change
Australian dollar (vs USD)	+2.0%
10 year govt bond yield	-0.14 percentage points
ASX200	+2.1%
Change in market cap of ASX	+$23 billion
Economic Indicators
RP Data house prices	+0.6%
Change in Housing Wealth	+$24 billion
Westpac index of Consumer sentiment	+3.7%

Day 32 per the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission:

In April 2012, GFC Berwick Pty Ltd sent a letter to 2,122 of its members promoting a 'RATE FREEZE' offer, which offered members a range of lengthy contract extensions at current or reduced membership rates. The letter represented to members that by taking up this offer members could avoid a fee increase of 9-15 per cent due to the carbon price.

ACCC chairman Rod Sims said, "The ACCC believes that GFC Berwick did not have a reasonable basis for claiming the carbon price would increase the cost of gym memberships by 9-15 per cent. We understand that over 200 members took up the offer and extended their contract. We are concerned that the false claims about the carbon price may have encouraged these people to sign lengthy contract extensions they otherwise would not have."

"Businesses are free to set their prices as they see fit but must carefully consider the basis for making carbon price claims and ensure such claims are truthful and have a reasonable basis," Mr Sims said.

As part of the resolution of this matter, the CEO of the Genesis Division of Belgravia Health & Leisure Group Pty Ltd, the company which manages the franchise network, wrote to all affected members on behalf of GFC Berwick offering them the opportunity to withdraw from the contract extensions at no cost.

Day 37 on Twitter:

TheFinnigans天地有道人无道‏@Thefinnigans

Australia's GOLD GOLD GOLD GOLD GOLD - Unemployment 5.1%, GDP 4.3% - Inflation 1.2% - Interest 3.5% with $500B investment pipeline

On Day 49 according to The Sydney Morning Herald:

In a Treasury research paper released yesterday, economists Will Devlin and Deepika Patwardhan used prices in the so-called inflation swaps market to derive traders' expectations about the price impact of the tax.

Inflation swaps allow one trader to agree to pay another the inflation rate on a specified sum in return for a price. It is worth $12 billion per year.

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The paper said inflation swaps pricing was a good guide to what the market thought would happen because it ''reflects the collective actions of actors who have to back their views by putting their money where their mouths are''.

Their analysis found the market expected a one-off jump in inflation of between 0.6 per cent and 0.7 per cent followed by a return to the previous rate, as forecast by the government. It did not support claims by the Coalition spokesman, Greg Hunt, that price rises would "take time to flow through the economy" or that "this is just the beginning as the carbon tax goes up every year".

The first TD Securities-Melbourne Institute inflation reading since the start of the tax showed a total price increase for the month of just 0.2 per cent, even after accounting for a rise in electricity prices of 14.9 per cent and in household gas prices of 10.3 per cent.