Bull and the budget: supplicants take over Canberra 

It is the privilege of power to eventually feel besieged. In this, Jim Chalmers is unremarkable.

Still, hasn’t the treasurer aroused a stupendous chorus of well-credentialed critics? As he delivers his third budget and his second consecutive surplus, it is astonishing how bad the feeling is between Chalmers and much of the macroeconomic establishment. Still, as far as backlashes go, it could be much worse. After all, few will listen to the dismal scientists, at least, not until the consequences of policy profligacy come home to roost.