Australia’s economy is a basket case again. Will Jim Chalmers take it on?

In his 2004 thesis on Paul Keating’s prime ministership, Treasurer Jim Chalmers wrote that Keating could not have “imagined the plethora of reforms” that marked his turn as treasurer without the electoral success and popularity of Bob Hawke as PM. “Hawke was the ALP’s most electorally successful leader ever,” Chalmers wrote, and he provided the “the public support which allowed Keating to indulge in his passion for bold policy.” Anthony Albanese hasn’t yet won as many elections as Hawke, but in his second election he has won more seats than Hawke ever did. So, the conditions should be right for…