The world is lurching from one economic crisis to the next. What should we expect from our government?

In May and June this year, almost three-quarters of Australian businesses reported that higher fuel prices had a negative impact on their business. Photograph: Dan Himbrechts/AAP

The pandemic changed a lot of things in Australia – and around the world – for better and worse. Two legacies that stand out to me from an economist’s perspective are an increased expectation on how governments should support us during troubled times, as well as an increased focus on domestic economic security, both with consequences for inflation and interest rates.

The shortage of protective equipment, rapid tests and toilet paper during the early pandemic will not be forgotten easily and the recent jump in fuel prices, and especially images of some pumps running dry, brought back some of those painful memories.