Economic wheels are spinning but we won't make it home WE appear to have hit that point in the political cycle where, if you're not confused, you're not paying attention. Labor, in 2007, inherited an economy in pretty good shape - almost no net debt, low inflation, low unemployment and the prospect of a lasting investment boom. But then along came the global financial crisis. That existing strength - and some quick, wise action by then-prime minister Kevin Rudd and Treasurer Wayne Swan, helped Australia navigate those rough economic seas. But the public, having been shielded from the full sting of the financial collapse, went all Supertramp and asked Crisis, What Crisis? They couldn't see or feel the pain that was spreading through economies in Europe and the USA and asked why the government was spending billions. Labor felt this slight as keenly as the girl left standing at the side of the high school formal dance floor and sobbed the night away, protesting they had prettiest economy in the room. We were told the investment boom was coming through a pipeline that knew no end. We were creating jobs while they were evaporating around the globe. As long as China was humming along it was all good. The only dampener was that not everyone was sharing in the boom. And that's why we needed a new mining tax - to share around the benefits. Then it emerged that some parts of the economy were actually hurting because of the persistently high value of our currency causing job losses and downward price pressure from imports. Then we learned mixed messages were made worse by the mining tax had actually only raised small change. Then Swan and Prime Minister Julia Gillard began promoting big reforms to education and disability care - proposals costing billions. But these aspirations didn't match the complex economic signals. And then came yesterday's confirmation that projected revenue was down about $12 billion on previous Treasury estimates of $39 billion. But Government income is still growing by more than 7 per cent. The problem we've now got is that the real economic growth is in good shape - more jobs, exports and economic activity - but nominal economic growth - the dollar value of all this - is tanking. The non-technical term - not used by Gillard in yesterday's speech - is the economy is spinning its wheels.