Conservative economic management

It is a common view in Australian politics that the conservatives are better economic managers than Labor. Is this because they tax more and spend less?

Looking at the record of the Howard government (because the budget periods from 1995/6 to present are easiest to get data for) - it seems that it increased taxes while spending less on core services like Defence, Health, Education and Transport/Communications. While the Howard government paid off the $96 billion in net debt it had at its first budget in 10 years, it neglected core services and the challenges Australia faced.

One only has to use health, education and transport systems in Australia now to realise that they have deteriorated significantly in the past 15 years. Now, before my neo-conservative friends say "that's a state responsibility", they need to think about where most of the money comes from for these services.

While it is important for the government to run budgets in the black, it is more important for the government to be able to provide core services to its taxpayers.

Has the Howard government's underspend on infrastructure helped the economy? No, because now we only have to spend what should have been spent on the first place. Thanks Mr Howard.