With the second anniversary of Covid’s arrival in Australia upon us, Australia’s economy is firing more than it was before the pandemic hit.

Australia recorded its first case of Covid on 25 January 2020 and with that came predictions of economic crisis. While there have been bumps along the way, the economy has bounced back in many ways including low unemployment, surging house prices and record stock values.

Steven Hamilton, a visiting fellow at the Australian National University’s Tax and Transfer Policy Institute, says the economy looks better coming out of Covid than it did heading in.

He says unemployment is 4.2% now compared with 5.3% in January 2020, house prices have increased by about 30% and the S&P/ASX 200 is above 7000 points.

While there are plenty of silver linings, according to Hamilton, there have also been enormous costs imposed on individuals and businesses. Financial stimulus used to help boost the economy has added $1 trillion to our national debt.