We keep hearing from Hockey that the levels of Australian government debt is what is driving up interest rates - not the fact that the economy is going well, or that CPI is rising (or is it falling? so much conflicting information). Malcolm Maiden writing in today's SMH, explains that today's stockmarket crash (correction?) is a result of government debt.

The sovereign debt concerns that triggered it were predictable from the moment the world’s governments opened their cheque books and began writing blank cheques to save the global financial system.

It is not the Australian sovereign debt that is the problem. As Malcolm writes:

The trigger for this current downturn is concern about sovereign debt, in European nations including Greece, Portugal, Ireland and Spain in particular, and there is no doubt that sovereign debt levels around the world are bloated.

The projected level of Australian sovereign debt is miniscule compared to international levels - and a lot of credit must go to the previous government for that.

But what I do not understand is that if it is government debt that is driving up interest rates, and we have such a small debt - how can our debt be responsible? Surely international levels of det must be doing that? Or is the connections that Hockey makes just a load of Shrek-doodoo?

(and apologies for being slack lately - trying to get things ready for my work trip to Manila this weekend).