Gillard spells out bank run terror

Ian Rogers
Memoirs of Labor luminaries continue to add perspective on the banking side of the 2008 world economic crisis.

Former Prime Minister Julia Gillard, in "My Story" writes: "The global financial crisis broke into our world. It is hard now, in a country that never went into recession, to describe the emotions and pressures of those days.

"The GFC ushered in the unbridled fear that comes from having no ability to predict what might happen next.

"Our globalised, interconnected, interdependent world had never before faced such a phenomenon.

"Was Australia about to be hit by bank failures, queues of people wanting to withdraw deposits degenerating into riots, mass unemployment, suicides?

"It all seemed so heart-stoppingly possible. Almost overnight the government's economic strategy had to shift from managing a robustly growing economy, where inflation and interest-rate rises were real threats, to dealing with the risk of runs on banks and recession.

"The economic strategy worked and Australia avoided a recession. Jobs and businesses were saved that would otherwise have been lost. Debt remained low and very manageable."