And, despite being tagged "the dismal science" centuries ago by Thomas Carlyle, it is anything but. Far from being a science, economics is the collective noun applied to a plethora of competing belief systems that put the warring sects of the early Christian church to shame.

It is possible, on the one hand, for the ALP to claim the credit for keeping Australia out of recession during the GFC with its "pump priming" economic stimulus package, and for the LNP, on the other, to say the stimulus was overdone and our current fiscal challenges are the result of Labor squandering the reserves accumulated during the Howard and Costello years.

Who is right? It depends on whose altar you are worshipping at. Some attend the church of John Maynard Keynes; others pay homage to Adam Smith and his belief in laissez-faire.

These issues are of more than passing interest given the events of the week have put the economy front and centre in this year's election.

The latest, and obviously disappointing, economic growth figures mean we are in a similar place to the US in 1992 when the Democrats' Bill Clinton, came up with the famous phrase "(it's) the economy stupid".

Once you take population growth from immigration out of the mix the Australian economy has gone backwards for two quarters in a row.

If you accept, as those on the Opposition benches would like you to on this occasion, immigration is a form of artificial economic stimulus that can be turned on and off, then it could be argued the Abbott/Turnbull/Morrison Government has managed the country into recession.

This moment of vulnerability has given Bill Shorten the chance to come out swinging on the economy.

He has endorsed calls for a living wage and said that under Labor consideration would be given to mandating an increase in the basic wage to the point that it would be sufficient to lift a person working full-time above the poverty line.

This marks what many will see as a welcome return to what the ALP once regarded as its core business. It is also sure to resonate with tens of thousands of our lowest paid workers and has the potential to change the dynamics of this election.

Few people outside a boardroom would disagree with the proposition that wages have been too low for too long.

Much of the electorate struggles daily to reconcile reports the economy is booming and businesses are doing better than ever with the harsh reality that very little is trickling down to the shop floor.

Corporate Australia's reluctance to raise wages has come back to bite it. Consumer spending is on the wane as households feels the pinch of rising energy and other costs and, as a result, their profits are under threat.

So, once again, we appear to be heading into another hip pocket election season where both sides of the parliament will do their best to bribe the voters with their own money.