Has Dr Jim Chalmers been talking the economy down in order to prepare people for a horror Abbott-Hockey style budget or has he been lowering expectations in order to under-promise and over-deliver?
That is the multi-billion dollar question.
While there is no doubt the government is facing a grim economic outlook, the budget bottom line is better than when Josh Frydenberg released his final budget thanks to extra revenue off the back of increased resources and energy sales as a result of the war in Ukraine.
Stronger than expected employment figures have also kept JobSeeker expenditure down and generated additional tax receipts.
And, despite the doom and gloom, middle-class Australians with a savings buffer built up during the pandemic have been spending freely.
While that's good news in that the economy has been more resilient than many, including the Treasurer, have been predicting, its also bad in that it keeps the pressure on the Reserve Bank to increase interest rates.
The positives are more than offset by increased spending on defence, health, aged care, child care and the NDIS however.
The cost of rebuilding in the wake of the ongoing flood emergency is also going to be a big ticket item for years to come.
Australians are living in a two-speed - and possibly even three-speed - economy.
The comfortably well off are weathering the turmoil in reasonable shape.
The working poor, of whom there are many, are in a perfect storm of soaring inflation, rising fuel prices and housing costs.
And, at the bottom of the heap, those on fixed incomes including pensioners and those on JobSeeker, the disabled, and the elderly, have no prospect of immediate cost-of-living relief.
As always the most vulnerable pay the highest price.
The winners in tonight's budget are those interests and organisations the ALP pledged to spend money on during the election campaign.
Having only been in power for less than six months it doesn't want to start breaking promises so soon.
While Dr Chalmers does have the stomach to prescribe some bitter pills to demonstrate his fiscal responsibility he is also ready to dish out the odd spoonful of sugar to help that medicine go down.
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