If the question is "what can the Government do to help you offset the war and its costs?", the answers will not only all be different, chances are no one is going to end up satisfied, or even grateful.

Yet that is the dilemma the Government currently faces, as indeed do all governments.

The moment something untoward happens our first port of call is a government.

Operation Epic Fury is not the Government's fault. It's not of their making; it's just life in an increasingly unsettled and unpredictable world.

Depending also on your political leaning depends on just what sort of role the government should have in your life.

It's made worse for our government because it's election year.

Their great fear will be:

1) This thing isn't over soon and,

2) The fallout will simply keep getting worse and worse.

Outside of petrol we actually haven't seen any impact because most have already forgotten this thing is only three weeks old and even though they said it could be six, we are over it.

But in some way, shape or form we will be short of something sooner or later.

The trick for the Government is when to pull the trigger and what sort of trigger it is.

Once you start, your first trap is the “out”. Getting in is always easier than getting out. Turning the tap on is easier than turning it off.

What is the 'end'? What's it look like? What has to happen? You rarely win on that.

Given we don’t know what happens next in a conflict we have no control over, what are the parameters of the help? How targeted can we be? How much should a government help, and who?

If it's petrol, why not food? Why not your mortgage? They are all directly related and will all potentially move because of the war.

The best scenario is of course that this thing gets wrapped up, it’s a blip and we can all get on with life.

But from the starting point of having less than no money, in a world where debt is getting more expensive and nothing you do will be enough, you wouldn’t wish that headache on your worst enemy, would you?

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Mike's Minute: What does government help look like?

The Mike Hosking Breakfast