The mining tax – whose last-minute reprieve may well prove temporary – is the greatest weakness in the argument that we gained a lot from the resources boom. The blame for this failure should be spread widely, with economists taking a fair share.

Late last week a majority of senators passed the bill repealing the minerals resource rent tax, but not before knocking out its provisions cancelling various programs the tax was supposed to be paying for.

The government is refusing to accept the amended version of the bill, arguing that “by voting to keep many of the associated spending measures [naughty – most are actually tax expenditures], senators have effectively voted to keep the mining tax".

We’ll see how long that lasts. But if you’re thinking the tax raises so little it hardly matters whether it stays or goes, you’re forgetting something. When Labor allowed BHP Billiton’s Marius Kloppers and his mates from Rio Tinto and Xstrata (now Glencore) to redesign the tax, they predictably opted to take their depreciation deductions upfront. Once they’re used up, however, receipts from the tax will be a lot healthier – provided it survives that long.

You can blame Kevin Rudd, Wayne Swan and Julia Gillard for their hopeless handling of the tax. But don’t forget to copy in Tony Abbott who, faced with a choice between the interests of Australian taxpayers and the interests of three foreign mining giants, sided with the latter in the hope they’d fund his 2010 election campaign.