Scott Morrison did what all treasurers do at a time of mayhem on financial markets. He called for calm.
As tens of billions of dollars were wiped off Australian shares, he reminded investors the fundamentals of the Australian economy are strong, providing yet another opportunity to mention the record 403,000 jobs that were created last year under his watch.
Of course, once the juggernaut of markets are in full swing, there is little small investors can do as major sell-orders and program trading are triggered, whatever the economic backdrop may be.
As the treasurer quite rightly put it: "There is a difference between what happens in the real economy and what happens in markets."
The initial spark for the two days - so far - of heavy selling in Australia this week came from Wall Street last Friday after another strong US jobs report also contained a surprise rise in wages, the biggest since 2009.
This is even before the Trump administration's massive business tax cuts have had a chance to take a grip in the US economy, sparking concerns the US Federal Reserve may have to quicken the pace of interest rate rises in the future.
Those concerns spilled over to Monday's session on Wall Street, producing the biggest one-day points sell-off in history at 1175 points on the Dow Jones index.
Some $85 billion was slashed from Australian shares as a result, even though circumstances here are somewhat different with wages growth flatlining around record lows and the Reserve Bank unlikely to be in a position to raise the cash rate until at least the end of the year.
Such is the power of the global market.
Even so, treasurers and finance ministers around the world feel compelled to offer advice to agitated investors and superannuants as they see their wealth - at least on paper - evaporate.
Whether people listen to such advice is unclear.
As the saying goes, you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink.
Interestingly, while dishing out this advice this week, it was also discovered Morrison declined advice from his own department on the issue of negative gearing.
It came to light last month Treasury had previously told him reforms to negative gearing would only have a modest downward impact on house prices, contrary to what the government was saying in response to Labor's plan to limit this housing tax concession to new properties.
Asked why? Morrison replied: "Well I didn't agree with them. That's why."
This wasn't done on a whim, telling inquiring journalists his first job was a research economist in the property sector.
Furthermore, Treasury's advice wasn't based on any economic modelling.
Shadow treasurer Chris Bowen unsurprisingly thought Morrison's response was "bizarre".
He said it was a reminder of how much the treasurer has sought to politicise the Treasury over the last few years, selectively leaking Treasury advice if it supports his attacks on Labor policy, but burying any analysis that doesn't.
Bowen also jumped on Morrison's response to the Productivity Commission's draft report into competition in the financial sector.
The commission found a regulatory clamp-down last year on new interest-only home loan applications for investors may have actually provided a windfall for the banks.
It not only resulted in higher interest rates on both new and existing investment loans, it resulted in a $500 million tax bill for taxpayers as interest on investment loans is tax deductible.
"I don't agree," Mr Morrison told parliament.
Again Bowen found his response "extraordinary".
There again, Bowen was equally quick to disagree with the commission's view that the "Four Pillars" policy that has prevented the major banks from merging since the 1990s is now "redundant".
Horses and water spring to mind once more.
