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Anthony Albanese's campaign gaffe is such a big story because it is "emblematic" of Labor's lack of an economic plan, says former Prime Minister John Howard.

Mr Howard said the reason why Mr Albanese's failure to recall key economic figures is such a big story is because of the context.

“The context is that he’s not regarded as being the sharpest tool in the shed when it comes to economics and because the Labor Party doesn’t have a well-developed economic plan," Mr Howard told Sky News host Paul Murray.

"A stumble like that is magnified because it’s emblematic of the state of affairs.

"Now if that had been a mistake made by say, Paul Keating when he was Prime Minister or leader of the opposition, treasurer, well people would have said ‘so what’ and moved on because he was regarded as having strength in that area.

“Now one of Mr Albanese’s real problems is he’s not identified with any big policy causes, I mean I can’t think something really big that Albo has campaigned for over the years."