This Month
- Opinion
- The AFR View
Max Corden: Vale Australia’s prophet of prosperity
Max Corden established the intellectual, but then politically heretical, case for dismantling Australia’s protectionist tariff wall.
- The AFR View
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Bullock squares up for inflation fight in first speech
It took only two minutes for Michele Bullock to refer back to Philip Lowe’s warning about high inflation. She is staying the course.
- Anthony Macdonald
NSW scores ratings win from Moody’s
NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey’s debt turnaround plan has been ticked off by analysts from one of the major ratings agencies.
- Samantha Hutchinson
- Opinion
- Monetary policy
The next RBA rate move will be down, says Westpac
The next move in interest rates will be down, says the bank’s economics team, which is now led by a highly regarded former Reserve Bank assistant governor.
- Karen Maley
- Opinion
- Opinion
Unsustainable US debt is now looming on the horizon
Neither Biden nor Trump will reassure bond investors that America can cure its spending habits in time to prevent a crisis.
- Sam Wylie
- Opinion
- Opinion
How to get fiscal dividend from a jobs, skills and training virtuous cycle
Reforms in vocational and higher education, and migration, can realistically aim to promote economic growth and would more than repay the upfront investment cost.
- Peter Dawkins
Business travellers, tourists could be caught in new tax rules
A proposed 45-day test for paying tax in Australia risks a significant blowout in the number of people considered to be living and working in the country, experts warn.
- Tom McIlroy
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Pension funds hit reverse on $A bets
Real money investors globally – big pension funds, insurers and mutuals – were happily overweight the Australian dollar. Then they sold en masse.
- Anthony Macdonald
Why Australia needs to take India seriously
The Asian giant is the source of significant numbers of migrants and its burgeoning economy offers opportunities for investment.
- James Eyers
- Opinion
- Voice to parliament
Voice is about better value for the billions invested in Closing the Gap
One of the biggest lies of this referendum campaign is that it has come at the expense of a focus on the economy.
- Jim Chalmers
Record-beating mortgage pain set to get worse: RBA
The record share of income spent on mortgages is set to increase even further, leading borrowers to dip into their savings to cope with the cost of living.
- Michael Read and Jonathan Shapiro
- Opinion
- Interest rates
The fixed rate mortgage ‘cliff’ was a myth
Households are well braced to withstand the 4 percentage point of interest rate increases so far, amid the possibility of more monetary policy tightening by the Reserve Bank.
- John Kehoe
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Australia’s savings buffer gone by March, consumption to take a hit
Fixed rate mortgages, savings and a hot jobs market have sheltered households, but the dominoes are falling and economists worry the savings buffer is almost gone.
- Anthony Macdonald
Why your favourite prosecco may be getting harder to find
Importers, such as Melbourne’s Boccaccio Cellars, are hit hard by the Aussie’s plunge in value against the euro and the $US over the past year.
- Gus McCubbing
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
RBA exposes magic number for housing, banks
Households are holding up reasonably well under the strain of higher interest rates. But a rise in unemployment would cause real pain.
- James Thomson
- Opinion
- ASX Limited
Bullock’s predictable problem in an unpredictable world
The confusion roiling global markets won’t end, but Australia’s rental crisis is a more fundamental imbalance of supply and demand. It means the RBA governor’s job won’t get any easier.
- Jennifer Hewett
- Opinion
- Opinion
Chalmers must do more on IR to reach full employment
Sooner or later, the treasurer will need to translate the worthy ambitions of the employment white paper into a clear set of actionable policy prescriptions.
- Stephen Miller
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
What to watch in Michele Bullock’s first rates call
The RBA looks almost certain to keep rates on hold, but Michele Bullock’s first statement as governor will provide clues on her view where inflation and the economy is going.
- James Thomson
September
RBA squeezed by oil, spending, $A shocks
Households have drawn down on their bank account savings for the first time since 2007, as higher borrowing costs also squeeze retail spending.
- Updated
- John Kehoe and Simon Evans
Chalmers’ jobs for ‘everyone’ tests RBA unemployment warning
Jim Chalmers won’t be constrained by the RBA’s non-inflationary estimate of full employment, outlining ambitions to keep the jobless rate as low as possible so “everyone who wants a job can find one”.
- John Kehoe and Michael Read
