Yesterday
- Opinion
- Australian economy
Why is the RBA acting scared of Jim Chalmers?
The governor and deputy governor’s dangerous signals of non-independence threaten the secret sauce of central banking.
This Month
- Opinion
- Childcare
The case for making childcare costs tax deductable
Government contributions will again increase demand without boosting supply. No wonder fees keep rising.
August
- Opinion
- Economics explained
The two words you should always treat with caution in business
Sentences which begin “Studies show...” are often followed by a description of a correlation interpreted as if it were a causal relationship - when it’s not.
- Opinion
- Economics explained
Why people really hate inflation, but politicians don’t get it
Prices are about 15 per cent higher than when the Albanese government was elected. People just hate that. The more interesting question is, why?
- Opinion
- Interest rates
Bullock talks tough, but board can’t stomach raising rates
The RBA has squibbed again this month. With long-run credibility on the line, it needs to focus on getting inflation inside the target band.
July
- Opinion
- Income tax
The land of the fair go is taxing social mobility
Australia’s antiquated over-reliance on income taxes means that if you do manage to succeed, then that success is taxed heavily.
- Opinion
- Trump's White House
The economic consequences of re-elected President Donald Trump
Trump’s first-term tariffs did not crater the US or world economies. The same cannot be said for his far more ambitious plans the second time around.
June
- Opinion
- Interest rates
The RBA is refusing to act like inflation is a problem
Apparently the Reserve Bank thinks raising rates would trigger a technical recession, so don’t expect our inflation-driven cost-of-living crisis to end soon.
- Opinion
- Australian economy
The three key lessons for RBA and our leaders to defeat inflation
Interest rates are going to have to stay (or go) higher for longer, and governments are going to have to stop expanding their spending so rapidly.
May
- Opinion
- Federal budget
Forget policy, Albonomics is all politics
The budget is just more hard proof that Australia has not elected a government driven by policy since Kevin Rudd’s Labor in 2007.
April
- Opinion
- Australian economy
Australia’s last-mile inflation looks like the last 10 miles
The Albanese government took power promising to increase wages. It was a risky gamble that is not paying off.
- Opinion
- Australian economy
The dangers in using the wrong policy tools for the jobs
There are tangible costs and collateral damage when governments use the wrong instruments for the task at hand.
- Opinion
- Monetary policy
Can Australia compete in the new post-inflation world?
The “new neutral” medium-term interest rate will make global competition for capital far more intense. The country needs to get ready for that.
March
- Opinion
- Monetary policy
Reserve Bank refresh is on shaky ground
Nothing good comes from negotiating with the Greens. The better option is Jim Chalmers cutting a deal with Angus Taylor to establish the new monetary policy board.
- Opinion
- Media bargaining code
Subsidise journalism, don’t shake down big tech
Meta and Google may be where the money is, but that doesn’t mean we should steal it from them. Even if it’s used for a good cause.
February
- Opinion
- Carbon challenge
Garnaut-Sims power plan is big on ambition, short on logic
The $100 billion carbon tax proposal would penalise Australians, deter greener energy switches in Asia, and would be impossible to implement.
- Opinion
- Interest rates
Bullock’s Q&A was what the RBA’s been missing
Gone are the days of Alan Greenspan-like, inscrutable “Fedspeak”. The straight-talking governor’s first media conference was all killer no filler.
January
- Opinion
- Tax reform
Tax cut retreat is a loss in the global war for talent
This is the wrong policy done in the wrong way, driven by politics and the arbitrary structuring of the budget.
- Updated
- Opinion
- Monetary policy
This is not America: rates are not coming down in 2024
There are no grounds for the cash rate to fall here in 2024. The Albanese government’s big job will be selling that reality to voters.
- Updated
November 2023
- Opinion
- Australian economy
Taxing foreign students will have a terrible cost
A levy will not make Australian universities more resilient, but the opposite. And visa scams and housing shortages should be addressed directly, not with the blunt instrument of a tax.