November 2024
How Victoria became a poor state (and the 16 charts that prove it)
The state’s parlous finances mean voters are bound to face a combination of cuts in government spending and increases in taxation.
August 2024
- Opinion
- Australian economy
There’s just no evidence that profits are pushing up prices
Consumer prices have been rising. But its costs not profits that have been doing the driving.
November 2023
- Opinion
- GST
Danielle Wood must help undo GST deal
The new chairwoman of the Productivity Commission has an opportunity to help reverse one of the most ill-advised public policy decisions of this century.
September 2021
- Opinion
- GST
Corrupt GST bargain boosts Western Australia’s embarrassing budget
It is outrageous that the federal government is adding billions to its budget deficit to enable the only government in Australia with a surplus to run an even bigger one.
- Opinion
- Australian recession
This is a recession - we are just not calling it one
The ‘two quarters of GDP decline’ definition has never accurately plotted Australia’s ups and downs. The trick is to err in the right direction in dealing with downturns.
August 2021
- Opinion
- Coronavirus pandemic
This could be the recession we did not have to have
Federal and state governments have chosen policies which allowed the virus to spread - and which clash oddly with their usual fixations on public security.
- Updated
June 2021
- Opinion
- Coronavirus pandemic
Politicians are elected to lead, not hide behind the boffins
Governments have made a mantra out of following expert advice. Their job is to weigh up expertise, not to pick some and ignore the rest.
May 2021
- Opinion
- Coronavirus pandemic
Closed borders are the new protectionism
Money is being funnelled into domestic spending and boosting the recovery. But locking Australians up in the gilded cage is not good for our living standards in the long run.
- Opinion
- Political leadership
The lessons for the Liberals in Gutwein’s triumph
Although the Liberals have achieved their aim of preserving their one-seat majority, it wasn’t a particularly good result for them.
April 2021
- Opinion
- Australian economy
Rebound in growth could force RBA’s hand on rates
Australia is doing better than its peers in managing the pandemic-affected economy and this may increase the pressure on the Reserve Bank, writes Saul Eslake.
March 2021
- Opinion
- GST
The west is having its iron ore cake - and eating it too
Western Australia did well from wealthy eastern states before the iron ore boom. But its new largesse won’t be flowing the other way around.