Latest
US jobs data bolsters rate cut bets: Wall Street
US bond yields fell and equities extended their rally as the path to a Fed pivot has become ever so slightly wider.
- Timothy Moore
How solar beat every forecast to win the renewables race
Solar power is on track to generate more electricity than all the world’s nuclear power plants in 2026, its gas-fired power plants in 2030 and its coal-fired ones in 2032.
- The Economist
AOFM chief puts banks on notice as bond trading probe heats up
The head of the government’s debt agency has reminded the banks, which are hired to help it sell billions of dollars of bonds, what is expected of them.
- Jonathan Shapiro
Mental health crisis for young women started in 2012, study finds
More research has found a strong link between the emergence of social media and depression, anxiety and self-harm.
- Julie Hare
Which states are in ‘the slow lane’ for retail spending?
Retail sales in Victoria and Queensland are lagging the rest of Australia on a per-person basis, while Western Australia tops the spending charts.
- Updated
- Ronald Mizen
Powell: The US is back on a ‘disinflationary path’
Still, US policymakers need to have more confidence that price pressures are continuing to ease before pivoting to rate cuts, the central bank boss said.
- Updated
- Balazs Koranyi and Howard Schneider
Opinion & Analysis
There is no catastrophic failure of AUKUS Plan A
The “optimal pathway” may not run exactly to plan, but the risk is known, is being managed, and all three partners have demonstrated their commitment to the process.
Defence expert
AUKUS future is resting on belief alone
Defence and government figures brim with confidence over Australia’s nuclear submarine program, but there’s no Plan B and – to some – there’s an air of desperation.
International editor
Why we need to have a genuine look at nuclear energy
Nuclear energy is the kind of nation building policy we need when our lucky country’s luck is running out.
Robert Menzies Institute
Slashing foreign student numbers would be economic self-harm
Before the government puts the squeeze on Australia’s $48 billion university export industry, it should consider how much GDP it is prepared to sacrifice.
BCA chief executive
This Month
- Opinion
- AUKUS
There is no catastrophic failure of AUKUS Plan A
The “optimal pathway” may not run exactly to plan, but the risk is known, is being managed, and all three partners have demonstrated their commitment to the process.
- Jennifer Parker
- Analysis
- AUKUS
AUKUS future is resting on belief alone
Defence and government figures brim with confidence over Australia’s nuclear submarine program, but there’s no Plan B and – to some – there’s an air of desperation.
- James Curran
- Opinion
- Nuclear energy
Why we need to have a genuine look at nuclear energy
Nuclear energy is the kind of nation building policy we need when our lucky country’s luck is running out.
- Georgina Downer
- Opinion
- Immigration
Slashing foreign student numbers would be economic self-harm
Before the government puts the squeeze on Australia’s $48 billion university export industry, it should consider how much GDP it is prepared to sacrifice.
- Bran Black
- Opinion
- Energy transition
Energy transition will cost much more than politicians are pretending
The brutal reality is that taxpayers and consumers will be on the hook for much higher costs under a renewable or nuclear energy system.
- John Kehoe
- Opinion
- Open banking
Open banking offers a salutary tale
The lesson is that governments trying to regulate their way to a greater bank competition can have anti-competitive effects.
- The AFR View
RBA inflation target challenged by power prices
Other areas of the economy will need to offset the impact of higher than expected power prices to keep inflation within target, economists say.
- Angela Macdonald-Smith and Ronald Mizen
Labor appoints former NBN boss as nuclear head
Mike Quigley has been appointed as the head of the federal government’s peak nuclear organisation.
- John Kehoe
Rising inflation tests RBA’s ‘limited tolerance’
More rate rises could be needed, as soon as August, after the Reserve Bank noted inflation “increased the risk” rates would not rein in CPI as quickly as forecast.
- Ronald Mizen
- Opinion
- Monetary policy
Central banks have done their job. Now others must do theirs
Central bank independence from governments has proved its worth yet again. But it is politicians who now have to step up reforms that cannot be put off.
- Agustin Carstens
Queensland mulls expansion of stamp duty discounts in tax shake-up
Expanding stamp-duty concessions and overhauling land tax in Queensland will be considered as part of a new tax shake-up.
- James Hall
- Opinion
- AUKUS
AUKUS ‘moonshot’ may be a tragically expensive failure
It is alarming that both Coalition and Labor politicians fail to acknowledge the risk that Australia could be left with no submarine capability by the end of the 2030s.
- James Curran
- Exclusive
- AUKUS
‘A cruel joke’: Why AUKUS might leave Australia stranded
A group of defence experts says that the Albanese government is on course for a financial and strategic AUKUS disaster, in the final part of an exclusive series.
- James Curran
- Opinion
- The AFR View
On AUKUS, Australia must catch up, not start again – yet again
Australia’s political, diplomatic and defence chiefs need to work with AUKUS counterparts in America and Britain to find a way through the gridlock.
- The AFR View
- Opinion
- Australian economy
The public sector is the key to Australia’s productivity puzzle
There is some cause for cautious optimism for increased productivity in the healthcare sector if outcomes can be more accurately measured and assessed.
- Alex Robson
- Opinion
- Nuclear energy
There is a respectable economic argument for nationalised nuclear
The bottom line is that there are sound public choice arguments for the government to build and own nuclear power plants.
- Sinclair Davidson
- Investigation
- AUKUS
Morrison’s ‘longest night’: Inside the making of AUKUS
The military agreement is a mess and risks leaving Australia with no submarine capability at all by the late 2030s. The cloak of secrecy that secured the deal could now be its undoing.
- James Curran
Super giant seeks tech stock ‘second wave’ after delivering 11.3pc
Rising tech stocks helped land an 11.3 per cent return for Australian Retirement Trust superannuation members, but unlisted property was still a drag.
- Hannah Wootton
June
Why people with cancer don’t get the full benefit of clinical trials
Australian researchers say regulators should mandate the requirement to share data.
- Jill Margo
- Opinion
- The AFR View
Chalmers’ ANZ-Suncorp merger approval is ironic for bank competition
The whole drawn-out process could end up discouraging market dynamism by offering no way out to the smaller banks lacking the economies of scale to compete effectively.
- The AFR View