Today
4 policy ideas to fix housing affordability
Fixing Australia’s decade-long housing crisis won’t happen overnight. It requires a sustained effort that cuts across political cycles.
Magic pudding economics is about to make all of us poor
Australia is now ruled by short-term ethical dilemmas instead of concern for long-term consequences.
Yesterday
Policy ping-pong won’t deliver housing affordability
A future government will inherit a dog’s breakfast of housing and tax policies and be left to clean up the mess.
This Month
RBA awaits China stimulus to protect Australia
The Reserve Bank and Treasury are pinning their hopes on infrastructure assistance from Beijing to shield the nation from a deepening trade war.
‘We’re not allocating talent’ and that makes us all poorer
Not enough men working in education is holding back the sector’s productivity, just as much as the lack of women in mining does.
Calm descends on bond markets, but tariff war will push yields higher
Bond yields dropped after Trump stunned the market by pausing most of his reciprocal tariffs, but analysts warn that US Treasuries face higher borrowing costs still.
Dutton claims credit for Labor’s two surpluses in robust debate
The opposition leader put in a solid performance in the first election debate, but the audience judged Anthony Albanese as the winner.
Why economists doubt a recession is coming for Australia
Australian businesses affected by Trump’s tariffs will find new export markets while the economy will be bolstered by rate cuts and a falling currency, analysts say.
Politicians are the problem behind the cost-of-living squeeze
Weak business investment and real wage growth is a design feature of the Albanese Labor’s care economy model that the Dutton Coalition is failing to challenge.
How Europe deals with Trump tariffs will be the market’s next test
The White House’s ‘liberation day’ is turning into a week of value destruction – and all eyes are on Europe as it draws up a hit list of US products to levy.
Trump’s idiocy will put a 2 in front of RBA cash rate by end of year
Retaliatory tariffs are a supply shock that will not only see the global economy lurch into a deep recession but will do so with a near-term inflationary bias.
Trump’s tariffs deliver a harsh truth for Australia
Too little thought has been given to the future of the Australian economy against the backdrop of a protectionist America.
$90b wipeout in superannuation wealth could force RBA to cut rates
There’s good news and bad news for Australian households as Trump’s trade agenda pushes the sharemarket into correction territory.
The real reason Trump is taking a whack at Aussie beef
Local cattlemen say American ranchers don’t sell their beef in Australia because it is not economical to do so.
Norfolk Islanders overjoyed at brief elevation to tariff bad boys list
News that Norfolk Island was “ripping off” the US so much it would face a 29 per cent tariff was unexpected, to put it mildly.
The Trump tariff winners and losers
The US president’s heavy-handed move to hit trading partners with levies as high as 49 per cent has sent markets tumbling. But it’s not a disaster for everyone.
Trump tariffs to force RBA to cut rates up to four times in 2025
Economists predict the trade war will cause a global slowdown that will impact the Australian economy, with markets increasingly certain of a rate reduction in May.
How Trump’s tariffs will hit Australia, in four charts
The direct effect will be modest but, for a trading nation such as ours, the indirect consequences of “liberation day” could be significant.
Gen Z aren’t voting left or right, they want to smash the system
Young constituents are not primarily animated by “wokeism” or culture wars. Their grievances are material – housing, jobs, and living standards.
Chalmers’ broken budget rule is a slippery slope in a world of debt
Australia has relatively moderate federal debt levels compared with most countries. But the picture is not so benign if ballooning state government debts are added.