Picks of the Week
In this week’s essential reading guide, Kohler analyses the Fed’s rate rise, Gottliebsen zooms in on MYEFO and Thieberger observes the junk bond market.
How Scott Morrison plans to get Australia back on track
Robert Gottliebsen
Clearly there will be more budget cuts but given the state of the Senate there is a limit to how much revenue can be raised that way. That’s why the Treasurer’s growth plan is so important.
The hallmarks of a services-led economy
Miranda Maxwell
The lower Australian dollar will hasten jobs growth in tourism, accommodation and education over 2016, more than offsetting losses in mining.
Reality bites in the junk bond market
Victoria Thieberger
The Federal Reserve’s rate rise will be a wake-up call for investors who have piled into dubious risks that depended on rates remaining near zero forever.
Trump in Cruz control
Phil Quin
The fifth instalment of the Republican presidential debates saw the frontrunner calm and measured, by his standards, but Ted Cruz hitting his straps at the right time.
MYEFO’s tax pain is personal
Michael Potter
Personal tax increases of around $1,500 a head in real terms have been foreshadowed in the budget update.
An Israeli experiment in China
Peter Cai
The establishment of a Chinese campus of Israel’s storied Technion institute will boost the country’s start-up culture, but it needs more than just money to flourish.
London's housing market conundrum
Amber Plum
A longer-term constraint on housing supply in London is pushing up prices and demand to unsustainable levels, much to the chagrin of policymakers.
Most read
Four forces will test the Fed’s rate path
Robert Gottliebsen
The hawks in the US are looking for quarterly increases in rates for most of 2016. For these predictions to be right, four things need to happen.
Most commented
Wages need to go up
Alan Kohler
With population growth and household wealth both now slowing, the only way consumption is going to be lifted is through higher incomes.
Bank fee scandal bill mounts
Provisions by the finance sector for its fees-for-no-service scandal continue to grind towards $2bn and there’s more to come.
NAB ban beats Canberra heat
The Hayne report continues to make waves with NAB banning introducer payments ahead of a parliamentary grilling.
Rate Wars: the force awakens
Alan Kohler
The biggest challenge for central banks is that they have become little more than market players, influencing asset prices rather than activity in the real world.