Writer
Ian Verrender
Ian Verrender is the ABC’s business editor. A journalist for more than 30 years, Verrender spent 25 years at The Sydney Morning Herald in a variety of roles including senior writer and business editor.
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Company director is the one job where pay and performance don’t matter (ABC Oct 27, 2020)
For generations, it has been the nation’s most exclusive club. Entry is strictly invitation only. And while acceptance is difficult, once you’re in, you’re in for the long haul. Continue reading »
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IAN VERRENDER. Josh Frydenberg’s first MYEFO will be declared a triumph, but why did it take so long to fix the books?
Better late than never. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg this morning officially will unsheathe the first federal Budget surplus in more than a decade. Continue reading »
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IAN VERRENDER. The banks, the Government and the half-trillion-dollar super grab.
So close, but no cigar. Just when they appeared on the cusp of victory, the major banks and AMP have had their ambitions to grab control of a lucrative section of the superannuation industry crushed. Continue reading »
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IAN VERRENDER. Why global markets are in free-fall
It was always going to be a tough ask. How to remove all that stimulus, all those trillions of freshly minted dollars in emergency money from an economy, without causing conniptions on financial markets? Continue reading »
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IAN VERRENDER. Productivity Commission pulls no punches on ‘appalling’ energy crisis, calls for carbon price
Basil Fawlty couldn’t have done it better. Treasurer Scott Morrison last week stood at the lectern and delivered a thundering dissertation on the urgent need for cuts to company taxes. Continue reading »
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IAN VERRENDER. The case for an east coast gas reservation policy
A little over a decade ago, then-West Australian premier Alan Carpenter had his back against the wall with threats from the gas and oil companies.. But he insisted on a gas reservation policy for WA. Exxon quickly came to heel. Continue reading »
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IAN VERRENDER. How the Commonwealth Bank laid the groundwork for a royal commission
Where do you start? A total clean-out of the board and management of the Commonwealth Bank, a complete rethink of the role of our financial institutions, or a subjective investigation on the impact of new technology and whether it can replace human involvement? Continue reading »
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IAN VERRENDER. Why you’re about to pay through the nose for power
It was a rare moment of triumph for a Prime Minister frustrated in his dealings with a difficult Senate. Continue reading »
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IAN VERRENDER. Distribution of debt poses new trigger to the property, housing market
The trigger has been cocked. Our attitude to property has changed. No longer is it merely a castle, a family retreat and a place in which to find shelter. It’s now a highly geared investment vehicle. It will take enormous skill and a huge degree of luck for our regulators to reset the safety catch. Continue reading »
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IAN VERRENDER. How the free market failed Australia and priced us out of our own gas supply
We are the landlords. The energy companies are tenants. If we had a controlling stake in the business, it would be much easier to ensure the kind of chicanery that has taken place in the past few years was never repeated. There would never be shortages. Continue reading »
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IAN VERRENDER. Malcolm Turnbull faces growing discontent from the middle, not just the fringes
Has there ever been a more demoralising time to be Prime Minister? There’s been the expected sniping from the sidelines and the continued calls for the Coalition to shore up its base and prevent leakage to parties like One Nation. Continue reading »
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IAN VERRENDER. Coal-fired generators have no future in Australia.
From an economic perspective, it would be far more efficient to eliminate subsidies altogether and to put a price on carbon that reflected its true cost. Private investors then would be able to choose which technology was most efficient. Continue reading »
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IAN VERRENDER. Election 2016: Who would want to inherit this budget mess?
This election isn’t one that anyone would want to win. The global economy is uncertain, our debt is rising, and it seems we’ll be relying on luck rather than management to avoid a recession, writes Ian Verrender. It was hardly the kind of message an incoming Prime Minister would wish to hear. Not long after Continue reading »
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Ian Verrender. Turnbull will have a tough sell on economic policy
Malcolm Turnbull is hardly going to win votes by spruiking the economic record of his predecessor. And yet he hasn’t exactly made any headway on his own tax reform or budget repair agenda, writes Ian Verrender. History, they say, is written by the victor. Try telling that to vanquished former prime minister Tony Abbott, who Continue reading »
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Ian Verrender. Think Whitlam ruined our economy? Think again.
There has been much comment about Gough Whitlam’s performance as an economic manager. Ian Verrender, the Economics Editor at the ABC, presents an alternative view. See link below. John Menadue http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-10-27/verrender-think-whitlam-ruined-our-economy-think-again/5842866 Continue reading »
