Economic policy
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Subs and secrets: Will Australia choose AUKUS or sovereignty?
Australians have become locked in to US military planning, entrenching our status as a US staging post. In this more dangerous world is a country’s sovereignty now a myth? Continue reading »
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Ending ‘Dog Days’ stagnant living standards
Over the past decade, Australia has endured its worst stagnation in living standards since the Great Depression of the 1930s, and has lost its way in terms of economic policies that can restore prosperity, says Ross Garnaut in conversation with Michael Lester. Continue reading »
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Gross inequality and economic injustice: How did it come to this?
“Remoteness between ownership and operation … is an evil in the relations between men, likely or certain in the long run to set up strains and enmities which will bring to nought the financial calculation.” – John Maynard Keynes Continue reading »
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Ken Henry: Is Australia an extractive or a productive economy?
Is our dependence on mining a sign of economic weakness? Is Australia suffering from the “resource curse”? This idea is a strong theme in Ken Henry’s address to the Royal Society of New South Wales: Inequality in Australia. Continue reading »
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The US election campaign: Lessons for Australia
Just like in the US , the next Australian election will be decided by the cost of living. Both the US and Australian economies have performed quite well, in difficult circumstances. However, the lesson from the US election is that both Governments need to tell their story better. Continue reading »
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‘Tis the voice of the lobster: reflections on Australia-China trade
Australian rock lobster exports to China were worth over $700 million in 2019. Last week PM Albanese announced the imminent lifting of restrictions by the end of the year amd credited the improvement of bilateral relations. Things however are a little more fishy. Continue reading »
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Productivity growth has slowed: will it recover?
Restoring the rate of productivity growth is critical to future living standards, but unless technological change accelerates living standards may not increase as fast as we are used to in future. Continue reading »
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International comparisons of monetary policy
Much of the expert commentary on Australia’s monetary policy settings is guided by what is happening in other countries. However, monetary tightening can have a markedly different impact in different countries, and while Australia appears to have been more cautious, so far it seems to have managed well. Continue reading »
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RBA independence – a dissenting view from within the ivory tower
Considerable heat has been generated lately about whether the treasurer should have the power to override Reserve Bank policy where it is deemed necessary. Howls of protest can be heard from the defenders — most economists among them — of Reserve Bank independence, that such a possibility could even be considered. Continue reading »
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Inflation is the ‘godsend of capitalism’
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) attempts to corral inflation into narrow limits and stabilise the national economy. But as inflation becomes increasingly intractable we must ask, do market-dominant companies employ inflation to reset their profit margins ever higher? Continue reading »
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Mismanagement of Australia’s monetary system
I submit that the current Australian monetary policies are not in the best interests of the population. Continue reading »
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Fundamental economic reform called for ahead of China’s Third Plenum
“The core factor causing current economic problems is not real estate but the contraction of government spending” according to David Daokui Li, Tsinghua University. “The entire government’s operational orientation needs to be changed by reforming the fiscal and tax systems and local officials’ assessment indicators to shift government incentives from investment and project-oriented policies to Continue reading »
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Guns, butter & taxes: hard choices, volatile economy
The Australian government needs to stand up against growing global protectionism and make some hard budgetary choices between guns and butter, defence and welfare, and the need to reform taxes if it is to avoid taking on too much at once in a world economy characterised by uncertainty and geopolitical tensions, and in an Australian Continue reading »
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The cost of living and housing affordability
The cost-of-living crisis mainly reflects a decline in housing affordability. A consequence is that this crisis is much worse for middle-income people, who are typically middle-aged, and who are most likely to have a substantial mortgage. Continue reading »
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Reserve Bank has squeezed us like a lemon, but it’s still not happy
Let me be the last to tell you the economy has almost ground to a halt and is teetering on the edge of recession. This has happened by design, not accident. But it doesn’t seem to be working properly. So, what happens now? Until we think of something better, more of the same. Continue reading »
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Our great leap backward in China trade ignores China specialists
Last month Prime Minister Albanese cheerfully welcomed the Chinese government’s removal of import duties on Australian wine. Continue reading »
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Labor deploys ‘security’ to protect bad policy from proper scrutiny
Politicians are increasingly using the word to justify bad policy initiatives and fend off criticism of their decisions. Continue reading »
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The great winner picking winner stopping show
In that newspaper of record of extraordinary bias – The Australian – there is much preaching about the sanctity of the market mechanism and the absolute folly of the government’s plan to subsidise investment in new industries. Such sharp economic brains have not, however, cared to admonish nor demand we terminate the massive subsidies given Continue reading »
