Menu Close

Articles on Economics

Displaying 361 - 380 of 644 articles

Inflation has been doggedly low, so it’s not clear that the 2.5% expectation for inflation is going to turn out to be right. Dan Peled/AAP

Vital Signs: the RBA’s still longing for Goldilocks growth

This week’s strong growth in full-time employment shows a robust labour market. This only deepens the puzzle of why inflation is so low at the same time.
Stable food prices are a central issue for South Africa’s Reserve Bank. But should it be doing more to protect the poor? Reuters/Siphiwe Sibeko

South Africa needs a sensible debate about its Reserve Bank. Here’s a start

There’s a raging debate in South Africa about the role of its central bank. This is inevitable given that so much is changing in the world of central banking and in economic life.
With slow wages growth it is hard for household to “delever” themselves. Paul Miller/AAP

Vital Signs: the RBA was right to keep rates on hold

The amount of Australians in mortgage stress is the reason why wages growth and the labour market are such a problem - and a big reason for the RBA not to raise rates any time soon.
The G20 displayed unprecedented global economic leadership in the past. That leadership is needed again today. Hannibal Hanschke/Reuters

The G20’s economic leadership deficit

The G20 has stopped showing economic leadership at a time when risks are high. Australia can play a role in addressing this.
Unexpected increases in housing prices could have caused buyers considering home ownership to borrow more in order to buy a house, and encouraged homeowners to spend more through withdrawing the equity from their homes. Dan Peled/AAP

Australians are working longer so they can pay off their mortgage debt

Research finds higher levels of housing debt among pre-retirees are linked to them working for longer.
Slow but steady decline in home ownership continues as 23.6% of all Australian households now rent privately. David Gray/Reuters

Home ownership remains strong in Australia but it masks other problems: Census data

The latest 2016 Census data assesses what the national home ownership and rental rates are and how these vary location. It also gives us a picture of mortgage and rental costs.
Be careful! In Uttar Pradesh, the cow trade is now almost wholly criminalised. Jitendra Prakash/Reuters

‘Cow economics’ are killing India’s working class

A crackdown on the beef and leather trades has put hundreds of thousands of Indian Muslims and Dalits out of work, vexing already-tense religious relations and hurting India’s economy.
Many other businesses are already involved in OBOR, albeit with a cautious approach. Guang Niu/Reuters

Australia risks missing out on China’s One Belt One Road

Australia has so far declined China’s offer to formally link the Northern Australia project to OBOR. But it risks losing out on trade and investment if the government doesn’t take a stronger approach.
Because the threshold for the Medicare levy exemption is based on family income, the reform will reinforce the move towards higher effective tax rates on low income second earners in a family. Joe Castro/AAP

Shifting the tax burden to middle-income earners will undermine jobs and growth

With its recent budget changes, the government is proposing a rise in marginal tax rates across a wide band of middle incomes and a marginal tax rate cut for the top.

Top contributors

More