When attendees at the annual Jackson Hole symposium get a chance to chat, they might muse about central banks targeting nominal GDP instead of inflation.
Reuters/Jonathan Crosby
Central banks around the world are struggling with the failure of low (or negative) interest rates to breathe life back into ailing economies.
Some heavy hitters think it’s time the RBA’s role shifted a little.
Dean Lewins/AAP
Independent Senator Nick Xenophon wants the RBA to focus on economic growth, and he’s not alone.
The RBA has cut rates to try and stimulate inflation and growth.
Dean Lewins/AAP
Economists are divided on whether the latest interest rate cut to 1.5% was needed, as the RBA tries to boost inflation and growth.
With Australia cutting and the US raising rates the Australian dollar looks likely to fall.
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All economic data is pointing to disappointing global growth.
Incoming RBA governor Philip Lowe
AAP/Alan Porritt
Incoming Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe will face the challenges of rapid credit and asset prices growth.
Vilification of welfare recipients is a significant barrier to a universal basic income.
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Paying every citizen a basic living wage sounds costly and counter-intuitive to reducing unemployment. But Finland is about to do it and Australia could too.
African countries are facing a huge problem brought on by a sovereign debt crisis.
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At least a dozen sub-Saharan Africa countries have raised debt through sovereign bonds. The chickens are now coming home to roost.
Reuters/David Gray
There are some good reasons why the RBA should retain its flexibility in managing inflation.
Rousseff faces her biggest trial.
Adriano Machado/Reuters
Rousseff is about to go on trial for allegedly borrowing $11 billion to fund social programs and conceal a budget deficit. Why is that a crime?
rates.
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Watch out on budget day for how creative Treasury assumptions are on inflation.
African governments have some hard decisions to make if they want to breathe new life into the ‘Africa Rising’ narrative.
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Africa needs to navigate the difficult economic waters that lie ahead without undoing the gains of the past two decades. Success will require difficult political choices.
South Africa’s Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan’s budget fell short on cost-cutting details.
REUTERS/Mike Hutchings
The budget showed some sense of urgency but still fell short on implementation plans. There should have been more, particularly details on cost-cutting initiatives.
Thousands of civil service employees gather during a protest march for higher pay at the Union Buildings in Pretoria in 2010.
EPA/Jon Hrusa
South Africa’s government should urgently announce a moratorium on civil service employment growth. The country has reached its upper limit in the number of civil servants that can be sustained.
The Australian dollar has remained low for some time, but the expected growth uptick is yet to arrive.
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The reporting of “higher than expected” inflation seemed a bit overblown.
Her hands may be folded, but Janet Yellen is far from inactive.
Reuters
The Fed decided to hold its key interest rate at about zero, but that doesn’t mean it did nothing.
Chair Yellen and her colleagues decided the economy isn’t ready.
Reuters
The Fed’s policy-setting committee decided to keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged. Here’s why that’s the wrong call.
Scientists are searching for collisions between different ‘universe bubbles’ in the cosmic microwave background.
Geralt
The idea that our universe is just one in a ‘multiverse’ of parallel universes is increasingly gathering attention from cosmologists. But can we ever test the theory?
Running the economy is a bit like running a race…
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My buddy is training for his third Chicago Marathon. I’m preparing for a 10K mud-run. He’s really fit and a family nurse practitioner, so I seek his advice on how to get in shape and what to eat. His advice…
Practically worthless.
EPA/Aaron Ufumeli
Zimbabwe dollars are being decommissioned at a rate of 35 quadrillion per US dollar, with eight alternative currencies to choose from.
Most private sector workers are feeling fatter wallets these days because inflation has been so low.
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Inflation-adjusted wages for most private-sector workers are the highest since 1979.