Using higher interest rates to contain inflation creates winners and losers rather than sustainably making living more affordable.
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Articles on Consumer price index (CPI)
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Individual Australians are in a recession, with per-person income slipping since mid-2022. Interest rates are falling overseas. So forget rate hikes: the RBA’s next move is likely to be down.
How do we know if prices are going up across the whole economy, or just for some products? One solution is to create an index of price changes across the entire economy – but this isn’t perfect.
The result of 3.8% is what the Reserve Bank expected. The so-called underlying rate of inflation actually fell.
The Reserve Bank will decide whether to hike or hold rates next Tuesday. The
bank’s new deputy governor has offered us some clues to which way they might go.
The Federal Reserve is being characteristically cautious.
Only one-third of the top economists surveyed give Jim Chalmers’ third budget an A or a B, down from two-thirds in 2023. Many say it left big issues unaddressed.
UK inflation fell to 2.3% in the year to April – but it doesn’t necessarily mean the squeeze on household finances is to end.
Investors, homebuyers and central bankers all have reason to be irritated by the latest data, and inflation isn’t licked just yet. But the numbers also show reason for optimism.
Unemployment and related payments for working-age people were given a welcome boost in last year’s budget. But they remain well below pensions, and far from adequate.
Australia’s inflation rate has halved, but it’s falling more slowly than it was, and previous high inflation is set to push up student debt.
In this podcast, we're joined by independent economist Chris Richardson to discuss the upcoming budget and Australia's economic outlook.
The indexation of student debt is arguably the federal government’s biggest political problem when it comes to universities.
The real question in the minds of many economists is what the trend in inflation will be going forward, and when interest rates will begin to fall and bring relief to Canadians.
On one measure the latest inflation rate is just 3.4%, within spitting distance of the Reserve Bank’s 2–3% target.
Two important inflation indicators are trending in different directions. What gives?
Per person, we’re spending less this year – even on this year’s much hyped Black Friday sales. If that continues over summer and inflation stays low, a rate hike in February 2024 looks unlikely.
Average prices fell in October, driven down by dives in the price of petrol and overseas travel, and an increase in Commonwealth Rent assistance.
Prices remain high and there is much more the government could do to help people.
The governor’s remarks about the board “not hesitating” to raise rates further aren’t as clear cut as they seem.
Top contributors
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Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University
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Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra
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Professor of Economics, UNSW Sydney
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Assistant Professor of Economics, Clark University
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Professor of Economics, University of Nebraska Omaha
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Professor of Finance, North Carolina State University
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Professor of Finance and Fred T. Tattersall Excellence in Finance Research Chair, West Virginia University
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Associate Professor of Markets, Public Policy and Law, Boston University
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Associate Professor of Economics, Pace University
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Lecturer in Economics, Monash University
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Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University
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Teaching Focused Lecturer in Econometrics, University of Manchester
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ARC Future Fellow & Professor of Economics, Curtin University
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Associate Professor of Finance, Texas State University
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Professor, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto
