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Articles on Debt

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Angela Merkel has thus far closed her eyes to the need for more spending, at her country’s peril. Reuters

Germany may be the biggest loser if it doesn’t start spending

There’s growing pressure on Germany to spend more to support Europe – and for good reason. But it’s proving to be a hard sell to the country’s leaders. Germany’s budget is balanced and the government insists…
Ordinary people stand to lose if Argentina’s economy collapses. EPA/David Fernandez

Why Argentina matters for indebted countries everywhere

Another week, another proposal to deal with Argentina’s debt. The latest one, by the Argentine president, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, is to launch a voluntary debt swap where investors holding defaulted…
In the eye of the beholders, dollar dominance rules. http://www.welovecostarica.com/watching/

Why dollar dominance is secure despite growth of global rivals

In imploring the world to be less dependent on the US dollar for international transactions, French finance minister Michel Sapin is expressing a wish that many of the euro’s creators hoped would already…
The drive to privatise was popular during the Howard era. Alan Porritt/AAP

Asset recycling scheme looks more like policy recycling

The Abbott government is about to unveil a new A$10 billion infrastructure package in its first budget. Apparently it is to be funded by a “special immediate measure” in the form of a levy imposed on high-income…
Debt; dollar; deficit - the mantra for this year, amid a turbulent political period. AAP

2013, the year that was: Business and Economy

Debt. Dollar. Deficits. Three little words so close to the hearts of our contributors in a year dominated by a critical federal election, a waning mining boom and continuing international turbulence. The…
Will the credit card cover this? ben_osteen

Time to stop inflating the household debt bubble

Household debt in the UK recently hit a record high, surpassing the previous peak reached in September 2008. That was the month when Lehman Brothers collapsed, sparking off the global financial crisis…
Tony Abbott now faces the familiar issues of trust. AAP/Aman Sharma

Abbott digs himself into deeper Gonski hole

Tony Abbott enters the last parliamentary fortnight highly vulnerable on that familiar issue of “trust” – and it is all his own doing. The Prime Minister today added to the ammunition the opposition has…
How does Australia’s economy stack up when compared globally?

FactCheck: how strong is Australia’s economy?

“We have among the lowest of budget deficits and debt to GDP of any other major economies in the developed world… If it’s so bad, Mr Abbott, why have we been given by the three ratings agencies a AAA credit…
The federal government’s Farm Finance package includes concessional loans to help farmers restructure and improve productivity - but carries the risk of heaping them with more debt.

Farm Finance package is flawed - and there is a better option

The Federal Government’s new Farm Finance assistance package includes concessional loans to help farms restructure debt and invest in productivity. But this is a back-to-the-future response that carries…
While the blame game for the deficit continues, the economy remains vulnerable to future turbulence. AAP/ Alan Porritt

Why deficits leave us ill-prepared for future shocks

Labor has said all options are on the table to address Australia’s structural deficit and falling tax revenues, following disclosure this week of a $12 billion revenue shortfall, just weeks from the federal…
There are economic and moral justifications for debt forgiveness. www.shutterstock.com

The debt jubilee: an Old Testament solution to a modern financial crisis?

The overhang of debt in Europe and the US has made recovery from the global financial crisis particularly tenuous. Is there a dramatic and simple way out of all this? Some argue that there is: a “debt…
There’s a strong financial case to selling Medibank Private, but politics has made privatisation an unpopular choice. AAP/ Joel Carrett

Privatising Medibank: good business hamstrung by bad politics

At first sight it is surprising that neither the government nor the opposition, both seeking budgetary savings, is proposing to sell Medibank Private. When retiring Medibank Private chairman Paul McClintock…

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