The RBA governor gave a speech on demographics and monetary policy.
AAP
The new RBA monetary statement is just like the old one.
The United States reported 4.1% GDP growth for the second quarter.
US quarterly GDP is at its highest point since 2014, but it’s unlikely to last for a number of reasons.
Can the RBA do anything to address persistently low inflation?
AAP
As with economic growth and wages, the RBA’s response seems to involve crossing as many fingers and toes as possible and publicly proclaiming that things are looking good.
Despite a huge increase in employment, the unemployment rate is unchanged.
AAP
A big increase in employment but the unemployment is flat. Addressing this will be a challenge as all our options have downsides.
The air may fizzle out of the Australian balloon, or it may burst violently.
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A whole bunch of folks are on the wire, and if their housing payments go up they are going to struggle.
The US and China are racing to control their economies.
FACUNDO ARRIZABALAGA/AAP
At least for the next few months, what happens overseas will be more important for the Australian economy than domestic factors
Protestors call for an investigation into bank regulator APRA outside the Commonwealth Law Courts Building in Melbourne, location of the banking royal commission.
Luis Ascui/AAP
All eyes will be on how ASIC and APRA respond to the findings of the banking royal commission. Will they be defensive about past mistakes, or move forward with tighter regulations?
There were interesting developments in the tit-for-tat tariff announcements between the US and China this week.
Roman Pilipey/EPA/AAP
Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke of plans to further open up the Chinese economy this week - and the world economy should hope US president Trump feels vindicated by this.
Unfortunately for the RBA, the health of the economy is not measured on the Geologic Time Scale.
Alfonso Silóniz/Flickr
The Reserve Bank is clinging to sunny GDP forecasts, but stubbornly low inflation and low wage growth mean even these look weak.
Construction of new dwellings was up 3.1% in January 2018.
Alan Porritt/AAP
The construction sector works on a bit of a time lag. So there are a bunch of projects underway that were premised on the loose credit of recent years.
Construction of apartments will be a key thing to watch in 2018.
Tracey Nearmy/AAP
Statements from the RBA show it’s little wonder markets are not predicting a rate increase this year.
New Fed chair Jerome Powell has some tough choices ahead.
AAP
The data shows a tricky balancing act for policy makers. Interest rates will need to rise but too quickly could squash the recovery.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics has changed what goes into its inflation calculation.
AAP
Weak Australian inflation and housing credit data mean the Reserve Bank is unlikely to move on interest rates.
The latest data shows a big jump in jobs, but construction is slowing.
The number of jobs might be going up but the real test will be whether wages rise too.
There are some risks, like a crash in the price of Bitcoin, that are more certain than others in 2018.
Lucas Jackson/Reuters
The odds are that we get through 2018 without war, mass capital flight, or a housing crash. But all the risks are medium probability, and the consequences could be dire.
It’s hard to get a fix on where Australia’s economy is headed.
Garry Knight/Flickr
Housing and wages loom as stubborn problems that could bring our economy unstuck in the year ahead.
We don’t know for sure if any of these things could happen, but if they do we’re in for a wild ride in 2018.
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Any number of implicit and explicit deadlines make 2018 look like a more eventful year than most.
Treasurer Scott Morrison is eager to point out jobs growth, but wages growth remains stubbornly slow.
Daniel Munoz/AAP
The narrative that Australia has “transitioned from the mining boom successfully” seems a lot like wishful thinking.
Outlook not so great?
Tracey Nearmy/AAP
Business conditions aren’t translating to confidence, despite growing profits and jobs.
Image sourced from shutterstock.com
Why is it that the US – which suffered a major downturn – seems to have a stronger economy than Australia , which did not even go into recession in 2008-09?