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John KehoeFinancial Review |
There is a quirk in the measurement of underlying inflation in the December quarter that may put pressure on the RBA to cut interest rates early next...
Despite near-record government revenues, a spending surge is causing a big blowout in budget deficits over future years.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers has selected two good candidates and should be congratulated for shoring up the RBA at a pivotal time in the inflation fight.
Australia is sleepwalking to stagnant living standards unless we adopt an agenda that restrains government and allows the private sector to flourish.
The state’s new strategy resembles a political document drawn up in an episode of Utopia rather than a serious economic blueprint to revive the...
The Reserve Bank board has noticed that parts of the economy such as consumer spending and wage growth have been a bit softer than anticipated.
Claims the central bank is needlessly throwing vulnerable Australians out of work are not backed up by the statistics.
The national accounts make grim reading and are indisputably worse than expected.
The government has rejected a proposal by banks to pause regional branch closures instead of a mooted $350 million levy, as a rift deepens between...
The success of the treasurer’s historic separation of the central bank’s board will hinge on who he appoints.
Treasury has come up with a radical but rushed plan to make all banks fund those with the biggest regional reach. But there is no guarantee that it...
Jim Chalmers insists Labor is making only a subtle change to the sovereign wealth fund’s investment mandate. But it could be a slippery slope.
Former BHP economist Huw McKay believes that the iron ore price will not necessarily suffer. The costs may come elsewhere.
Huw McKay expects Donald Trump’s re-election to have implications for commodities, global trade patterns and Australia.
Previous governments went for hard and unpopular reforms. Anthony Albanese chooses the easy and populist.
A rate cut before the federal election now looks like only a possibility and not a done deal, putting the government and opposition on notice to be...
The US election result next week will influence the world’s global climate change action plans, including Australia.
Young people, parents and grandparents should all have a stake in fixing arguably the No.1 economic and social challenge, writes John Kehoe.
Financial success of public leaders is celebrated in the United States. But in Australia, it is political poison.
The central bank has adopted a softer approach on interest rates than foreign counterparts, so local borrowers will need to be patient.
The holding of confidential meetings can backfire when some people think that others are getting advantaged access to the central bank’s thinking.
The treasurer has delivered a solid second budget surplus of $15.8 billion on the back of booming income tax receipts, but future spending pressures...
Like the mining investment boom of the early 2000s, the economic shock from higher government spending will have implications for inflation,...
Further childcare subsidies will likely require an explicit new tax rise to fund it. Billions of dollars of more debt can’t be added to the national...
A central problem is that good economic policies have not been well communicated and have often been debated in an echo chamber of elites.
Beyond the NDIS blowout, Shorten failed to build a new Labor economic growth project that was more aspirational for hard-working and over-taxed wage...
More expertise on the central bank’s board could help avoid an unfortunate repeat of Philip Lowe’s pandemic-era guidance that interest rates were...
Inside Australia’s national security and economic agencies, a new vexing issue about China is being discussed.
While Treasurer Jim Chalmers will welcome Wednesday’s lower inflation number, the RBA won’t be fooled by the temporary and artificial effect of...
Treasurers have often tried to muzzle bankers and economists undermining the government’s economic narrative.
If Bill Shorten is so worried the RBA could cause a recession, he should listen to Michele Bullock and Matt Comyn and kick the addiction to government...
The Albanese government has fallen into the trap of trying to achieve political wins at high economic cost. And nobody is stopping them.
The Albanese government has fallen into the trap of trying to achieve political wins at high economic cost. And nobody is stopping them.
Reserve Bank of Australia governor Michele Bullock has sent a stern reminder that the sharemarket is not the economy.
It may seem hard to argue against making people with high superannuation balances pay more tax, but implementing it is a dog’s breakfast.
The consumer price figures were not as bad as feared, but inflation remains persistent and higher-for-longer interest rates will be required.
Premiums have doubled for some aged care providers and directors, due to potential big fines and jail time for breaching proposed tougher laws.
The brutal reality is that taxpayers and consumers will be on the hook for much higher costs under a renewable or nuclear energy system.
The moment of truth to test Australian exceptionalism is about to arrive. Persistent local inflation suggests the strategy is coming under pressure...
Governor Michele Bullock will be troubled by the latest inflation data, and contemplating the real possibility of an interest rate rise at the August...
The insidious link between professional sport and betting was exposed by Gillon McLachlan’s appointment as chief executive of Tabcorp.
An anxious Reserve Bank of Australia is hoping for a pick-up in labour productivity this year to help alleviate the economy’s inflation problem.
The CSIRO must give a better “apples with apples” comparison of nuclear and renewables to inform the energy transition debate.
The economic and interest rate cycle in Australia is quite different to our Canadian cousins, despite the similarity in the structure of the...
The economy is barely crawling, but weak 0.1 per cent quarterly growth should be considered a Goldilocks scenario for Treasurer Jim Chalmers and the...
Virtually everyone is protected by the government from inflation eroding their real incomes, except the humble wage earner.
Instead of imposing a carbon levy on polluters to fund big personal income tax cuts, governments are gambling taxpayer money on climate and energy...
For hard-working taxpayers, the NDIS minister must deliver his pledged $14.4 billion savings, not just forecasts.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers stood in front of 600 guests at his post-budget speech in Parliament House on Wednesday and repeated a misleading number...
Treasurers have been extremely lucky to receive big tax revenue windfalls from the China-driven mining boom, but none have been as lucky as Jim...