There is always a lot of talk about the economy. The headline these days is the deepening cost of living crisis. A subscript is whether the Reserve Bank will put up interest rates or not. Then there are the unaffordable cost of housing and the rise of price gouging by retail monopolies. Sometimes we hear arguments about the budget deficit and productivity. Continue reading A better future depends on setting new priorities for the Australia economy
Peter Martin, who is a visiting fellow at the Crawford School of Public Policy of the Australian National University (ANU), wrote an article about the Green’s proposal for a super profits tax. This article has just been published by The Conversation (4 September 2024). Continue reading A super profit tax would be good for Australia
Continue reading Is Australia ‘giving away’ its natural resources?
Economics writer for The Guardian and policy director at the Centre for Future Work, Greg Jericho, is right to counter the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) deputy governor assertion that the economy is over heated and needs slowing. Andrew Hauser made this comment in during speech last week at an event of the Economic Society of Australia. Greg Jericho was also right to back Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmer’s retort that the economy doesn’t need slowing. Continue reading High cost of living and inflation the result of bad debt and stagnant wages
by Joe Montero
It appears that Australia’s prime minister is shifting towards greater interventionism to repair Australia’s economy. Does this mean neoliberalism has ended for Labor? Or does it mean something else?
Labor’s proposed Future Made in Australia Act it is claimed, is a package to do just this, and it even boasts that a part that will see significant government investment to rebuild Australian manufacturing, which will create thousands of new jobs and provide an opportunity to move towards a sustainable low carbon economy. Continue reading Albanese promises a new manufacturing economy for Australia
Anger against big price rises by the Coles and Woolworths supermarket duopoly has been on the rise in recent times. The Australian community believes that the extent of these price rises is unjust and that it amounts to robbing their customers. This makes perfect sense when you look into it. Continue reading Public anger results in promise to curb supermarket monopolies
Some of the agencies that tell us how the Australian economy is going seem to be exhibiting a bit of honesty. The reason for saying this is that analysis and predictions are routinely conditioned by business needs. Institutions like banks and financial advisers, and others profiting from providing good news to their clients, have an incentive to mould their reports in this direction, Government agencies have their own incentive to take account of the political agenda of the government that that employs them.
On top of this, there is the orthodoxy of the existing dominant political theory that the role of government is to lift the morale of investors and let the market take care of the rest. Continue reading Economic forecasters give a glimpse of the truth for once
Anthony Albanese faced a great deal of opposition to his promise to keep Scott Morrison’s promise for big tax cuts for the very rich since the day of the election that made him Prime Minister. In fact, it threatened to Cause instability within the Labor Party. The angst was just contained in last year’s national party conference in Brisbane last year. Continue reading Albo’s tax cuts change more public relations than substance
In the wake of the fiasco of the voice referendum and a response to Israel’s attack on Israel that pleases no-one, the Essential Poll commissioned by the Guardian newspaper has revealed that more people disapprove than approve of Anthony Albanese’s performance as Prime Minister of Australia and the direction in which the country is going. Continue reading Australia demands a change in direction according to the latest Essential Poll
The amazing ability of our politicians, whether we’re talking about the government or opposition, to admit that the vast majority of Australians are becoming progressively worse off, and that this has its genesis in fundamental structural weaknesses in the economy, speaks volumes. Continue reading Australia’s economy still crying out for a change in direction
