In May, Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor Party defeated the conservative coalition that had led Australia since 2013. Climate change—as well as wage growth and reconciliation with Indigenous Australians—was a major issue in the campaign, stoked by the country’s wildfires, floods  and other natural calamities, which scientists say are getting worse with rising temperatures. As prime ...

The latest official statistics confirm Australia’s economy is back among the world’s leaders, as Alan Austin reports. *Also listen to the audio version of this article on Spotify HERE. AFTER NINE YEARS as one of the biggest losers on economic growth, Australia is back in the developed world’s top ten. It has skidded in sideways at high ...

Change is in the air and, for many, it’s deeply unsettling. The financial markets, for one, are betting on a better-than-even chance the Reserve Bank will again raise its cash rate by another 0.5 percentage points on Tuesday as it — and other central banks — wrestles with the worst inflation outbreak in decades. On the flip ...

You’d think we’d get better at predicting the future. Consider all those high-brow economic models, the amount of brainpower employed — not to mention the huge store of data and experience — we can draw upon. But our success rates in anticipating problems seem to be on the decline. When it comes to solving them, the situation is even worse. ...

There are fresh calls for big business to rein in their big or “supernormal” profits in order to provide low wage earners some desperately needed household budget relief. Key points: Big oil and gas companies almost doubled their profits in six months An interim report shows the productivity growth that drives real wages is at ...

There’s a bizarre lack of clarity over a particularly crucial economic data point that affects every Australian. We are all aware of the rising cost of living: gas bills, filling up at the petrol pump, food, transport and home building. Many of us don’t need the quarterly CPI or inflation statistics from the Bureau of ...

Today marks two months since the election. It’s been a busy period. Four prime ministerial trips abroad, efforts to repair diplomatic rifts, an energy crisis, a worsening inflation problem, and a new wave of COVID. Some election promises have already been implemented. Others are subject to reviews, consultations and cross-bench negotiations. The Opposition has grumbled ...

For life as we know it to persist, we must acknowledge there are natural limits to growth. Economic growth equals increased demand, which is simply not sustainable in a finite world, writes Keith Presnell. THERE IS A dark side to economic growth. History has seen human communities evolve from hunter-gatherers to agriculturalists, to industrialists and more ...

The Australian economy is facing challenges from multiple directions. High inflation, rising interest rates and a decline in real wages have clouded the country’s economic outlook. These factors together have created a highly volatile environment, making the post-pandemic recovery a mammoth task for authorities. The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) started its rate hike journey ...

For all the Coalition’s boasts about superior economic management, Anthony Albanese’s primary task will be to navigate his new government through the minefield bequeathed to him by his predecessors. Mounting deficits, a mountain of debt, an overstimulated economy and ill-disciplined spending are all operating in a macro-economic environment that no longer reacts or behaves the ...