Eco
The nuclear imperative
04 March 2010 | Phil Ruthven
Relative to its gross domestic product, Australia is a recalcitrant carbon emitter.
Gold passes its prime
04 March 2010 | Chris Richardson
I know you think all economists are boring - and you might just be right....
Print loses favour
25 February 2010 | Phil Ruthven
Scuttlebutt and news are always interesting, scandals and sensationalism even more so; but they're usually ruined by facts ...
A healthy alternative
25 February 2010 | Chris Richardson
My daughter - now aged 17 - has always cost a fortune ..
Economic snapshot
18 February 2010
Employment is now recovering strongly towards the 5 per cent mark that economists consider to be full employment - but many doubt that the pace can be sustained....
Reality and illusion
18 February 2010 | Phil Ruthven
For centuries up to World War I the English-speaking nations experienced almost no inflation, a result of the rigid gold standard implemented in Britain and its colonies for 217 years.
Public finance crisis
18 February 2010 | Shane Oliver
The blowout in sovereign debt, as a result of the financial crisis, is still a big issue.
Holiday dollar
11 February 2010 | Phil Ruthven
There has been a lot of fear in the tourism market about the lack of growth in inbound travel for some years.
Return of the glory days?
11 February 2010 | Chris Richardson
Australia's largest export earners - coal and iron ore - are mostly sold on annual price contracts that run from April 1 each year.
Uneven fortunes
04 February 2010 | Phil Ruthven
When comparing the states and territories of Australia, incomes and their increases do not always travel together with economic, population or productivity growth.
Economic snapshot (PDF)
04 February 2010
Inflation is back on the radar after underlying inflation remained high at 3.5 per cent in the last quarter of 2009. But the high dollar is helping to keep import prices down, and wages pressures appear subdued.
Bad for business
04 February 2010 | Sean Aylmer
Reserve Bank of Australia governor Glenn Stevens, market economists and analysts talk about interest rates being abnormally low, and that's why they are increasing.
Recovery won't be global
28 January 2010 | Phil Ruthven
The recovery from the global financial crisis promises to be uneven across regions and countries, with some nations vulnerable to a relapse.
Bank on a fightback
21 January 2010 | Kevin Chinnery
Around the world, regulators are trying to make banks safer - although less competitive - by making them hold more of their capital against the loans they have made.
Good, bad and misfits
21 January 2010 | Phil Ruthven
Are there good and bad industries? Most business leaders believe there are. Then there are those who suggest there is no such thing as a bad industry, just inept business people.
Capex outlook bright
21 January 2010 | Chris Richardson
Business confidence is soaring, sharemarkets are up and euphoria at Australia's ability to dodge the global bullet has left many wondering whether business investment spending will see a rapid return to new highs.
Danger signs emerge
14 January 2010 | Phil Ruthven
Some economists are warning of a potential inflation blow-out in 2011.
The learning curve
14 January 2010 | Chris Richardson
Germany's first chancellor, Otto von Bismarck, said the most important fact of the 19th century was that both the United States and the United Kingdom spoke the same language.
Economic snapshot
13 January 2010
Last year was one of the most memorable on record for the economy. But the statistics show Australia has often weathered comparatively worse in earlier years.
Golden rule
26 November 2009 | Phil Ruthven
The gold price has been breaking records recently as the weakening greenback makes the metal cheaper for buyers holding stronger currencies.
Population underload
19 November 2009 | Phil Ruthven
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has raised the need to co-ordinate all tiers of government to meet the challenges of urban population growth, accelerating faster than any period over the past quarter century.
China blessing and curse
19 November 2009 | Chris Richardson
Faster than a speeding global bullet, able to leap tall financial crises in a single bound, Australia has once again showed itself to be a miracle economy.
Lifting the standards
12 November 2009 | Phil Ruthven
The average standard of living of the world'sinhabitants was $US10,400 in purchasing power parity terms last year but is temporarily 2.5 per cent lower.
Multi-speed economy
05 November 2009 | Phil Ruthven
Australia's industry divisions travel at different speeds in any given year. The gap between the slowest and the fastest was a huge 17.3 per cent in 2008-09.
Greenback under pressure
05 November 2009 | Alan Carroll
Fear is growing that there will be a crisis associated with the United States dollar over the next five to 10 years. Its implications for Australia and the world are huge.
A new world order
29 October 2009 | Phil Ruthven
There has been a shuffling of nations in terms of importance for millennia, and this continues in the 21st century with a world that now has 228 nations.
Insurance for climate sceptics
29 October 2009 | Chris Richardson
It is more than the arrival of cockroaches - my home town, Canberra, used to be too cold for them - which suggests to me that global warming may be happening.
Savings can save all
22 October 2009 | Phil Ruthven
It is easy to be lulled into a fool's paradise of low interest rates. With this in mind, the Reserve Bank of Australia's 0.25 percentage point rise a few weeks ago was less of a salvo across the bows than a flare encouraging us to look beyond the horizon.
The problem with tax cuts
22 October 2009 | Chris Richardson
The Henry Review is to report soon. If the rumours running around Canberra are true, it has two main goals - to fix up state taxes and cut corporate taxes.
Enough spending
15 October 2009 | Phil Ruthven
When does it make sense to run government deficits? The short answer is rarely.
Mixed messages
15 October 2009
Economic spapshot: The dollar | Unemployment | Working hours
Back to growth as a given
15 October 2009 | Scott Haslem
Over a few years, the benefit of raising rates early and gradually to ensure the economy can recover sustainably and create jobs consistently should become clear.
Debt reckoning
08 October 2009 | Phil Ruthven
The failure of unemployment numbers in the United States to pull out of their slide underscores the weakness of banks, consumers and companies.
Inbound boost
08 October 2009 | Phil Ruthven
Barely a decade goes by without a fierce debate about the benefits or otherwise of population growth.
Long-term budget woes
08 October 2009 | Chris Richardson
Australia's economy is recovering well, but its federal budget isn't. We are about to get an update and the news is likely to be bad.
Room for growth
01 October 2009 | Kevin Chinnery
Australia's population grew at 2.1 per cent in the year to March, boosted by both record immigration and a rising natural increase.
Chaos dividend
01 October 2009 | Phil Ruthven
One of the ironies of the global financial crisis is that the country that started it created a new world record for profitability for the top 30 stock in the latest reporting year.
China's power struggle
01 October 2009 | Alan Carroll
Who really runs the Chinese Communist Party? The answer is of great importance to Australia.
Top 10 property shares
17 September 2009 | Ainslie Chandler and Damon Frith
Listed property is back in favour and cashed-up investors are looking for bargains as the economic recovery takes hold. Experts say 10 stocks stand out from the pack.
Trusts savour return to favour
17 September 2009 | Damon Frith
Listed property trusts were the worst performers when the sharemarket bottomed in March. Since then, they have been the second-best performers behind resources, and the rebound appears to be solid.
Exports of call
17 September 2009 | Phil Ruthven
The export trade has always been important to Australia's economy and standards of living but it has not always been intelligently handled, especially during the dark periods of protectionism for most of the 20th century.
Cost of dodging bullets
17 September 2009 | Chris Richardson
Half of the extra income to families has already disappeared, and much of the rest will go over the next 18 months.
Stimulus paves growth road
10 September 2009 | Anthony Sibillin
Government, migration and rural spending will tow the nation out of the economic downturn.
Sharing, caring society
10 September 2009 | Phil Ruthven
Social benefits of more than $110 billion will be paid to more than a fifth of the nation's households in the financial year through to next June.
Lessons in capitalism
10 September 2009 | Shane Oliver
Crises are part of the process of 'creative destruction' that has led to the big increase in material prosperity.
Recovery on track (PDF)
10 September 2009
All the relevant statistics to evaluate how the recovery is performing....
Hit and myths
03 September 2009 | Phil Ruthven
Many myths go unchallenged in the business world. The fallacy of the worst recession in more than 70 years is a prime example. There has been no recession and, in any case, there have been seven worse falls in the economy in this time.
Pragmatism rules
03 September 2009 | Alan Carroll
Much has been written and spoken of an increasingly bumpy Chinese-Australian relationship and the threats this poses to the nation's most crucial 21st-century trading dynamic.
Hot and gold
27 August 2009 | David Coe
September is the golden month when a wide variety of unexpected events usually trigger rises in bullion prices.
After the fall
27 August 2009 | Phil Ruthven
Australia will hopefully miss a recession this year. And next. If so, it will be the only nation in the OECD to grow this year - albeit at a modest 0.5 per cen.
