Unconventional Economist

Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also Chief Economist and co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.

Australia’s economic misery will deepen in 2027

The analysis from CEDA argues that Australians are experiencing a renewed rise in economic hardship, with the country’s “misery index” returning to near post-pandemic highs after all improvements since 2023 were reversed.

Private credit collapse cripples developers

The private credit market, which has grown to around $200 billion in assets, has become a key lender to developers as traditional banks pull back from construction lending due to tightening risk appetites.

How many international students are too many?

New University of Melbourne vice chancellor Carolyn Evans told The Melbourne Assembly, hosted by The Age and the University of Melbourne, that the federal government’s efforts to reduce the number of international student arrivals were “arrogant and short-sighted”.

House prices are falling everywhere, with worse to come

In my 15 years covering the housing market at MacroBusiness, I have never seen housing conditions as weak as they are now.

Australia’s budget black holes deepen

The myth of the 15-minute city

The Melbourne Assembly, hosted by The Age and the University of Melbourne, is underway, and “world-leading urbanist” Professor Carlos Moreno reportedly told the Assembly that “the concept of a 15-minute city was “absolutely possible” for Melbourne, as it hurtles towards a population of 9 million people by 2050”.

More signs that Aussie immigration continues to moderate

Hawkish RBA throws interest rate grenade at mortgage holders

Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) Deputy Governor Andrew Hauser gave an interview at Citi’s Australia & New Zealand Investment Conference in Sydney on Wednesday.

Snowy Hydro 2.0: the mother of all energy boondoggles

When former Liberal Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull first announced the Snowy Hydro 2.0 pumped hydro project in 2017, it was billed as a $2 billion project capable of producing 2 megawatts of power on demand and 350,000 megawatt-hours of storage by 2021.

Nobody wants to build housing in falling market

Two reports suggest Australia’s residential construction market is weakening significantly amid falling prices, rising interest rates, and the federal budget changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax.

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