FIRE sector vampire continues to suck economy dry

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By Leith van Onselen

Last week’s national accounts release for the September quarter confirmed that Australia’s FIRE economy – Finance, Insurance and Rental, Hiring & Real Estate Services – continues to eat its host, surging to a new record high (12.0%) share of the Australian economy (see next chart).

ScreenHunter_16596 Dec. 10 07.10

Since financial markets were first deregulated in the mid-1980s, the FIRE sector has grown at roughly twice the pace of the rest of the economy, sucking the life out of the productive sector:

ScreenHunter_16597 Dec. 10 07.11
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About the author
Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.