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.

Mortgage stress ripples across Sydney

Before the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) commenced its monetary hiking cycle in February, Sydney’s housing market was experiencing the nation’s worst affordability.

Why Australia is stuck in a low-productivity trap

International graduates are unskilled and underemployed

Following a strategic review of the student visa program in 2011 (the “Knight Review”), the Gillard Labor government significantly enhanced employment rights for graduate (485) visas in 2013.

Are the budget’s migration forecasts already cooked?

Australian home prices face generational decline

Falling auction market bad news for house prices

Australia’s housing market is now in full correction mode according to Cotality’s dwelling values index, with values falling at the aggregate 5-city level, driven by sharp declines in Sydney and Melbourne.

Weekend reading and MB media appearances

Tax changes won’t shift the dial on housing construction

The changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax (CGT) announced in last week’s federal budget were specifically designed to push investors away from existing homes and towards new construction by restricting tax benefits to new builds only.

Is the Albanese government the most secretive in history?

Last year, the Centre for Public Integrity, an independent research agency, reported that 24% of FOI requests were denied during Labor’s first term in office.

$100 billion of disability spending cripples economy

The Budget papers show that the federal government’s total spending on disability in the 2027 financial year will come in at $98.1 billion, despite its efforts to curb the National Disability Insurance Scheme’s (NDIS) growth.

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