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.

RBA “straight talking” blames wrong inflation causes

Over the weekend, The AFR’s John Kehoe defended the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) “straight talking”, saying that it is “needed to cut through the noise” in the “age of political spin and social media echo chambers”.

Watercooler reads and videos

International Reads: The Federal Reserve will cut interest rates 6 times in 2024 as the economy shows clear signs of cooling down, ING says – Yahoo Mexico’s minimum wage will rise by 20% next year, to about $14.25 per day – AP News Gas prices drop more than 60 days in a row.

Reserve Bank’s efforts “swept away in migration flood”

Australia’s mortgage refinancing boom ends with a thud

Australia experienced its largest-ever increase in mortgage refinances over the last three years.

Taxing and capping international students is good policy

Australia is experiencing a record influx of international students that is causing immense pressure on Australia’s rental market and infrastructure and is helping to drive inflation higher.

Australian job losses to mount in 2024

Deloitte Access Economics has released its Employment Forecasts for 2024 and 2025, which tips anaemic jobs growth next year alongside a sharp rise in the nation’s unemployment rate. Specifically, Deloitte forecasts “national employment growth of just 0.5% (75,000 workers) in calendar year 2024, before gradually increasing to 1.3% (177,000 workers) in calendar year 2025”.

Immigration surge pushes rent inflation higher

Last week, immigration influencers like Abul Rizvi were claiming that Australia has reached ‘peak migration’: However, late last week the Department of Home Affairs released temporary visa data for October, which suggested that Australia’s net overseas migration (NOM) has continued to rise.

Aussie housing bulls turn bears

RBA wages war on younger Australians

On Thursday, I gave our weekly Treasury of Common Sense interview on Radio 2GB with Luke Grant.

RBA to ‘hold the line’ on interest rates

By Gareth Aird, head of Australian economics at CBA.

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