Australian Economy

Alan Kohler springs to life: It’s now clear to us all that the problem for authorities is to try to prevent the health system from being overwhelmed without causing an economic depression.

Those hoping for a v-haped recovery in the global economy are going to be sorely disappointed.

I could point to a hundred stories like this but Apple is representitive: Apple said it will close all of its stores outside of Greater China until March 27 to reduce the risk of the coronavirus spreading.

From CBA Economics Key Points: The Commonwealth government last week delivered a fiscal stimulus of $A17.6bn to boost demand in the economy.

Following Peter Dutton’s illness, the hoped for Government response arrived on the weekend, via ABC: Anyone arriving in Australia from overseas will be forced to self-isolate for 14 days, while lockdown measures similar to those in place in European countries remain on the table.

Buried under the usual avalanche of MSM blather on the weekend was one very simple anecdote from the US that captures all that you need to know about the building virus financial crisis.

Via Banking Day: In his final months as ASIC chairman in 2017, Greg Medcraft began lobbying for a ban on hybrid securities being marketed to retail investors.

CoreLogic has released research showing that Sydney’s fast growing west is becoming increasingly hot, while the wealthy inner-east is enjoying stable temperatures: Western Sydney is undergoing unprecedented development and transformation, reflecting the vast size and population growth of the region.

“The economists” love the stimulus.

Let’s not beat around the bush.

Data modelling undertaken on behalf of the Australian Computer Society has highlighted the potential impact of robots and artificial intelligence technology on the labour market.

It has been interesting watching Stephen Koukoulas (“The Kouk”) quickly reverse gear over the coronavirus.

He capable of great stuff when he gets away from the RBA f’wits.

Via Jess Irvine today: With jobs at risk, Morrison is understandably feeling pressure to respond with a multibillion-dollar stimulus package.

So, the Morrison Government has announced an $18 billion stimulus package to combat the coronavirus.

It appears that this insane stimulus package meets my worst fears.

NAB has named Australia’s tourism and education sectors as the areas of the economy most likely to be hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic: “For Australia, the immediate impact is likely to be on exports, with travel restrictions weighing on the education and tourism sectors,” NAB said.

Not much fun.

Via The Australian: Small and medium-sized businesses employing eight million workers will be given up to $25,000 in cash, and instant asset writeoffs will be extended to 3.5 million businesses, under a stimulus package worth almost $18bn.

The entire border.

Welcome to Australia’s ScoMo-prime housing bust.

Via FTAlphaville: In the first of what we imagine will be many targeted fiscal policies to alleviate the economic stress from the Coronavirus panic, news from quarantined Italy this Tuesday morning.