Australian Economy

Economic forecasters are amusingly trying to pay catch-up, via Domain: Mr Morrison said the government was preparing to help the areas of the economy most at risk from the breakdown of supply chains and the absence of tourists and university students.

Via the AFR: Prime Minister Scott Morrison has moved to get ahead of the coronavirus outbreak being declared a global pandemic and has activated the government’s emergency response plan.

The NBN’s embarrassingly slow speeds were thrust into the spotlight recently when the Ookla fixed broadband speed rankings ranked Australia 68th out of 177 nations, down three places from the prior year.

A draft report from Deloitte Access Economics has highlighted the impact of the summer bushfires and the coronavirus outbreak on the Australian economy.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) today released data on capital expenditures (capex) for the December quarter, which registered a 2.8% seasonally adjusted fall in capex volumes over the quarter and a 5.8% decrease over the year (see below table).

MB Fund Head of Investment, Damien Klassen, pwning Macquarie Private Wealth on ABC The Business last night: According to the silver donut, central banks can cure viruses… Damien Klassen is Head of Investments at the Macrobusiness Fund, which is powered by Nucleus Wealth.

Fidelity International has released research which helps to explain why Australian households are feeling the pinch, despite the ABS’ reported low growth in inflation and its official cost of living indices.

First, it is the timing of the outbreak.

Via the excellent Damain Boey at Credit Suisse: We have just received construction work done data for 4Q.

Every time there there’s an economic hiccup, the Ross Gittins spruikbot flicks the demand-pumping confidence switch: The human capacity for adaptation – our ability to soon get used to our changed circumstances – is one of our great strengths.

Finally, the ‘Big Australia’ shills at the ABC have come to the realisation that governments can never build enough infrastructure to keep pace with mass immigration: In our booming cities, one construction project rolls into the next and those living through them are left asking: will we ever get ahead?..

Via AP: A senior member of the International Olympic Committee said Tuesday that if it proves too dangerous to hold the Olympics in Tokyo this summer because of the coronavirus outbreak, organizers are more likely to cancel it altogether than to postpone or move it.

Here is the US virus control plan, via Bloomie: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Americans should prepare for significant disruptions of daily life if the coronavirus outbreak that began in China begins to spread locally in the U.S., describing emergency plans that mimic the drastic measures taken by other countries.

These guys just don’t know when to stop.

Via Terry McCrann today: One thing should be clear cut — especially at this point of peak uncertainty.

The Australian’s Adam Creighton has joined the conga-line of commentators attacking gross domestic product (GDP) as a welfare measure and has argued that a recession in Australia is “nigh on impossible” due to the federal government’s mass immigration policy: GDP is particularly fraught as a measure of welfare for Australia.

From Roy Morgan Research: Australians as a whole expect prices to increase by only 3.9% annually over the next two years, according to Roy Morgan surveys conducted in January.

Incessant claims that Australia just needs to ‘plan better’, invest more and build more, ignore the increasingly costly and constrained options for further infrastructure in the face of such unprecedented numbers of people pouring into our major cities.

The Australian Retailers Association’s (ARA) executive director Russell Zimmerman says that foot traffic at some shopping centres has fallen by up to 20% due to factors such as the bushfires and the coronavirus.

The Australian Payroll Association has challenged the view that wage theft is endemic across the Australian economy.