Australian Economy

By Leith van Onselen Earlier this week we reported how tolls on some of Sydney’s roads are rising at triple the rate of inflation, which is hammering household budgets.

By Leith van Onselen More than one in five businesses audited by the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) across three states have been found to have underpaid workers, with employers forced to backpay over $580,000 to nearly 1000 employees.

By Gerard Minack from Minack Advisors Policy is set to be eased in Australia: tax rebates for low and middle income taxpayers, RBA rate cuts, and looser macro-prudential restrictions.

Via the CBA: Latest PMI data pointed to a return to growth in output across the Australian manufacturing and service sectors in May, following no change in the previous month.

Down she goes, via Westpac: The six month annualised growth rate in the Westpac– Melbourne Institute Leading Index, which indicates the likely pace of economic activity relative to trend three to nine months into the future, declined from –0.13% in March to –0.47% in April.

By Leith van Onselen If you want a textbook example of how Australian academia has lost its credibility, look no further than the below analysis from University of Western Sydney Economics Professor Raja Junankar.

Via the AFR: Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who spent the day bunkered in meetings and planning his new cabinet, shot down suggestions that he should adopt policy beyond what he took to the election, including in the energy sector.

Fresh from Deep T, MB’s big time banking insider: You have no idea of the smugness of the whole mortgage industry.

By Leith van Onselen While residents of Sydney and Melbourne are suffering from crush-loaded roads, trains, schools, and hospitals, as well as hideously expensive housing, toll road companies like Transurban are making out like bandits.

I’ve tried my hardest but have failed and the result us upon us, at the AFR: A gas price cut is required for Queensland’s Gibson Island fertiliser plant to avoid closure this year, with owner Incitec Pivot urging the re-elected Morrison Government to ensure gas was ”available and affordable” for Australian manufacturers.

The media drivel about the election is as widespread as it is wrong.

By Leith van Onselen Ivailo Izvorski – Lead Economist, Global Practice Macroeconomics at the World Bank – has penned a ripping article debunking the mainstream view that population ageing spells doom for the world’s economies: Longer and more productive lives should be celebrated as an achievement of mankind rather than considered a problem.

Last month, the Sustainable Australia party released a report, entitled Three Economic Myths about Ageing: Participation, Immigration and Infrastructure, which was co-authored by Dr Cameron Murray and I.

Via Damien Boey at Credit Suisse: Against the odds, the LNP has won the Australian Federal election.

By Leith van Onselen Western Sydney is the epicentre of the city’s working class.