Australian Economy

By Leith van Onselen The Guardian’s Greg Jericho has penned another article lamenting that workers continue to miss out on sharing in Australia’s booming GDP growth: The latest GDP figures show the continued poor return households are getting from a strong economy.

Weakening fast: ▪ The seasonally adjusted Australian Industry Group/Housing Industry Association Australian Performance of Construction Index (Australian PCI®) fell by 0.2 points to 51.8 points in August. This signalled a positive but marginally slower pace of overall industry growth (readings above 50.0 points indicate expansion with higher numbers indicating a stronger rate of expansion).

You’ve got to hand it to them. They are good. Our best-in-class bubble managers have just delivered the world’s first housing bust boom! I know, I know yesterday’s GDP is not going to last (known around MB as the “Botox Boom”).

Via Chanticleer: Atlassian co-founders Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar are enjoying an $8 billion year.

By Leith van Onselen The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) today released the national accounts for the June quarter, which registered 0.9% growth in real GDP over the quarter and a 3.4% rise over the year.

By Leith van Onselen Economic modelling commissioned by various vested interest business groups shows that the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) will magically boost Australian incomes.

Cross-posted with permission from Professor Ross Garnaut: The government’s retreat from tax cuts for big business provides an opportunity to take a fresh look at corporate tax reform.

Via the AFR comes Wesfarmers chairman Michael Chaney: The influential business leader said it was not unrealistic to think house prices in Sydney and Melbourne could fall by as much as 20 per cent… any continued softening in the housing market would be greatly exacerbated by the prospect of a Labor government removing negative gearing.

By Leith van Onselen Andrew Bragg, potential Liberal Party candidate for Wentworth, has penned a spurious Op-ed in The Australian slamming opponents to Australia’s various ‘Free Trade Agreement’ (FTA) deals: …protectionism is harder to spot today but it has never gone away… Fig leaves are used to justify protectionism.

By Leith van Onselen According to Business Insider, mining wages are “soaring” once more in Western Australia as the state experiences another commodity boom: …within the broader macro picture, there are pockets of good news.

Via AIG: • The Australian Industry Group Australian Performance of Services Index (Australian PSI® ) fell 1.4 points to 52.2 points (seasonally adjusted), indicating slowing growth in August 2018 compared to July.

By Leith van Onselen Monday’s June quarter Business Indicators release from the ABS, which feeds into the national accounts, showed that wages & salaries remain wildly divergent from business profits; albeit the gap has narrowed.

Cross-posted from The Conversation: If you were going to reduce a 150-page Productivity Commission examination of trends in Australian inequality to a few words, it would be nice if they weren’t “ALP inequality claims sunk”, or “Progressive article of faith blown up” or “Labor inequality myths busted by commission”.