Australian Economy

By Leith van Onselen While certain people on the left keep spruiking for Australia to open its borders, the lived experience in the major cities continues to worsen from excessive levels of immigration.

By Leith van Onselen The Australia Institute has released a new report entitled Electricity costs: Preliminary results showing how privatisation went seriously wrong, which finds that electricity prices have increased at three times the rate of CPI, primarily due to companies ‘gold-plating’ financial assets and passing those costs onto consumers.

By Leith van Onselen Treasurer Scott Morrison continues to play into Labor’s inequality trap, tying himself in knots trying to explain why inequality has not worsened recently in Australia.

By Leith van Onselen Why is it that only the conservative (“Right”) side of the media and politics seems capable of having a debate on Australia’s future population?

By Leith van Onselen CommSec’s Craig James was at his boosterish best yesterday, declaring that a “dining boom” of agricultural exports was replacing the “mining boom”.

Weeoo, weeoo, weeoo.

By Leith van Onselen The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has released export and import prices for the June quarter, which portends a solid fall in Australia’s terms-of-trade when the national accounts are released in early September.

By Gareth Aird, Senior Economist at CBA: Key points: The labour market has comprehensively strengthened over the past four months. Trends in employment (including the composition of jobs growth), the unemployment rate, participation and hours worked suggest that output growth will accelerate over H2 2017.

Matt Canavan has to go.

This will, know doubt, please The Guardian’s “Aussie resources for all” fucknuts.

From Phil Lowe, RBA governor: It is a great pleasure to be able to support the Anika Foundation by speaking today.

Via HIA: “Even a slow-down in building activity has not yet led to an oversupply of tradies in the building industry, particularly in east coast capital cities,” stated HIA’s Principal Economist, Tim Reardon.

By Leith van Onselen The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has released the Consumer Price Index (CPI) data for the June quarter 0f 2017, which registered another soft reading for headline inflation, with underlying inflation also remaining well in check.

Ross Gittins appeared on the ABC yesterday where he blamed robots, capital, failing confidence, casualisation, the gig economy and Elvis Presley for weak wages.

By Leith van Onselen Another economist has stepped up to the plate to challenge my view that Australia’s immigration program is way too high and is lowering Australian living standards.

By Leith van Onselen When the National Broadband Network (NBN) arrived in my area late last year residents were greeted with a barrage of junk mail advertisements from all manner of internet service providers offering competitively priced internet at fast speeds.

By Leith van Onselen Labor’s new found focus on tackling inequality has been a masterstroke, with the issue seemingly taking centre stage across the mainstream media.

From Q&A via The Australian: In a youth-focused episode of the ABC’s Q&A program, in which most of the panellists – and the audience – were high school students, the younger generation asked tough questions of their peers, Liberal Environment and Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg and Labor’s health spokeswoman Catherine King.

Via the AFR: Mr Bowen cited three “compelling” reasons for the new look at the financial service regulator, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) and the corporate regulator, the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC).

By Dr Wildlife Ecology Democratic societies prove their credentials by the worth of their public debate.