Australian Economy

Some good news here (or, at least, less dire) in today’s ABS capex numbers.

By Leith van Onselen The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) today released data on capital expenditures (capex) for the June quarter of 2016, which registered a sharp 5.4% seasonally adjusted fall in capex volumes over the quarter and a 17.4% decrease over the year (see below table).

From Gotti: We are witnessing the start of a fundamental change in the economics of employing people in Australia.

By Leith van Onselen I have complained previously that Australia’s universities have turned into ‘degree factories’, whereby they teach as many students as possible to accumulate Commonwealth government funding through HELP/HECS debts.

The AIG PMI is out and bang: Ai Group Chief Executive, Innes Willox, said: “At 46.9 the August result for the Australian PMI® is the lowest since June 2015 when it was 44.2 points. These low results ‘bookend’ a run of 13 months of expansion (July 2015 to July 2016 inclusive).

Told ya, from CNBC: Australia is banking on its tourism and education services industry to make up for the economic losses chalked up in the commodities crash, but that story may be overstretched, Goldman Sachs cautioned a report.

By Leith van Onselen ANZ’s chief economist in New Zealand, Cameron Bagrie, has questioned whether New Zealand’s high immigration policy has the “right mix” and is delivering better standards of living for the existing population.

So says Glen Norris at The Courier Mail: Australia continues to reach back into its dark past in its attitude to Chinese investment.

Cross-posted from The Conversation: Young people don’t know how good they’ve got it.

From Westpac: The ABS survey of private business investment plans, the CAPEX survey, will provide some further guidance on growth prospects.

From TDSecurities: The government is borrowing record amounts to consume, not invest- a ticking fiscal time bomb.

By Leith van Onselen New Greens spokesperson for trade, Sarah Hanson-Young, has insisted on more transperency and scrutiny of so-called free trade agreements (FTAs) and called for more protections for foreign workers brought into Australia under these deals.

Cross-posted from The Conversation: A new study shows two million Australians are experiencing high financial stress which prevents them from coping in difficult situations, for example, in paying unexpected expenses such as a big mobile phone bill or the fridge breaking down.

By Leith van Onselen I have explained previously why I believe that real GDP is a rubbish measure of economic well-being (see here, here and here), and have argued that “economists’, the media’s, and the Government’s infatuation with GDP is one of the biggest shortcomings in macro-economics”.

By Nathan Lynch, Head Regulatory Analyst for Australia & New Zealand, Thomson Reuters A petition from 40,000 Australians has called on the government to reverse its plans to privatise the Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s corporate registry operations.

The CBA’s Gareth Aird has written another ripper report examining the casualisation of the Australian workforce and its implications.

From CommSec: The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has released trend (annual average) data on regional labour markets.

The FT’s always provocative LEX column did Australia today: Sometimes, confidence is enough to make it through testing times.

By Leith van Onselen As already noted by Houses & Holes, Treasurer Scott Morrison today delivered a speech to Bloomberg in Sydney.

From Treasurer Scott Morrison: Australia has just concluded its 25th year of consecutive economic growth.

By Leith van Onselen Earlier this year, the Senate Education and Employment References Committee has released a scathing report entitled A National Disgrace: The Exploitation of Temporary Work Visa Holders, which documents the abuses of Australia’s temporary visa system for foreign workers.

Has the capex cliff just passed its deepest quarterly point? From UBS: Construction work -3.7% q/q…as -9% engineering dominates 1% building gain Q2 real construction work done (private & public) was weaker than expected, for the 2nd consecutive quarter, dropping 3.7% q/q (UBS: -1.2%, mkt: -2.0%).