Australian Economy

Cross-posted from The Conversation.

It is one of those unfortunate elements of Australiana that our subaltern mindset leads us to adopt the habits of our great and powerful friends.

By Leith van Onselen I wrote yesterday how the New South Wales Government had seemingly capitulated to the taxi cartel and banned ridesharing applications that could significantly undercut traditional taxi fares and provide consumers with greater transport options.

The MSM is a little excited about this today.

Not that anyone cares, but the local manufacturing PMI is out and has tanked into deep recession again: The latest Australian Industry Group Australian Performance of Manufacturing Index (Australian PMI®) fell sharply in April, dropping by 3.1 points to 44.8 points (seasonally adjusted).

By Leith van Onselen I wrote last week how Uber was taking the fight to Australia’s taxi cartel by expanding its offering in Australia, offering a ridesharing option that would significantly undercut traditional taxi fares and provide consumers with greater transport options.

The Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA) has released a new report today on how to fix Australian manufacturing.

I’m not one to jump on the band wagon of the confidence fairy champions.

Cross-posted from Martin North’s DFA Blog.

Cross-posted from The Conversation The Coalition government is currently rehearsing a well-honed rhetoric on “everyone having to do the heavy lifting” to justify Treasurer Joe Hockey’s slash and burn budget on social services and pension entitlements.

By Ken Henry, cross-posted from The Conversation I believe there is a special case for taking an interest in youth unemployment.

From Morgan Stanley today: A new wave of tourism: Since 2005, Chinese short-term visitors to Australia have more than doubled, with China now the second largest inbound market (732K p.a.) by arrivals (after NZ).

The Productivity Commission (PC) has released its annual review of productivity for the 2012/13 year and the news is poor.

From the ABC: Ford was due to close its Broadmeadows and Geelong factories as early as 2016.

By Leith van Onselen I wrote last week how Uber was taking the fight to Australia’s taxi cartel by expanding its offering in Australia, introducing a range of budget vehicles that will undercut traditional taxi fares, and how consumers stood to benefit from more reliable, clean and affordable transport options.

From Crikey’s Bernard Keane comes a tale of Lockheed Martin entitlement in Australia’s quest to dominate SE Asian skies: The problem is, the F-35 program is not under control, even according to the US government.