Unconventional Economist

Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also Chief Economist and co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.

No, the budget’s property tax changes have not spiked rents

I reported last week on claims by NAB’s head of Australian economics, Gareth Spence, and SQM Research managing director, Louis Christopher, that residential rents could soar by 15–30% over the next two years due to the federal budget’s changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax (CGT).

QLD at war with Feds over data centres

The federal government is expected to set new rules for energy use by AI data centres at Wednesday’s national cabinet meeting.

A better solution for labour shortages

The business lobby and former Treasury secretary Martin Parkinson have pushed back against suggestions that Australia should cut immigration, arguing that maintaining a strong migration program is essential to solving labour shortages and mitigating population ageing.

Storm clouds gather for housing market

The outlook for Australia’s housing market continues to darken.

Australia’s housing green shoots wither away

The weekend of 8-9 August suggested the nation’s housing market might be stabilising after the national auction clearance rate hit a 12-week high of 51.4%, following 10 consecutive weeks in the 40s.

Weekend reading and MB media appearances

This week’s must-watch videos: The truth about data centres: The truth about the energy transition: International Reading: We Did It!

Welcome to the decade of budget deficits

Data from the Australian Office of Financial Management (AOFM) shows that the nation’s total debt totalled $983.7 billion as of last Friday.

Lack of transparency is the Capacity Investment Scheme’s biggest flaw

The Capacity Investment Scheme (CIS) was meant to accelerate wind, solar and battery investment by using taxpayer subsidies to underwrite revenue. Instead, only 14 of 89 supported projects have reached final investment decision (FID), and only one wind project has begun construction.

Labor is right to rule out further increases in compulsory superannuation

A long, grinding income recession for Australians

Australians have been subjected to a long, grinding income recession.

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