Yesterday
- Opinion
- Interest rates
There’s a compelling case for RBA reducing interest rates on Tuesday
The board has created expectations of no rate cut at the final meeting of 2024. That’s the mirror of its 2021 error when it implied there would be no rise.
- Ross Garnaut
This Month
Meet our Business People of the Year | GDP grumpiness | CBA’s rare slip
This week on the Chanticleer podcast, James and AFR Editor-in-Chief James Chessell take you inside the AFR’s Business Person of the Year awards, examine business’ angst over the economy and look at an uncharacteristic political blunder by the Commonwealth Bank.
- Exclusive
- Australian economy
Australia is now an economic ‘problem child’: McKinsey
Business investment is at recession levels as the country’s productivity growth slumps to 30th out of 35 rich countries, says a new report.
- John Kehoe and Michael Read
- Opinion
- Australian economy
Five reforms Chalmers must tackle to kickstart growth
Taking on big reforms may entail political risks, but the alternative is to continue on a path of genteel decline.
- David Alexander
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Wesfarmers CEO: ‘We can’t just wait around for rates to fall’
As Rob Scott says goodbye to an unsung hero of his own investment success, he says Australia’s tepid GDP growth can be a rallying point for the private sector.
- James Thomson
You’re part of the growth problem, business leaders tell Chalmers
The bosses of BHP and Wesfarmers have called on Labor to overhaul the uncompetitive tax system and reverse changes to IR laws if it wants a private sector recovery.
- Michael Read, Carrie LaFrenz, Elouise Fowler and John Kehoe
Chalmers admits business must pull Australia out of growth slump
Jim Chalmers says record government spending is stopping the economy from shrinking, but economists say it is delaying rate cuts and crowding out the private sector.
- Updated
- Michael Read
- Opinion
- Australian economy
No amount of lipstick on this pig can hide the economic stagnation
The national accounts make grim reading and are indisputably worse than expected.
- Updated
- John Kehoe
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
This is the problem that CEOs have with GDP
Another tepid set of growth numbers will heap more pressure on the government. But it’s the next 20 years that both sides of politics need to think about.
- Updated
- James Thomson
GDP misses forecasts; Chaos in South Korea; Forrest’s female fund
Read everything that’s happened in the news so far today.
Record government spending props up GDP
Public servant pay rises, energy bill subsidies, discounted transport fares and infrastructure spending pushed government spending to a fresh record last quarter.
- Updated
- Michael Read
October
US economy expands on the back of consumer resilience
Inflation-adjusted GDP grew by 2.8 per cent while consumer spending advanced 3.7 per cent, the most since early 2023.
- Matthew Boesler
September
US economy proving still more resilient than expected
GDP expanded at an unrevised 3.0 per cent annualised rate in the June quarter, while it was updated higher to 1.6 per cent for the first three months of 2024.
- Updated
- Reuters
Government-funded jobs are booming but we’re not getting bang for buck
Productivity across the public service and government-funded industries like health and education has crashed to an 18-year low.
- Michael Read
- Exclusive
- International students
Capping overseas students will trigger recession: economists
Australia’s commodities surge is over. Yet, the booming $50bn education sector is the subject of ferocious cuts with dire consequences.
- Julie Hare
No let-up in government’s spending splurge
Labor has left the door open to doling out extra cost of living assistance, even as economists warn that the rapid growth in spending is fuelling inflation.
- Michael Read
Real diamonds can’t cut it as cost crunch hits lovebirds
The cost of engagement rings can jump by hundreds of dollars in a week, says jeweller Rachel Lake, leading to greater interest in sapphires and lab-grown diamonds.
- Gus McCubbing
- Opinion
- Opinion
Treasurer v the RBA: Why Chalmers and Bullock are both right
Jim Chalmers says the economy is getting smashed by high rates, but it’s still running too hot for the RBA. The answer is simple: productivity.
- Michael Stutchbury
Record government spending prolonging RBA’s inflation fight
Treasurer Jim Chalmers says the economy would have gone backwards without government spending, but economists warn the outlays are making the RBA’s job harder.
- Updated
- Michael Read
Consumer slowdown hits profits and GDP growth
Growth in profits and wages is slowing sharply across consumer-facing sectors such as retail and construction, raising expectations for sluggish June GDP figures.
- Michael Read
