The Victorian government, like many governments around the world, has announced new regulations on short-stay accommodation. The government says Victoria has more than 36,000 short-stay places, which is reducing the number of homes available for long-term rental. Other states have capped the number of nights a dwelling can be used for short-stay accommodation. The Victorian…
If the Reserve Bank does push up interest rates again, the most likely next date is its next board meeting, on Melbourne Cup Tuesday. The November 7 meeting is especially important because it is one of four each year in which the board has the full set of quarterly staff forecasts before it, as well…
Do you remember learning to drive a car? You probably fumbled around for the controls, checked every mirror multiple times, made sure your foot was on the brake pedal, and then ever-so-slowly rolled your car forward. Fast forward to now and you’re probably driving places and thinking, “How did I even get here? I don’t…
By the end of 2023, the world economy is expected to have a gross domestic product (GDP) of $105 trillion, or $5 trillion higher than the year before, according to the latest International Monetary Fund (IMF) projections from its 2023 World Economic Outlook report. In nominal terms, that’s a 5.3% increase in global GDP. In inflation-adjusted terms,…
Without a doubt, self-confidence is one of the most important traits that most people want to possess. When people from all generations were asked which is the biggest issue that humans face on a daily basis, the answer was obviously “self-confidence”. I’ll explain why this might be obvious: Self-confidence is linked to so many other…
Financial stress is affecting us in many different ways. Some people are struggling to pay bills, feed the family, or maintain a place to live. Others are meeting their basic needs but are dipping into their savings for extras. Financial stress is increasing and, understandably, is causing some distress. In recent months, Lifeline has seen…
As Australia’s housing affordability crisis worsens, governments are spending more on housing. Victoria’s Andrews government has announced a suite of reforms (such as boosting social housing and making planning processes faster) in an effort to get 800,000 extra homes in Victoria over the next decade. Federally, the Albanese government’s A$10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund,…
The housing wealth gap between younger and older Australians is undeniably growing. Our recently published study attempts to find out how much it has grown by estimating the gap in the home equity of older people (Australians in their 50s) and younger people (Australians in their 30s) in 1997–98 and 2017–18. Adjusted for inflation, we…
Did you know that on average, there are 250 babies born every minute around the world. This adds up to over 130 million new human beings entering the world every year. Then it’s no surprise that the world’s population, which now stands at a whopping 8 billion, has more than tripled since the mid-20th century. This graphic…
As we approach the release of Monday’s employment white paper we can expect to hear a lot about something called the NAIRU – the so-called Non-Accelerating Inflation Rate of Unemployment. This ungainly acronym, which currently dominates the thinking of both the Reserve Bank and the Treasury, derives its power almost entirely from the economic crisis…
