What if Reserve Bank Governor Philip Lowe and his successor Michele Bullock were able to achieve something truly remarkable – a steady decline in inflation without further interest rate increases, and without bringing on a recession? It’s suddenly looking possible. Inflation is now coming down so quickly worldwide there’s probably no need to push it…
The decoy effect is the phenomenon where consumers swap their preference between two options when presented with a third option. Price is the most delicate element of the marketing mix, and much thought goes into setting prices to nudge us towards spending more. But there’s one particularly cunning type of pricing strategy that marketers use…
Australia’s next Reserve Bank governor, Michele Bullock – the first woman in the job – will take office in September at a time when much of the bank’s work in fighting inflation will be done and its focus will be on changing the way it operates. She is already the deputy governor, having been appointed…
In all the debate about Australia’s housing crisis, the impact of transport has been largely overlooked. When we talk about transport, it’s usually about time spent commuting and not the out-of-pocket costs. While housing is typically the biggest household cost, spending on transport is the second or third-largest cost – and these costs are inextricably…
Have we reached the peak affordable housing debate in Australia? Or is it a case of that old mountaineering saying: the fog is thickest just before the summit? As someone who has been involved in building innovation for the past decade, what strikes me about the current debate is not its height, but its flatness….
It’s a simple question a lot of landlords ask. But the answer is a bit more complex. Read on to find out why. Landlord insurance is all about protecting owners from the unique risks they face when leasing their investment property. In general, the insurance can cover the property itself and/or its contents from a…
Thinking of canceling your landlord insurance policy? Read this first! There’s no denying that the cost of living is on the rise – groceries, petrol, utilities. The cost of managing your rental may also be increasing – with interest rates rising, escalating prices for goods and services impacting routine maintenance and repairs, higher council rates,…
The latest national accounts tell us Australia’s economy grew by just 0.2% in the three months to March. It’s the weakest growth since the economy shrank during the COVID lockdowns, and, before that, the weakest economic growth since December 2018. If economic growth continued at that pace for four quarters, the annual rate would be…
Reserve Bank Governor Philip Lowe and his board have pushed up interest rates yet again – for the twelfth time in 14 months – because they want to damage the economy further. Home prices have been climbing for three straight months – in March, April and May – instead of continuing to fall as they…
You’ve probably heard about the “great resignation” which saw large numbers of people resigning from their jobs in the US in 2021 and 2022. We didn’t see resignations over and above what is normal in Australia. However, we did see workers resisting the post-COVID return to the office. To better understand these trends, we conducted…
