What will be happening to the inflation level throughout 2022? Will wages growth be sufficient this year? How will the Russian-Ukrainian confrontation affect the economy? What will be the dynamic of Australian home prices in the foreseeable future? These and other questions were raised and answered by Dr. Shane Oliver, Head of Investment Strategy and…
Articles by Guest Expert
Apart from our regular team of experts, we frequently publish commentary from guest contributors who are authorities in their field.
“It’s difficult to make predictions, especially about the future,” American baseball legend Yogi Berra once quipped. When it comes to predicting where the Australian economy is heading the task is made even trickier in the face of war in Europe and uncertainty about global energy and other markets. This week there was some good news….
Australia’s economy bounced back a welcome 3.4% in the December quarter of 2021, more than reversing the 1.9% lockdown-related decline in the September quarter. It was the sixth-biggest increase in the 60 years the figures have been compiled. Australian quarterly gross domestic product Chain volume measures, seasonally adjusted. ABS National Accounts The economy grew by…
These days there is insurance for everything — houses, cars, pets, medical, travel… Merv Hughes even insured his mustache for roughly $370,000 during his cricketing days. Despite it being so widely available, insurance is still one of those things that some people mistakenly think isn’t worth it. If you are one of those people, we…
As some countries begin to pull out of pandemic-induced lockdown, and the corporate engines of “return to the office” begin to whir, an open question hangs: What kind of jobs will people return to following months of work-from-home exile in “Remotopia”? Will the online “big-bang” of the 2020s (when everything that could go online did go…
A curious feature of the Australian tax system is “bracket creep”. Taxpayers whose income climbs by no more than prices (inflation) get no increase in their living standards. Instead, they see more and more of their income pushed into their highest tax brackets, or to even higher tax brackets. It means the government’s income from…
Australia’s leading economists have overwhelmingly endorsed a return to the highest immigration intake on record, saying Australia should aim for at least 190,000 migrants per year as it opens its borders, up from the target of 160,000 per year set ahead of COVID. More than a third of those surveyed believe 190,000 isn’t enough, arguing…
How you prepare your coffee at home (and wash up the mugs) can have a big impact on its carbon footprint – o fill that kettle carefully, and only brew what you know you’ll drink. Drinking coffee makes many of us feel good, so it makes sense that we would want to feel good about…
If you told someone a year ago unemployment was about to dive below 5%, to just above 4%, they wouldn’t have believed you. If that person was an expert, and you said it would happen despite a Delta outbreak and lockdowns in our two biggest states, they might have said you had little idea of…
Happiness is a human construct, an abstract idea with no biological basis. But this is something to be happy about. The huge happiness and positive thinking industry, estimated to be worth US$11 billion a year, has helped to create the fantasy that happiness is a realistic goal. Chasing the happiness dream is a very American…