The new government has inherited an extraordinarily difficult budget situation. The budget deficit amounts to 3.5% of gross domestic product this financial year and it will be almost as high next financial year at 3.4%, after which the budget papers project deficits for the entire ten-year forecast period. At the same time, the unemployment rate…
Labor has inherited an economy with a pretty full “head of steam”. Domestic demand is growing strongly, fuelled by: households flush with cash (and enriched by big increases in property prices) full pipelines of housing construction and government-funded infrastructure businesses apparently keener to invest than for more than a decade. Unemployment has fallen to its…
Early in the election campaign, on April 14, we learned that Australia’s unemployment rate had slipped below 4% in March, to 3.95% – the lowest rate in 48 years. But the Coalition was denied the bragging rights that would flow from an unemployment rate beginning with “3” because of a Bureau of Statistics convention of…
Every three months the Bureau of Statistics releases the lesser-known cousin of the consumer price index. It’s called the Wage Price Index (WPI) and it records changes in the overall level of wages, in the same way, the price index records changes in the overall level of consumer prices. Rarely does it generate headlines, but…
We are used to thinking of money as notes and coins, the kind most of us hold in our wallets. But most money – in Australia it’s 96.3% – is digital, held by financial institutions and moved around via bank transfers, debit cards and credit cards. Late last year Treasurer Josh Frydenberg promised to consult…
How soon should we be expecting rates to be raised? How will the rate-raising affect the economic recovery? These and other questions were raised and answered by Dr Shane Oliver, Head of Investment Strategy and Economics and Chief Economist at AMP in his recent Insight. For the first time since November 2010, the RBA has…
![The Most Expensive m² of Prime Property in the World [Infographic]](https://cdn.propertyupdate.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/property-square-270x200.jpg)
So, you’ve got a million dollars burning a hole in your pocket and you’re looking to put a luxury roof over your head? This infographic, using data from Knight Frank, gives you an idea of where in the world you’ll get the most square meters for your lavish outlay. For those of us with enough funds to…
Have you invested in Crypto yet? The latest Roy Morgan research into Australians’ investments shows that 5%, or over 1 million Australians aged 18+, now own at least one cryptocurrency. Leading cryptocurrencies include the well-known Bitcoin and Ethereum as well as more niche names such as Ripple, Cardano, Dogecoin, Shiba Inu, Solana, Binance Coin, Litecoin,…
![What are the interest rates by country in 2022? [Infographic]](https://cdn.propertyupdate.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/interest-rates-270x200.jpg)
Wondering which countries have the highest interest rates? Well, the global economy is facing complex struggles, including inflation and the war in Ukraine. Many countries are projected to raise interest rates over the course of 2022, based on the latest research data from Visual Capitalist. Interest Rates Around the World in 2022 While the vast…
Australian consumer prices jumped an extraordinary 2.1% in the first three months of the year, the biggest quarterly jump since the introduction of the 10% goods and services tax at the start of the century. The outsized increase, together with a larger than normal increase in the months to December, pushed Australia’s annual inflation rate…
