Memo sports stars: get out of my face
Who cares how sport stars shave, cut their hair, or moisturise? Not I.
Ross Gittins
Ross Gittins is economics editor of the SMH and an economic columnist for The Age. His books include Gittins' Guide to Economics, Gittinomics and The Happy Economist.
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We're not taking productivity seriously
Ross Gittins Given our obsession with materialism, productivity "isn't everything, but in the long run it is almost everything," as Paul Krugman famously said.
QE has failed to revive mired economies
Ross Gittins The advent of "stagflation" in the 1970s - the previously unknown combination of high inflation with high unemployment - led to a loss of confidence in Keynesian policies, with primary responsibility...
Econocrats doubt our ability to grow
Ross Gittins Reform, we're asked to believe, is only a fleeting fix. To maintain an acceptable rate of productivity improvement, reform must be unceasing (and defy the law of diminishing returns).
State governments need to step up
Ross Gittins Sorry to rain on Hockey's parade, but "solid" growth is a euphemism for "not so hot".
Treasury under new management
Ross Gittins How much does the Treasury's view of the world change when a prime minister comes to power, sacks the head of Treasury (and his heir apparent) and replaces him with his own hand-picked man from...
Advances in statistical science mean we only need a census every 10 years
Ross Gittins What's the difference between a census – a full count – and a sample survey? The census will always be superior, right? Not really.
One bad budget doesn't kill all reform
Ross Gittins The 2014 budget will go down as the most fateful budget in Australia's history but reform is still possible
Long-term employment trends: retired workers happy to put their feet up
Ross Gittins The trouble with the way the media report developments in the labour market from one month to the next is that we don't get a sense of the major shifts that occur over time.
Don't fix budget while economy weak
Ross Gittins To start slashing and burning in this year's budget would give the economy another kick in the guts, which would slow growth even further.
Ross Gittins
RBA channelling hopes for economy
Ross Gittins Although many people have their doubts, the Reserve Bank cut interest rates last week believing it would help the economy grow faster and reduce unemployment. But how exactly is this meant to work?
Ross Gittins
Worried Reserve Bank officials opt for risky strategy
Ross Gittins My guess is the Reserve Bank is a lot more worried about the weak state of the economy than it's prepared to admit in its soothing words and the small downgrade to its growth forecast.
Ross Gittins
Searching for our salvation in privatisation
Ross Gittins The era of privatising government-owned businesses is pretty much done and dusted, but two governments have dragged their feet.
Economists shouldn't be apologists for business
Ross Gittins As the nation's economists gird their loins for a year of furious debate over economic management and reform, there's a soul-searching question they need to face.
Ross Gittins
CPI: How the ABS gets the measure of the inflation situation
Ross Gittins So, the Bureau of Statistics has spoken. But how does the bureau come up with its figures? And who believes them?
Ross Gittins
There's always a tab tied to free emotion
Ross Gittins At times such as the Martin Place siege and its tragic aftermath, it doesn't help to have been trained to think like an economist, to analyse the situation as coolly and rationally as possible,...
Materialist success has come at the cost of the environment
Ross Gittins Tired of obsessing over what happened in the economy yesterday? Well, just this once, let's go to the opposite extreme and look at what's been happening during the past 200 years.
Free emotions come with price tag
Ross Gittins At times such as the Martin Place siege and its tragic aftermath, it doesn't help to have been trained to think like an economist, to analyse the situation as coolly and rationally as possible,...
Ross Gittins
MYEFO forecast not for the real world
Ross Gittins Did you catch the apparent contradiction in this week's midyear budget update?
Ross Gittins
MYEFO news not as bad as it seems
Ross Gittins The news isn't as bad as it might seem. And I give Joe Hockey high marks for his wise response to it.
Medical research future fund: How the trick is done
Ross Gittins As an accountant turned journo, I try to ensure the creative accounting used to make the budget figures look better than they really are doesn't go unexposed.
