Stories By
Ardent shows system gone wrong
ALAN KOHLERThere are two types of CEOs: those for whom it’s a lottery win, and those for whom it’s a test of wills.
A sweet and sour housing crash
Alan KohlerConflicting signals abound as apartments look set to enter a tailspin while the housing market continues to skyrocket.
Pound’s fall fuels currency wars
ALAN KOHLERThe collapse of the British pound has thrown an improvised explosive device into the currency wars.
Twitter has become a utility
Alan KohlerNo-one wants to buy Twitter and it’s losing money. Perhaps founder Jack Dorsey needs to accept it’s a boring company.
I was wrong: NBN’s a turkey
ALAN KOHLERThe national broadband network is a white elephant and, to mix metaphors, an albatross around the nation’s neck.
The new ‘age of extremes’
Alan KohlerWe have the highest global debt, the lowest interest rates, rapid digital change and the worst politician. How will it end?
Sales trump service at big banks
ALAN KOHLERIt will be fascinating to compare the grilling bank CEOs got from politicians with what they get at their AGMs.
Deutsche Bank’s amazing escape
Alan KohlerThe loyalty of Deutsche’s depositors will allow it to hang on but its share price won’t be rebounding anytime soon.
China’s great leap backwards
Alan KohlerScott Morrison says we’ve got five years or so to ‘increase our resilience’ because of China’s growing debt problem.
Algorithms don’t do wacky
Alan KohlerAs algorithms take control over our lives, we need a better view of what’s going on inside all those black boxes.
Buckle in, ‘nutters’ at controls
ALAN KOHLERWhen new RBA chief Philip Lowe said ‘we’re not inflation nutters’, which nutters was he referring to?
Bankers should have been jailed
Alan KohlerOnly prosecutions will address the aggressive banking culture that continues to threaten the financial system.
No recession on cards for years
ALAN KOHLERIt will be almost impossible for Australia to have a recession for at least five years, probably 10.
Volatility rears its ugly head
Alan KohlerTraders are on tenterhooks as the era of record-high prices and record-low volatility appears to be coming to an end.
How Stevens averted a recession
ALAN KOHLERAustralia’s record of 25 years without a recession continues thanks to a ruthless central banker who held his nerve.
The chuffed and the chuffed-nots
Alan KohlerThe younger generation have been locked out of the property market and they’re getting pretty mad about it.
Lawyers will beat commonsense
ALAN KOHLERThe world’s corporate tax rates are a tangled mess and no one really knows what to do about it.
Central bankers seek an out
Alan KohlerThe gap between what markets craved and what those at Jackson Hole discussed reveals the problem with existing policy.
Taxing retirees not-so-delicate
ALAN KOHLERAustralia’s new era of consensus politics saw leaders standing on opposing balconies shouting offers of co-operation.
And the winner is … Sydney!
Alan KohlerFor all the talk of crazy property prices pushing buyers interstate or to regional towns, Sydney still dominates.
Political paralysis is hurting
Alan KohlerWith a few exceptions, Australia’s banks are better managed than either the government or the parliament.
The end of Mackenzie’s beginning
Alan KohlerAs BHP braces for its biggest ever loss, all eyes will be on whether its CEO can deliver on his cost-cutting plan.
It’s time to discuss spending
ALAN KOHLERThe shocking fiscal performance of the Australian government in 2013-14 is now coming home to roost.
COMMENTHack puts blockchain at risk
Alan KohlerThe recent hack of a bitcoin exchange raises questions about the security and simplicity of blockchain technology.
Global rates policy a failure
ALAN KOHLERFloating exchange rates have connected each country’s monetary policy inextricably to every other.
A cruel and pointless RBA cut
Alan KohlerIt will be another whack for retirees and have little impact on the economy, but the central bank is out of ideas.
Five risks for an uncertain world
ALAN KOHLERThe most dangerous time is when everything looks fine, because such looks are always deceiving.
Success defined by respect
Alan KohlerThe power couple of doing well by doing good have a mission to change the world through profitable ventures.
Voters in search of safe haven
Alan KohlerPolitics around the world has been shaken up by the Brexit vote, which suggests market volatility is here to stay.
Brexit another buying opportunity
ALAN KOHLERWith all scary economic and market events that are known about ahead of time, the doomsayers overstate their case.
Brexit is a buying opportunity
Alan KohlerThat an exit is nowhere near as damaging as predicted is beside the point: volatility itself is the game.
Matching profit with purpose
Alan KohlerHow Berry Liberman is using her inheritance to invest in making the world a better place. WATCH
Politics derails monetary policy
Alan KohlerFed chair Janet Yellen didn’t mention Donald Trump, but in a sense he’s the ghost at every gathering of economists.
A wake-up call for corporations
Alan KohlerALP’s campaign launch made it clear that the party is trying to ride a global push against the rule of corporations.
The Great 8: Tony McAvoy, Barrister, 51
Alan KohlerThe first indigenous Australian to be appointed senior counsel talks to Alan Kohler.
Flight reflects policy failure
ALAN KOHLERAn asset bubble is a flight from safety -- so what are we to make of the new records in safe-haven assets?
Brexit wouldn’t be so bad
Alan KohlerThe pound and the London stockmarket would tank if the Brits opted to leave, but after that Britain would be a buy.
Commissions driving unit sales
ALAN KOHLERWe seem to be in the final stage of the apartment bubble, with developers offering huge inventives to Chinese agents.
Conflict risk in unit incentives
Alan KohlerLarge, upfront commissions offered by developers on sales of new units help explain Australia’s apartment glut.
Transported into the future
ALAN KOHLERPolitical leaders’ 10-year plans are laudable, but who knows what the world will be like in a decade?
Opinion
We’ll all win if PM cows unions
Janet Albrechtsen The power grab for volunteer firefighters goes to the heart of the federal election.
Disruption looms in anti-elitism
Paul Kelly Feeling ripped off by corruption and afraid of terrorism and migrants, voters are going to extremes.
Politics is turning into tennis
Greg Craven There are only two dogs in this fight — our first unashamedly imperial poll.
Don’t be fooled, focus on future
Catherine Livingstone We need policies that prevent a downward spiral as the world’s economy evolves.
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