Ian Verrender is the ABC's business editor. A journalist for more than 30 years, Verrender spent 25 years at The Sydney Morning Herald in a variety of roles including senior writer and business editor. He joined Business Spectator and Eureka Report in 2012 and joined the ABC in 2014.
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| UpdatedAnother anguished treasurer faces the prospect of a mid-year downgrade to his economic forecasts. Perhaps it's time to revisit our resources rent taxes.
Topics: mining-industry, business-economics-and-finance, wa, australia
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How much worse off are we all now that the Trans-Pacific Partnership has been consigned to the dustbin? The short answer is it will not make a lick of difference — in fact, we may be better off.
Topics: business-economics-and-finance, international-aid-and-trade, trade, world-politics, government-and-politics, australia, united-states
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Like the hapless Mr Jones in Bob Dylan's Ballad of a Thin Man, our political and business leaders simply cannot fathom what is wrong, or why anyone would be unhappy.
Topics: business-economics-and-finance, government-and-politics, world-politics, australia, united-states
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| UpdatedDonald Trump's election promises to remove trade barriers and restore US industries will not play out well on the world market or for the US economy.
Topics: globalisation---economy, business-economics-and-finance, world-politics, international-aid-and-trade, industrial-relations, united-states
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| UpdatedOnce concerned only with unemployment as a barometer of the nation's health, economists have begun to view underemployment with alarm. With good reason.
Topics: unemployment, community-and-society, government-and-politics, australia
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Former Commonwealth Bank chief executive David Murray again pours scorn on the bank's newly appointed chairman Catherine Livingstone.
Topics: business-economics-and-finance, banking, industry, australia
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| UpdatedChina's Government adds another thorn to James Packer's Crown, with the arrest of 18 casino staff a sign it is serious about stopping the exodus of high-roller gamblers.
Topics: company-news, hospitality, gambling, fraud-and-corporate-crime, world-politics, foreign-affairs, australia, china
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| UpdatedLoosening the purse strings does not come naturally to the Coalition, but investing for the future at a time of record-low interest rates and low national income is vital, writes Ian Verrender.
Topics: government-and-politics, federal-government, budget, transport, housing-industry, business-economics-and-finance, australia
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| UpdatedCan you have too much of a good thing? The developed world, including ourselves, certainly appears to believe so and it is time the business world and governments woke up to it, writes Ian Verrender.
Topics: business-economics-and-finance, economic-trends, banking, government-and-politics, australia, united-states
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| UpdatedWith another banking crisis brewing again in Europe, the leaders of our big four banks are steeling themselves for what they hope will be a wet-lettuce-slapping, meaningless bit of theatre in the national capital this week.
Topics: business-economics-and-finance, industry, banking, government-and-politics, australia
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Former federal education minister John Dawkins' woes intensify after class action lawyers seize upon news he is facing legal action from the corporate regulator.
Topics: education, vocational, university-and-further-education, education-industry, business-economics-and-finance, government-and-politics, law-crime-and-justice, australia, vic
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| UpdatedFormer federal education minister and treasurer John Dawkins faces legal action over his role in the collapse of private education provider Vocation.
Topics: business-economics-and-finance, vocational, education, education-industry, government-and-politics, university-and-further-education, law-crime-and-justice, australia, vic
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| UpdatedThe world's economic leaders now find themselves stranded at a crossroads, agonising over which way to turn as it becomes ever more obvious that their radical policies have failed.
Topics: business-economics-and-finance, industry, banking, government-and-politics, australia
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The state that should be the richest is in desperate straits as it enters a recession-like conditions, global resources companies are notching up losses by the score and the car manufacturing industry is being killed by a resources boom that paid only temporary dividends. So much for the lucky country.
Topics: business-economics-and-finance, economic-trends, budget, automotive, government-and-politics, federal---state-issues, wa, australia
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| UpdatedTreasurer Scott Morrison's decision to block the sale of Ausgrid to Chinese interests highlights how worthless free trade deals really are.
Topics: electricity-energy-and-utilities, international-aid-and-trade, trade, foreign-affairs, china, hong-kong, nsw, australia
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| UpdatedTens of thousands of Australians have had their lives ruined by the major banks. If there's no need for a Royal Commission, why is the Turnbull Government wasting time and money on a parliamentary inquiry?
Topics: banking, royal-commissions, federal-parliament
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Phil Lowe assumes the governor's role as Australia gets sucked into a global vortex of deflation, low growth and ultra-radical monetary policy that so far has failed to fire up demand or investment.
Topics: business-economics-and-finance, banking, money-and-monetary-policy
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| UpdatedEconomic growth is faltering and increasingly desperate measures by central banks are proving ineffective. Meanwhile, both stocks and bonds are hitting record highs. It's an each way bet on boom and bust and it's unheard of.
Topics: banking, money-and-monetary-policy, business-economics-and-finance, stockmarket
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Woolworths' desperate move to slash costs and preserve margins is pleasing investors for now, but the company still lacks a growth strategy.
Topics: company-news, retail, australia
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| UpdatedThe Government's proposed superannuation changes will help rein in the budget deficit and provide equity to the system. So of course Canberra's vested interests are howling in opposition.
Topics: superannuation, tax, budget
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| UpdatedA NSW Supreme Court jury dismisses Mr Voelte's claim that a November 2014 story about the takeover of Nexus by Seven Group painted him as a traitor who had betrayed Nexus shareholders.
Topics: business-economics-and-finance, company-news, law-crime-and-justice, courts-and-trials, australia, sydney-2000
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| UpdatedIn the space of a mere eight years, the former US Federal Reserve Bank Chair Ben Bernanke has managed to achieve what Vladimir Lenin could barely conceive.
Topics: banking, business-economics-and-finance
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Forget the delicate majority in the lower house and the deals that will have to be done in the Senate. Will the global economy cooperate with the Turnbull Government's promise of jobs and growth?
Topics: business-economics-and-finance, turnbull-malcolm, banking, world-politics
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| UpdatedThere has been a real and growing chasm in the distribution of wealth in recent years and the backlash is showing up at the polls in the form of protest votes directed against the established order.
Topics: government-and-politics, federal-government, business-economics-and-finance, federal-election
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The Brexit disaster that was inflicted on an unsuspecting world last week will undermine the prospects for an already weak global economy and have a particularly harsh impact on Australia.
Topics: government-and-politics, business-economics-and-finance, foreign-affairs