Why we keep buying presents no one needs
Spend much time with economists around this time of year, and you will hear about the dreadful inefficiency of exchanging gifts. But there's a higher logic to the gift economy.
The Economy
Knowledge, not resources, driving economic growth
Some economists worry the world economy isn't growing fast enough. It's slowing down and reaching the point of "secular stagnation".
The overlooked MYEFO bit that matters most
The fixation with the budget deficit being a few billion one way or the other is arguing about the fleas on the dog – it's economic growth that decides whether the dog is fed or not.
Small business tax debts to be revealed to credit agencies
The taxman will now disclose small business tax debt information to credit reporting agencies under a new measure announced in the federal government's midyear budget update.
RBA balanced weaker jobs, strong housing in decision to hold rates
The RBA balanced "considerable uncertainty" in labour market momentum and resurgent property prices in Sydney and Melbourne in its decision to leave interest rates unchanged.
Sometimes it's just better to stay single
A new OECD paper has looked at how tax systems, including Australia's, effectively discriminate against married women.
The tale of two parliamentary housing inquiries
What an amazing difference 19 months can make for parliamentary inquiries into housing affordability and ownership.
What's a AAA credit rating and why does it matter?
What is this rating, where does it come from and does it matter? Your AAA-rating questions answered.
How ScoMo discovered good and bad debt on the way to MYEFO
Congratulations are in order as ScoMo's epiphany represents a major break with the Abbott/Hockey dogma of all government debt being evil.
$50 the note of choice for criminals: RBA
Phasing out the $100 note may do little to disrupt crime, Reserve Bank paper says.
Credit Suisse tips up to three RBA cuts
Households are overgeared and the RBA might have to cut interest rates up to three times to ward off a dramatic deleveraging event.
Our copyright laws are holding us back, and there's a way out
Imagine a land in which everything was outlawed, except for the things that were specifically allowed. Things would more-or-less work, until you tried something new.
Consumer confidence down, Morrison cautions against alarm
Consumer confidence has dived to its lowest level since April in a "jolt to stability and confidence", plunging into doubt retailers forecasts ten days before Christmas.
Future of the $100 note up for grabs as government targets cash
The Turnbull government is to consider a ban on the $100 note and a crackdown on all but small cash payments as part of an assault on the cash economy to be unveiled in Monday's mid-year budget update.
Australian consumers spooked by poor GDP
A measure of Australia's consumer sentiment slipped to an eight-month low in December after disappointing data on the domestic economy shook confidence in the outlook for the year ahead.
Convert the 'disbelievers': ASX 200 ends 2016 with 15 boards with no women
The year will end with 15 boards in the ASX 200 with no women on it.
'Victims of our own success': NSW's $11b GST hole
By 2019-20, residents in NSW will pay $23.7 billion in GST and get back just $17.8 billion.
Why NSW is losing billions
There's a big downside to NSW's economic success.
Business conditions lowest in 19 months
Business conditions have fallen to their lowest level in 19 months and consumer confidence has plunged.
ATO needs to be quicker to apologise for errors: review
Australia does not need a taxpayer bill of rights, a review has found, but the Tax Office must take greater steps to educate the public about their rights and apologise when it makes errors.
'Get stuffed': Trump's likely message to us taxing US multinationals
Australia may have tougher laws aimed at recouping more tax from multinationals, but that won't stop the incoming US President Donald Trump to tell us to "get stuffed" in the fight for more revenue, a KPMG tax expert says.
Australia must move forward to prevent gridlock
Imagine the task of building a city the size of Canberra every year, for the rest of this century. Or, how about creating a new city the population of Melbourne every decade?
Politicised Treasury bites own tail, covers for Turnbull
Shadow treasurer Chris Bowen is right: One of the Abbott-Turnbull government's various acts of economic vandalism is its politicisation of the once-proud federal Treasury.
GDP: Short for Generally Dubious Puffery?
GDP might well be the least bad of all the flawed ways in which we can measure the health of our economy. But it's far from perfect, especially if you're aiming to capture the impact of the economy on people.
Showdown between ATO and big business looms as list of company tax paid is revealed
A showdown between the Australian Taxation Office and the nation's largest companies including Chevron, Crown and BHP Billiton is looming as the tax man hit seven large companies with tax bills amounting to $2 billion in revenue.
Recession? Look out your window
What would economic race-calling be without its little excitements? As you may possibly have heard, this week's news is that the economy has contracted - shrunk, gone backwards - by 0.5 per cent.
You win some, you lose some: retailers struggle while agriculture booms
Fairfax Media spoke to business owners across five industries to find out who the year's economic winners and losers have been.
Bermuda tops list of world's top tax havens
More than $4 billion in Australian tax is being shifted by Australian-based multinationals into the world's 15 worst corporate "tax havens" each year, Oxfam says.
Labor attacks 'treasury' report discrediting economic stimulus
Labor has questioned the bona fides of a report apparently commissioned by the Treasury that plays down the role of big government spending in helping Australia survive global financial crisis.
The 'wake-up call' that's been ringing for years
Treasurer Morrison labelled this week's surprisingly low September quarter GDP number as a "wake-up call". What he didn't say is that it's a call that's been ringing for three years.
Small Business
How to make exit interviews work
I've always found exit interviews to be perplexing.
Pudding business plumped up by $11 000 grant
This Christmas, a small Newcastle bakery will have its biggest year yet.