Deep divide over Australia's economic path
At the start of the year, economists seem more divided than ever over Australia's growth outlook.
The Economy
Reserve Bank leaves rates on hold at 1.5%
The Reserve Bank of Australia has left its cash rate steady for the fifth consecutive board meeting as it prepares to release forecasts showing economic growth picking up and inflation climbing from 1.5 per cent to more than 2 per cent.
Early shoppers take heat out of Christmas sales
Australians spent more than $25.6 billion in December, but sales for the month dipped 0.1 per cent, confounding hopes for bumper Christmas sales.
Warning of bump for Trump next year with slide into recession
US President Donald Trump's economic honeymoon could come to an end as soon as next year, senior London fund managers have forecast, with the US at risk of plunging into recession.
Christmas sales fell short as Aussies looked for bargains
Official retail sales statistics for the all-important pre-Christmas period fell significantly short of expectations, not because Aussies bought fewer items but because we paid less for them.
Is Australia's property boom showing signs of crumbling?
After a long pause, the auctioneer commissioned to sell a northern Sydney beach-side apartment for in excess of $800,000 puts his gavel away, unable to entice a single bid.
Wrongly accused of fraud and evasion by the ATO? IGT wants to know
The Tax Office's processes for forming decisions about whether taxpayers are guilty of fraud or evasion are "not sufficiently robust and may lead to unfair outcomes", according to concerns raised with the Inspector-General of Taxation Ali Noroozi.
Investor home loans the fly in the ointment for RBA
Like a rabbit caught in a spotlight, the Reserve Bank board is all but certain to remain frozen on Tuesday, not knowing which way to jump.
Australia a one-trick pony or unicorn? 27 economists weigh in
The Reserve Bank board faces little pressure to adjust rates at its first meeting for the year on Tuesday after the BusinessDay Scope forecasting panel predicted a rarity - an entire year of steady rates.
The people who saw crazy 2016 coming
In most years there’s room for one forecaster of the year. But not in 2016. Hardly any of our panel picked the dive in Australia’s growth rate to 1.8 per cent or the dive in the cash rate to a record-low 1.5 per cent. Wage growth was lower than all but the most pessimistic of the forecasts, and house prices ended the year far higher than the highest.
Mining's economic contribution not as big as you might think
With Malcolm Turnbull desperate to keep burning coal for electricity, just how important is the mining industry to our economy?
No budget bonanza: Forecasting panel sees weak year ahead
Few of Australia's leading economists expect the government to deliver the cut in the budget deficit promised.
'General glumness' to keep shares flat, say economists
The BusinessDay Scope panel have a rather circumspect view on where the ASX200 will end up by the end of 2017.
Trump simply doesn't get it
Donald Trump doesn't get it, apparently is incapable of getting it.
November rate hike '40% and rising'
The probability the RBA raises interest rates in November is "somewhere in the 40s and rising" according to Goldman Sachs.
Bye bye bean counters, hello business consultant
Small shopfront accountants nationwide are worried about the end of the traditional tax return.
Export boom remarkable in 'weak trade growth' era
December's record trade surplus is good news for corporate profits and the government's triple A rating. But economists expect the impact on the real economy to be muted
Wanted: More women at the RBA
Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Philip Lowe prides himself on trying to fully answer questions leveled at him in public. It turned out to be a query from his family that flummoxed him.
Future Fund managers must walk political tightrope
Within three years, Australians may witness one of the biggest financial raids in history.
Business conditions jump sharply in December
Business conditions recovered strongly in December as firms reported a marked pick-up in sales and profits, the latest in a string of surveys pointing to gathering momentum going into the new year.
Cutting company tax won't drive investment: Australia Institute
New research ridicules the prime minister's claim that cutting the company tax rate will boost foreign investment, pointing out that almost all of Australia's foreign investment applications come from countries with much lower tax rates.
Australia now makes more from tourism than exporting coal
Australia now makes more money selling tourism services to foreigners than it makes from exporting coal.
Australia's biggest tax break: you're sitting in it
The family home has eclipsed superannuation as Australia's biggest tax break.
Best since Gough. Australia's current account deficit set to tumble
The current account deficit, once thought of as Australia's biggest economic challenge, will as good as vanish in the year ahead as income from exports exceeds spending on imports for the longest time since the 1970s, according to the Deloitte Access preview of the year ahead.
Rates on hold as inflation bottoms
The Reserve Bank has been given licence to leave interest rates on hold at its first board meeting for the year, after the delivery of a low inflation result in line with its expectations and signs it will lift.
'Well and truly alive': Weak inflation raises RBA rate cut prospects
Australia's rate of inflation in 2016 was below expectations, sparking fears of continued economic weakness and keeping the door open for an interest rate cut by the Reserve Bank.
How your nest egg drops by thousands due to unpaid super
Australians who have been underpaid their super entitlements have balances that are almost $20,000 or about 50 per cent lower, new research Industry Super Australia shows.
'Back to the drawing board' on trade after Trump dumps TPP
The government is being urged to revisit bilateral trade deals with Australia's big Asian trade partners, after Donald Trump's move to pull the plug on the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Dear Gladys, here are 11 ways to improve housing affordability
The new premier claims to be "open minded" on the best ways to improve housing affordability, but here are 11 economist-endorsed ideas that might test her mettle.
Sydney has the second least affordable housing in the world: study
It's the global ranking Australians don't want.
Small Business
Small businesses back marriage equality
The same-sex marriage plebiscite may have been stymied but small businesses are voicing their support for marriage equality.
I turned my boyfriend's accident into sweet success
Meet a former stockbroker who has launched herself onto the global stage with a strong contender in a nascent industry: beauty drinks.