What if inflation rises and wages don't?
We might seem to forget it sometimes, but Australia has more economic challenges than just Sydney and Melbourne housing prices.
Michael Pascoe is a BusinessDay contributing editor. He comments on companies, markets and the economy.
We might seem to forget it sometimes, but Australia has more economic challenges than just Sydney and Melbourne housing prices.
With a dash of true conservatism, Scott Morrison wants the vast majority of our housing market to keep doing just what it's been doing.
Hats off to Brian Hartzer for the use of understatement by declaring APRA's alleged crack down on real estate investors wouldn't have 'any particular profitability impact'.
It says plenty about the state of Australian politics that so much policy is viewed through the lens of Sydney and Melbourne housing affordability, writes Michael Pascoe.
Sydney has been our clear fly-in-fly-out capital ever since the resources investment boom peaked, but it's ramping up to a new level.
The bad news about the regulators' new attempts to hose down housing investment enthusiasm is that they are, at best, second rate.
It's a dangerous thing to talk a big game before taking the field. Treasurer Scott Morrison did that pre-departure for the weekend G20 finance ministers meeting in Germany. He's been left trying to claim a big loss was actually a win. Monty Python's dismembered Black Knight comes to mind.
If the Reserve Bank and National Australia Bank were competitors, the consumer watchdog could have a case against them for price signalling.
The reality is that higher profits aren't translating into higher wages.
On the present trajectory of political fiddling about housing affordability, the odds are reasonable that Scott Morrison's second budget will include National Housing Lotto. It's not much worse an idea than some that have been suggested and apparently are about to be tried.
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