Why the RBA will be sweating on this week's jobs data
Caught between overheating property markets and signs of a moderating economy, the RBA will be praying for a solid jobs number this week.
The Economy
Former spy boss to head foreign investment board
The former boss of Australia's spy agencies has been appointed to head up the federal government's watchdog on foreign investments.
Australia has $1 trillion foreign debt. Should we be worried?
Our foreign debt will grow and it already exceeds $1 trillion deficit. But that's not necessarily bad.
Why we need to worry about the level of household debt
The balance sheets of Australian households with a mortgage are dangerously exposed to any fall in house prices.
Australia has a property bubble? Look again
As regulators crack down on lending, chances are the rest of the country will pay for the excesses of easy money and federal politics in Sydney and Melbourne.
$22b cost of tax deductions to be tackled in budget
Government to take stab at reducing annual $22 billion in 'overclaimed' tax deductions for work expenses.
Did we miss a recession we had to have?
Australia's success in evading the global recession is coming back to haunt it, with a delayed fallout manifesting itself now in the steady climb in underemployment.
ATO unlikely to get the $2.9b it's chasing from multinationals
The tax office is chasing seven companies for $2.9b, but if history's any guide, it will only get half that amount.
Microsoft, McDonald's, IBM avoid government's tax transparency code
Dozens of multinationals have not signed up to federal government's tax transparency code.
Deposit, salary stymie Aussie millennials' home ownership dreams
Just 28 per cent of Australian millennials own a home, only marginally higher than their peers in the United Arab Emirates, a survey has found.
RBA boss blames lax lending, tax breaks for house prices
Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe intervenes in the debate over tax and home prices before the May budget.
Federal budget to tackle Australia's $21b 'black economy'
Black economy is hard to tackle because Australians see cash-only payments as 'almost a national sport'.
Rates on hold amid increasing concern about house prices
The Reserve Bank has held the cash rate steady amid growing pressure to lift rates to contain soaring home prices.
Runaway house prices put ownership dreams on hold
Two people, three jobs and a dream getting harder and harder to reach.
Time to stop negative gearing 'distortions', says business lobby
A major business lobby has taken aim at popular tax breaks for housing that are claimed by many of its members.
Immigration may pay price for booming housing
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 house price growth hits 15-year high
House values surged another 1.4 per cent across Australia in March, pushing annual price growth to 19 per cent in Sydney and 16 per cent in Melbourne, new data shows.
PM has the medicine to fix the housing bubble - he just won't use it
Only the government has a weapon large enough to stop the housing juggernaut.
Companies with gender diverse boards made more money
Companies with females on their boards have have achieved higher revenue growth, profitability and shareholder returns than those without, a new report by accounting firm KPMG shows.
Why Australia isn't so easy for Trump to bully
When President Donald Trump berated Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull two months ago over 1,250 refugees the US agreed to accept from Australia, the phone conversation was perceived ominously: A decades-old alliance that was already strained by Australia's economic reliance on China was now being put under greater stress.
Minimum wage rise could benefit all in the rat race
If I was on the minimum wage, however, I wouldn't start spending the increase yet.
We may lead the world in growth, but spoils are bittersweet
Australia is close to seizing the crown for the longest streak of economic growth in the world thanks to a mixture of policy guile and outrageous fortune. But it's creaking under the weight of its own success.
Spin classes won't help Australia cut the fat
The truth is that we are all going to have to pay more out of our own pockets for our health.
Australians sitting on mountains of cash as wealth outpaces debt
Households saw their wealth balloon to a record $11.7 trillion last quarter as cash holdings topped a trillion dollars for the first time ever.
Job vacancies highest since mid-2011
Job vacancies have risen for a third straight quarter to hit the highest since May 2011, data showed on Thursday, a promising omen for a much-needed pick-up in labour demand.
Australia's top chairmen came to support quotas, when will we?
Woolworths chairman Gordon Cairns is among a number of ASX 200 leaders who have thrown their support behind quotas.
Man versus machine: Robots take the lead in the race for jobs
Last year, two leading economists described a future in which humans come out ahead. But now they've declared a different winner: the robots.
Australia now officially has 'Google tax', aims to collect $2b
The law aims to recoup revenue from some of the nation's biggest companies including Apple, BHP Billiton, Chevron and Crown.
Work like a nomad? The ATO is watching you
Do you work like a nomad - travel from place to place for your job - and then claim it on your tax return? The ATO is watching.
How Amazon beat tax authorities and saved $1.97 billion
Tax fights involving Amazon and Chevron will have major implications for other companies in long-running disputes.
Small Business
Call for ASIC and ACCC to investigate 'coercive' small business loans
The regulatory watchdogs are under pressure to investigate big businesses forcing loans on small businesses.
Working from home trend must be part of urbanisation policy
Why don't governments and companies focus on targets for home-based workers?