Latest
Central banks feel climate change heat
The global guardians of financial stability are being challenged to use their influence to make a difference, writes Tom Rees.
- Tom Rees
Geopolitics intensifying climate risks, World Economic Forum warns
Nationalistic rivalry and polarisation is a roadblock to tackling the climate crisis and other pressing risks, report finds.
- Hans van Leeuwen
Action urged on 'Wild West' of risky debt
Financial experts have rallied behind former Treasurer Peter Costello's warnings about the proliferation of aggressively marketed, risky and complex investments.
- Jonathan Shapiro
Super funds record best year since 2013
Typical superannuation funds experienced the best results since 2013 but many retirees will have missed out on the spoils of 2019 because of what experts are calling a "two-speed" retirement savings system.
- Joanna Mather
GST relief, cash grants pushed for bushfire-affected small businesses
"Cash is king" for fire-affected small business, say business leaders looking for help from the federal government for fire-affected communities.
- John Kehoe and Andrew Tillett
The diabolical task of clean energy transition
The bushfires crisis has underscored just how hard it is going to be for Australia's to manage the electricity grid's inevitable transition to sustainable power, even without political paralysis.
- Elouise Fowler and Angela Macdonald-Smith
Opinion & Analysis
Asset bubbles: the world risk being ignored
The World Economic Forum in Davos has been told the world cannot wait for the fog of geopolitical uncertainty to lift, and must act on key issues such as the economy, the environment, technology and public health.
Columnist
Counting the costs of our scorched summer
The immediate costs of the bushfires will be hefty but the bill will get even bigger if climate change is not addressed.
Contributor
The carbon tax that will work
A carbon border tax would force China and other nations to consider emissions trading schemes more seriously and is a perfectly reasonable response to the existential threat of climate change.
Columnist
Why the RBA may have to take emergency action
The key navigational tools used by the RBA have sucked interest rates into the vortex of ‘lower for longer' – and made it harder to lift the economy out of the doldrums in 2020, writes HSBC chief economist Paul Bloxham.
Contributor
More From Today
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Asset bubbles: the world risk being ignored
The World Economic Forum in Davos has been told the world cannot wait for the fog of geopolitical uncertainty to lift, and must act on key issues such as the economy, the environment, technology and public health.
- 1 hr ago
- Tony Boyd
Counting the costs of our scorched summer
The immediate costs of the bushfires will be hefty but the bill will get even bigger if climate change is not addressed.
- Rob Henderson
Yesterday
- Opinion
- Climate policy
The carbon tax that will work
A carbon border tax would force China and other nations to consider emissions trading schemes more seriously and is a perfectly reasonable response to the existential threat of climate change.
- Adrian Blundell-Wignall
This Month
Push for more economists, fewer business people on the RBA board
Former RBA board members, politicians and economists are pushing for greater economic expertise on the central bank's nine-member board in preparation for potential quantitative easing.
- Matthew Cranston
- Opinion
- Monetary policy
Why the RBA may have to take emergency action
The key navigational tools used by the RBA have sucked interest rates into the vortex of ‘lower for longer' – and made it harder to lift the economy out of the doldrums in 2020, writes HSBC chief economist Paul Bloxham.
- Paul Bloxham
Fed's Rosengren warns of inflation risks to US economic outlook
The tight US labour market represents a threat to prices, the Boston Federal Reserve Bank president said.
- Jonnelle Marte
Business slams ACCC over calls to lower hurdle rates
"In the end it's competition that sorts these things out, not regulators," NIB chief executive Mark Fitzgibbon said.
- Lucas Baird
Fires won't burn AAA credit rating
But the government has been warned more frequent future climate change-related natural disasters will add spending pressure on the budget.
- John Kehoe
- Opinion
- Wage growth
The reason you aren't getting a pay rise
Employers are not giving their workers wage rises because they don’t need to; there’s plenty of surplus labour in Australia and in the increasingly globalised labour market, writes Craig Emerson.
- Craig Emerson
- Analysis
- Employment
Is capitalism over? Not even close
Despite real economic challenges, leading capitalist economies are doing far better than the pessimists like to claim.
- Michael Strain
Technology is the key to climate policy
The federal government will rely on investments in low-emissions technologies to beat its 2030 emissions reduction target.
- John Kehoe and Andrew Tillett
- Opinion
- Bushfires
Germaine Greer’s Diary on the bushfires
Pity the unlucky town of Eden. There's this country's fatuous blame game – and how to fight fire with fire.
- Germaine Greer
The bushfire crisis, eco-anxiety and how to deal with it
Worry and uncertainty about bushfires and the role of climate change in exacerbating the severity of the crisis are normal feelings. Here, top psychologists, doctors, lawyers and engineers advise on how to deal with those feelings in a constructive manner.
- Natasha Gillezeau
Mental health help for bushfire victims and firies
Fire victims and emergency service workers will be given free counselling and Medicare rebates for visiting doctors and psychologists, as part of the federal government's response to the bushfire crisis.
- John Kehoe
US economy adds 145,000 jobs in December, wage growth slows
While the number of new jobs slightly missed expectations, the labour market remains strong: average monthly jobs gains for all of last year were 176,000.
- Rachel Siegel
- Opinion
- The AFR View
Community must also do more on aged care
The boss of the nation’s largest nursing home operator is right: older Australians should make a greater financial contribution to the cost of their care.
- The AFR View
Pressure on RBA eases following retail, sharemarket highs
The chances of a rate cut in February have dropped below 50 per cent following strong retail sales in November.
- Matthew Cranston and Nick Lenaghan
How the fires could change summer music festivals
The future of the summer music festival model is being reconsidered after a slew of cancellations and postponements due to bushfires.
- Tim Boyd
Businesses urged government to prepare for disaster. Then nothing
Six Australian businesses and NGOs joined forces to lobby governments for a more deliberate, nationwide approach to disaster resilience. This is how the government responded.
- James Fernyhough
