Latest
After mocking electric cars, PM now embraces them
Scott Morrison once famously claimed electric cars would be the death of the weekend. Now he wants to build more electric charging infrastructure.
- Jacob Greber
RBA edges closer to rate hike
Governor Philip Lowe has acknowledged underlying inflation had picked up quicker than expected and signalled rate rises could begin earlier than forecast.
- Updated
- Ronald Mizen
Andrew Forrest, Mike Cannon-Brookes on epic free ride
The wilful credulity of the entire Australian media in this blaze of headlines is contemptible.
- Joe Aston
Philip Lowe Q&A: RBA governor on rates, migration, house prices
RBA governor Philip Lowe discussed whether wage growth is achievable, what effect migration might have on the outlook, and whether it will step in to curb house prices.
- William McInnes
Health experts mixed on early freedoms for NSW
Medical experts have differing views on NSW’s plan to open up completely when 95 per cent of the population over 16 has been double vaccinated.
- Jill Margo and Finbar O'Mallon
India’s 2070 climate pledge divides opinion in Glasgow
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s importance to the fate of COP26 meant that many seemed willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.
- Hans van Leeuwen
Opinion & Analysis
RBA signals end of easy money
Interest rates will rise sooner than expected, but that isn’t reflected in equity markets that are yet to include the less bullish scenarios in the bond market.
Columnist
Lowe says ‘Australia is different’ on interest rates
Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe thinks Australia can resist the global inflation forces caused by supply chain disruptions and labour shortages.
Economics editor
The sooner interest rates rise, the better
The RBA has conceded that the cash rate could rise in 2023. That’s good: dirt cheap money increases risk while doing little for growth.
Editorial
Why does the RBA even bother forecasting interest rates?
While Tuesday’s RBA move looks messy, forward guidance is one of the central bank’s most powerful tools in a world where interest rates are already at zero.
Reporter
Yesterday
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
RBA signals end of easy money
Interest rates will rise sooner than expected, but that isn’t reflected in equity markets that are yet to include the less bullish scenarios in the bond market.
- Tony Boyd
- Opinion
- Interest rates
Lowe says ‘Australia is different’ on interest rates
Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe thinks Australia can resist the global inflation forces caused by supply chain disruptions and labour shortages.
- John Kehoe
- Opinion
- The AFR View
The sooner interest rates rise, the better
The RBA has conceded that the cash rate could rise in 2023. That’s good: dirt cheap money increases risk while doing little for growth.
- The AFR View
- Analysis
- RBA
Why does the RBA even bother forecasting interest rates?
While Tuesday’s RBA move looks messy, forward guidance is one of the central bank’s most powerful tools in a world where interest rates are already at zero.
- Michael Read
- Opinion
- The AFR View
Morrison leaves Macron looking like a sore loser
The French have seen only their interests, not their customer’s, right to the bitter end.
- The AFR View
- Opinion
- Monetary policy
RBA must give up predicting the future
The damage done to the Reserve Bank’s credibility shows why indulging in forward guidance on interest rates is a bad policy tool.
- Warren Hogan
- Opinion
- Monetary policy
The Reserve Bank should act like policymakers, not forecasters
What new information will lead the central bank to increase the cash rate? Today’s decision provides zero additional clarity on this.
- Richard Holden and Bruce Preston
- Opinion
- Climate policy
Great carbon transition must commit to leaving no one behind
The market sees carbon neutrality as a profitable opportunity. But the greatest costs will be borne by those least able to make the transition.
- Pru Goward
- Opinion
- Glasgow summit
Just how clean can two billionaires really be?
Two of the world’s richest businessmen are furiously writing billion-dollar checks in their race to shape the climate future.
- Andy Mukherjee and Anjani Trivedi
Twitter’s quiet new strategy to fight lies
Twitter says it is attempting to combat climate disinformation by steering its massive user base to reliable information with more context, a strategy the company calls “prebunking.”
- Aaron Gregg
Fight over climate cash boils over at Glasgow summit
The leaders of poorer countries lined up to lambast the rich world for failing to make good on a promise of $US100 billion a year.
- Hans van Leeuwen
This Month
- Opinion
- The AFR View
Australia’s vaccine-led escape from the gilded cage has begun
NSW and Victoria are now showing how other states - including WA - can safely start to rejoin the world as soon as their vaccination rates catch up.
- The AFR View
New-generation vaccine may foil COVID-19 variants
While current vaccines direct antibodies at parts of the virus that can easily mutate, the new approach is to target a tiny part of the virus that cannot afford to change.
- Jill Margo
RBA rate rises to boost bank profits
Interest rate rises in response to inflation would boost the profit margins of banks and be partly underwritten by the RBA if borrowing costs rise before 2024.
- John Kehoe
- Opinion
- Nuclear energy
The road to net zero passes through nuclear power
Opposition to nuclear power is on par with unscientific anti-vax conspiracy theories, and just encourages reliance on coal.
- Nyunggai Warren Mundine
Aware Super slashes emissions on path to net zero
Aware Super has slashed its emissions and is piling money into renewable energy, with the fund saying clarity on climate policy was key for the super sector.
- Michael Read
- Opinion
- Schools
Education establishment fails the curriculum reform test
Bureaucrats and academics stubbornly hang on to education practices and pet ideas that have no basis in evidence.
- Glenn Fahey
- Opinion
- Climate policy
How Morrison stifles carbon market forces
If the federal government can’t do anything constructive on climate change, it should at least get out of the way of those who can.
- Craig Emerson
G20’s climate side-step casts pall over COP26 summit
The failure of leaders from the world’s 20 biggest economies to bolster their climate ambitions has cast a pall over hopes the Glasgow summit can deliver a result.
- Updated
- Hans van Leeuwen
- Exclusive
- China relations
Frydenberg warns on ‘downside risks’ from China
The Treasurer says the slowdown in the Asian nation’s economy and construction sector poses a danger to Australia, particularly on demand for iron ore.
- John Kehoe
