Featured Opinion
A bad week for Australian productivity and prosperity
Michele Bullock may be a glass-half-full optimist, but Labor’s latest moves will make economic recovery that much harder.
Editorial
Biden should step aside – but what is the safest way to do so?
Hanging on or handing over to Kamala Harris both contain huge risks. There is a third choice if the president wants to take it.
Contributor
Australia can’t talk defence by not mentioning China
We cannot win public consent for higher defence spending without being candid with voters on where the threats come from.
Defence expert
How America’s high-pressure economy could implode
It’s good for the time being, but you have to wonder what will happen when the valves are released.
Contributor
Can China escape its debt deflation trap?
Chinese export prices have been falling at their fastest clip since the financial crisis, helping to dampen inflationary pressures worldwide.
Columnist
The cracks deepen beneath the market’s surface
Investors are decidedly upbeat, but analysts warn there are disturbing currents beneath the US sharemarket’s calm surface.
Columnist
Bullock’s lack of forward guidance is good for flexibility
Any indication about the direction of interest rates which might be perceived as a promise can limit the central bank’s ability to be nimble.
Economist
Davos was upbeat, but don’t count on a soft landing
China’s slowdown, lacklustre Europe and no US fiscal tightening in an election year means the risks to global growth are still on the downside.
Columnist
More From Today
- Opinion
- Industrial relations
Labor’s job-killing new IR world
The right to disconnect rules will take away even the most basic flexibilities for workers and employers alike.
- 5 mins ago
- Michaelia Cash
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
What we learnt from CSL, Challenger, Seek and Breville’s results
Investors in CSL and Breville have growth questions on their mind, while Seek’s downgrade sent shares skidding. Meanwhile, at Challenger, a bro-mance is brewing.
- 1 hr ago
- James Thomson and Anthony Macdonald
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Macquarie loses its great problem solver
Nick O’Kane’s pay packet always grabbed the headlines, but his real legacy is to build one of Macquarie’s most important profit engines.
- James Thomson
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Inside the bizarre plot to bring down home builder Simonds
Being publicly listed probably saved Simonds from potential ruin, after a social media post subjected the company to a savage and bizarre smear campaign.
- James Thomson
- Driving With Tony Davis
- Motoring
Minimalists, Tesla’s updated Model 3 ‘Highland’ is for you
Tweaks and tucks have produced a more refined, more comfortable and more spartan EV.
- Tony Davis
- Opinion
- Bitcoin
If you can’t resist bitcoin, treat it as a ‘satellite’ investment
Often the hardest part of creating wealth is not figuring out the most exciting investments, it’s about remaining committed to a sound portfolio.
- Duncan Burns
Yesterday
- Opinion
- The AFR View
Workforce summit exposes IR inflexibility mismatch
The government calls its new industrial relations laws ‘closing loopholes’ when it is really about closing off flexibility.
- The AFR View
- Opinion
- Obituaries
‘The last cheque that I write bounces’: vale Harold Mitchell
The advertising pioneer, who died last week aged 81, struggled with personal challenges, including alcoholism, weight and marriage failure.
- Aaron Patrick
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Quicker new car sales help dealers fight back against private sellers
Carsales.com’s result had the sort of unexpected nugget of information that made an otherwise very steady result more interesting for investors.
- Anthony Macdonald
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Why a 20pc miss on profits sent JB Hi-Fi’s shares soaring
Sales running below inflation and profit down 20 per cent? No worries, that’s fresh record high stuff at JB Hi-Fi.
- Anthony Macdonald
- Opinion
- Letters to the Editor
How to fix stamp duty bracket creep
Readers’ letters on a solution to the problem with stamp duty, Rafah’s impending bloodbath, PwC’s continuing bad habits, and the reason for falling birth rates.
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
We’re all guessing on WFH, but firms may soon need to pick a side
From Canva to JPMorgan, leaders are still feeling their way when it comes to working from home. But employees may be about to force the issue.
- James Thomson
- Opinion
- Australian economy
Green the grid before racing ahead with cleaner cars
The New Vehicle Efficiency Standard appears to be good news. But climate policy fatigue is well and truly alive and risks a smooth energy transition.
- Kristian Kolding
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Drug trial failure gives CSL $8b of heart palpitations
The study for CSL’s new heart attack drug was the biggest in its storied history. But high hopes have turned to major disappointment.
- James Thomson
World’s top sailors out to smash SailGP record on Sydney Harbour
The pinnacle so far is 99.9 km/h (in heavy winds in France). Australian team driver Tom Slingsby thinks home just might be the place to break through 100 km\h.
- Tony Davis
- Opinion
- AI
Look beyond Magnificent Seven to find next AI winners
The sheer scale of these top tech stocks makes the hurdle to maintain their earnings growth rates more difficult to achieve.
- James Wright
- Opinion
- Investing
Politics and your portfolio (and why it might matter this time)
Elections all over the world mean this is the year when even a constructive backdrop for markets is likely to be challenged by geopolitical changes.
- Scott Haslem
This Month
- Opinion
- Schools
Reading fail: how Australia can prevent an illiteracy tragedy
Governments should require schools to move away from faddish approaches that don’t work.
- Jordana Hunter
- Opinion
- Letters to the Editor
The cost of cutting traffic pollution
Readers’ letters on the true cost of fuel standards, a flawed approach to autism, tensions in the Middle East, and the need for a national transmission strategy.
- Opinion
- Israeli-Palestinian conflict
One Nation pales in comparison with vicious and evil Greens
Never has a political party so racist, confrontational and divisive been elected to the Australian parliament.
- Alexander Downer
