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Weak consumer spending won’t stop price rises | Lessons from 27 CEOs | Apple ditches Watch upgrade?
Read everything that’s happened in the news so far today.
- Exclusive
- Australian economy
Weak consumer spending won’t stop price rises
Chief executives say tepid consumer spending on discretionary items such as sporting equipment and liquor won’t stop companies pushing through further price increases for internet plans, insurance and other staples.
- John Kehoe, Simon Evans, Carrie LaFrenz, Jenny Wiggins and Liam Walsh
- Exclusive
- Carbon challenge
Debelle rings alarm on green energy backlash
The former top RBA official says green energy critics wilfully ignore the need to replace rusting fossil fuel assets regardless of any carbon goals.
- Jacob Greber
Megacorps are the 21st century’s great threat
Labor minister and economist Andrew Leigh argues that companies as big, financially, as nations are a danger to consumers and their employees.
- Andrew Leigh
Australia can launch a new trade boom with China, Farrell says
The trade minister says that with feuds on wine and lobster exports potentially soon sorted, Australia could aim to stack on another $100 billion in trade.
- Hans van Leeuwen
Fed’s preferred inflation metric increases by most in a year
The core PCE data, on a six-month annualised basis, registered at 2.5 per cent in January, rebounding above the Fed’s 2 per cent target.
- Augusta Saraiva
Opinion & Analysis
The WFH message in corporate job cuts
The list of companies trimming staff has grown in the last months as cost-cutting programs proliferate. Could that shift the WFH debate again?
Columnist
Three reasons the green energy transition will be non-inflationary
Renewable technologies will get cheaper, price spikes from retiring coal plants will be avoided and exposure to volatile fossil fuel markets will be reduced.
Philippines partners Australia on peace, stability and success in Asia
President Marcos’s speech is in keeping with the tightening network of Asian nations who are keen to keep the US engaged and are suspicious of Beijing’s intentions.
Editorial
Any carbon tax needs to help fund the energy transition
Readers’ letters on the best model for a price on carbon, car makers dragging the chain on improving fuel standards, and why the ATO must better police tax debts.
Contributor
More From Today
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
The WFH message in corporate job cuts
The list of companies trimming staff has grown in the last months as cost-cutting programs proliferate. Could that shift the WFH debate again?
- James Thomson
- Opinion
- Australian economy
Three reasons the green energy transition will be non-inflationary
Renewable technologies will get cheaper, price spikes from retiring coal plants will be avoided and exposure to volatile fossil fuel markets will be reduced.
- Toby Phillips and Guy Debelle
Yesterday
GDP growth fears firm on tepid business spending figures
Treasurer Jim Chalmers foreshadowed on Thursday morning that the December quarter GDP growth figure was likely to be “quite weak”.
- Michael Read
- Opinion
- The AFR View
Philippines partners Australia on peace, stability and success in Asia
President Marcos’s speech is in keeping with the tightening network of Asian nations who are keen to keep the US engaged and are suspicious of Beijing’s intentions.
- The AFR View
‘Landmark’ research links processed food with 32 ways to die
Experts say a review of the link between ultra-processed foods and health shows governments should step in with restrictions akin to those on tobacco.
- Jill Margo
- Opinion
- Letters to the Editor
Any carbon tax needs to help fund the energy transition
Readers’ letters on the best model for a price on carbon, car makers dragging the chain on improving fuel standards, and why the ATO must better police tax debts.
- Opinion
- Keating at 80
Paul Keating’s critics could not be more wrong on AUKUS
It’s the former PM who understands that the world has changed, and we can no longer take American power for granted to keep Asia stable and Australia safe.
- Hugh White
Top tax rate encourages four-day weeks | US Supreme Court to hear Trump appeal | How to get a top-tier law job
Read everything that’s happened in the news so far today.
Top 47pc tax rate encourages four-day weeks
The “Why work eight hours on Friday and get paid for four” mindset is creeping in as more than triple the number of taxpayers jump into the top tax bracket.
- Updated
- John Kehoe
- Exclusive
- Renewables
Solar firm 5B readies Indian manufacturing after $50m US deal
The company will build a US Customs-compliant plant partnership with top Indian panel maker and engineering group Waaree.
- Ben Potter
Chalmers warns over weak economic growth
Treasurer Jim Chalmers has warned next week’s GDP growth figures are expected to be weak, as former RBA official Luci Ellis says negative growth is possible.
- Michael Read and John Kehoe
‘Major shift’: Young women taking more drugs and drinking heavily
A snapshot of the Australia’s habits after the pandemic shows vaping has tripled, and more women and fewer men are experiencing harm from others’ drinking.
- Jill Margo
Cheap online shopping slowed inflation: report
A report commissioned by retail giant Amazon found that without competition created by online shopping, inflation would have been 0.7 percentage points higher.
- Ronald Mizen
February
Soaring rents and building costs threaten inflation outlook
The RBA will struggle to get inflation back to the middle of its target range as long as the costs of renting and building a new home increase at rapid rates.
- Michael Read, Simon Evans and Michael Bleby
- Opinion
- Australian economy
Data centres are hot property - and not just for the returns
Macquarie Technology CEO David Tudehope says data centres are not just good investments, they will allow Australia to participate in the entire AI value chain.
- Jennifer Hewett
Victorians stay to protect homes ahead of catastrophic fire warning
Victorians under threat from bushfires have largely fled before catastrophic conditions descend, but others are staying to protect their homes.
- Callum Godde
- Opinion
- Defence
Australia’s defence plans are a charade
The announcement on Australia’s new ships doesn’t pass the pub test. Like its predecessors, this government isn’t serious about the threat it consistently talks about.
- James Curran
- Opinion
- Energy transition
Tax carbon, but don’t gamble on green energy ‘superpower’
A carbon levy is required, but the money should be returned to households, not bureaucrats trying to pick ‘green’ winners, writes John Kehoe.
- John Kehoe
Inflation holds steady | Guzman y Gomez delays IPO | The seven candidates left in the US election
Read everything that’s happened in the news so far today.
Inflation holds steady at 3.4pc
Ongoing price pressures in the housing market offset outright price declines in pantry staples such as beef and seafood in January.
- Michael Read
