Featured Opinion
Household energy plan offers fix for both sides of politics
The “HECS for household electrification” concept could end 15 years of turmoil over climate and energy policy.
Senior correspondent
GST system is paying for lost principles
The GST formula was meant to take the politics out of the system. Now we should be asking if the incentives were wrong in the first place.
Editorial
Why Australia faces hard choices and hard work to grow
From decarbonisation to digital transformation to new geopolitical risks, there are a lot of potential speed bumps ahead. And no guarantee of success.
Columnist
TikTok made me write this – and it’s time for it to go
TikTok’s influence on young Australians goes beyond free speech and into sinister realms of undue influence.
Columnist
There are plenty of reasons why inflation just won’t come down
Consumers, it appears, are used to paying higher prices, especially when finances are in relatively good shape. Some fear that means rates won’t come down.
Columnist
NATO didn’t make Putin invade Ukraine
It is Vladimir Putin’s inability to tolerate an independent Ukraine, not NATO’s presence in eastern Europe, that has driven this brutal invasion.
Former diplomat
Rock star economists are prophets with nothing to say
This week’s sharpest economic analysis came not from left-leaning economists on tour in Australia, but from BlackRock global strategist Wei Li at The Australian Financial Review Business Summit.
Editorial
Dutton’s nuclear push could take on political life of its own
The zero-emissions power source adds up on some fronts, but there’s still a whiff of crazy about the whole push.
Political editor
Yesterday
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Tabcorp’s woes go much further than CEO scandal
The ugly departure of Tabcorp’s CEO leaves his successor with myriad problems, from the end of the pandemic punting boom to a potential advertising ban and cultural issues.
- James Thomson
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
This fundie has a warning on passive investing. Will investors care?
Mega-cap stock have pushed sharemarket indices to stretched levels at a time when risks are building across economies and markets. This $934 billion fundie is worried about a nasty hangover.
- James Thomson
- Opinion
- Inflation
Inflation risks unravelling the rally
While the “everything” rally has excited risk junkies, inflation might spoil the party again.
- Updated
- Christopher Joye
- Opinion
- Satire
A tense Oval Office meeting for Biden: here it is verbatim
Every word hits the target as President Joe Biden dresses down Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu.
- Rowan Dean
- Opinion
- Lunch with the AFR
‘Asian countries feel their time has come’: why the West must adapt
The best-selling historian Peter Frankopan says that the rise of Asia and rising global temperatures will force the West to rethink its future and its history.
- Kevin Chinnery
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
The two tectonic shifts in markets that will decide the next decade
Are we headed for a world of higher rates, lower growth and more volatility, or will AI unleash a deflationary wave?
- James Thomson
- Opinion
- Budgeting
The seven mind tricks brands use to keep you spending
Brands use sophisticated tactics to encourage you to spend more.
- Emma Edwards
- Opinion
- Life insurance
There are good reasons to have insurance in an SMSF
An SMSF is allowed to claim a tax deduction for insurance premiums.
- Meg Heffron
- Opinion
- World politics
Sectarianism returns to the UK
The country’s silent majority is being outflanked by religious and political extremists.
- Jonathan Rutherford
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
The real issue at the heart of Employment Hero’s super stoush
The battle between the start-up and industry fund Hostplus has many juicy elements, but it is how the super sector wields its power that is most interesting.
- James Thomson
This Month
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Olivia Wirth parachutes into Myer with a mission
Wirth faces a steep learning curve as Myer’s new executive chairwoman. But she has three things on her side – including the backing of Solomon Lew.
- Updated
- James Thomson
Why we need to look at our energy puzzle differently
Readers’ letters on Peter Dutton’s nuclear ambition; the push for four-year terms for parliamentarians; the costs of private healthcare; and the lessons of private schooling.
- Opinion
- GST
Loser Victoria shouldn’t be a GST winner
Any federal government that’s serious about reforming Commonwealth-state relations would stop rewarding Victoria’s disastrous financial mismanagement.
- John Roskam
- Opinion
- Retail
‘Reform is needed’: why ACCC is looking at Woolies and Coles stores
Woolworths and Coles have opened 394 stores since the 2008 grocery inquiry but only a handful have crossed the ACCC’s desk. That may be about to change.
- Sue Mitchell
- Opinion
- Australian economy
Mariana Mazzucato’s mission economy is moonshine
The only problem with the message the international economist preached in Australia is that government is terrible, and always has been, at moonshot missions.
- Toby Walsh
- Opinion
- Social media
TikTok finds itself at the centre of growing US-China tensions
One of the most popular apps in the US faces a potential ban due to claims the company, owned by ByteDance, represents a national security risk.
- Karen Maley
- Opinion
- Digital Life
Meet LG’s ‘world first’ TV in a suitcase
LG’s 2024 TV line-up includes 36 new models – and one very special offering that looks like it could be used to launch a nuclear attack.
- John Davidson
- Opinion
- Fin! Magazine
Lotus targets Porsche in latest electric sedan play
The once-ailing car maker with the sports pedigree is teasing a new electric model, as its luxury SUV arrives in Australia in a matter of weeks.
- Tony Davis
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Bank stocks are at 35-year highs. Be wary of an air pocket
Australian bank stocks are surging on the promise that falling interest rates will eventually drive credit growth. But the better times could take three years to arrive.
- James Thomson
- Opinion
- Fashion Week
The fashion brand so hot that it banned iPhones from its Paris show
In an era of oversharing, former child stars and reclusive fashion designers Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen are taking a different approach.
- Lauren Sams
- Opinion
- School funding
No class envy in the classroom
The panic over government-school enrolment rates should not undermine Australia’s successful mixed model of school funding.
- Dallas McInerney
