Latest
Childcare rebates could spike to $14b, but women not returning to work
A key objective of the most recent changes to childcare subsidies was to encourage more women into the workforce, but so far they haven’t taken the bait.
- Updated
- Julie Hare
Coal power surge raises pressure to extend Eraring
A surge in coal generation in NSW during the March quarter has raised pressure on negotiations between Origin Energy and the state government to postpone closing Australia’s largest power station.
- Ben Potter
- Sponsored
- Invest Wollongong
Illawarra embarks on green energy transformation
Wollongong is rapidly transforming into a hub for green energy and sustainable innovation.
Sponsored
by Invest Wollongong
- Exclusive
- Federal budget
Budget to fast-track investment approvals
Treasurer Jim Chalmers is close to finalising a package to get capital flowing for the stuttering energy transition and other Labor priority projects.
- John Kehoe
Bet ‘significant’ public money on renewables stakes: Combet
The incoming chair of the nation’s sprawling $212 billion Future Fund says it’s time to return to public investment in green energy.
- Jacob Greber
Population surge and smaller households fuelling home prices: RBA
The resilience of the housing market recovery could make the RBA reluctant to deliver cuts to the cash rate later this year, according to economists.
- Michael Read
Opinion & Analysis
The PM has made a silly billion-dollar bet on solar panels
The price of solar panels has plunged and overseas makers are going broke, making it even more puzzling why the government is making a $1 billion taxpayer bet.
Economics editor
‘Cartel of aggression’ trades on timidity and self-interest
The West has enormous economic leverage over China and Russia. But fear of their own consumers prevents governments from using it.
Four reasons why Joe Biden can’t force a truce on Israel, or won’t
The United States has intervened in past Middle East wars, but for the current president, this one is different.
Why women don’t stick with economics
Economic models of anything are founded on the assumption of Homo economicus. No sensible woman looks at this model and recognises herself.
Contributor
More From Today
- Opinion
- Energy transition
The PM has made a silly billion-dollar bet on solar panels
The price of solar panels has plunged and overseas makers are going broke, making it even more puzzling why the government is making a $1 billion taxpayer bet.
- John Kehoe
- Opinion
- Russia-Ukraine war
‘Cartel of aggression’ trades on timidity and self-interest
The West has enormous economic leverage over China and Russia. But fear of their own consumers prevents governments from using it.
- Simon Johnson and Oleg Ustenko
- Opinion
- Middle East tensions
Four reasons why Joe Biden can’t force a truce on Israel, or won’t
The United States has intervened in past Middle East wars, but for the current president, this one is different.
- Aaron David Miller and Adam Israelevitz
- Opinion
- Global economy
Why women don’t stick with economics
Economic models of anything are founded on the assumption of Homo economicus. No sensible woman looks at this model and recognises herself.
- Yanis Varoufakis
- Opinion
- Global economy
Population decline will destroy the West as we know it
By 2100, the number of people worldwide will have peaked. The value of assets will drop and the incomes they generate will fall.
- Dr Stephen Davies
Yesterday
- Opinion
- Monetary policy
Reserve Bank ponders the market plumbing
The Reserve Bank board is repurposing the financial system as its cheap pandemic funding is flushed out. It’s doing it as financial markets are only too happy to splash the cash.
- Jonathan Shapiro
Why Australian made always wins
Readers’ letters on the government’s solar manufacturing plan; Westpac’s ambitious technology upgrade; the shift to a cashless society; mixed messages on China’s economy; and why Hamas must be forced to release its Israeli hostages.
- Opinion
- Monetary policy
Can Australia compete in the new post-inflation world?
The “new neutral” medium-term interest rate will make global competition for capital far more intense. The country needs to get ready for that.
- Richard Holden
- Analysis
- Inflation
Australia is set to be the last country to escape inflation
The Economist measured inflation entrenchment in 10 rich countries. Australia tops the index, with Britain and Canada not far behind.
- The Economist
Almost one in three jobs created last year was for the NDIS
The growth in NDIS-related employment has masked the slowdown in private sector industries like construction, retail and manufacturing.
- Michael Read
This Month
- Opinion
- The AFR View
Solar fantasy gives industry policy a bad name
Australia does not have a great record at industry policy. Creating a bucket of government money for solar panels in the midst of a global subsidy war looks even less likely to work.
- The AFR View
- Exclusive
- Carbon challenge
Sims questions solar panels as report sounds alarm on coal jobs
The green energy advocate’s caution comes as Labor looks to fund early retirements of coal power station workers, some earning up to $170,000 a year.
- Jacob Greber
Want Australian-made solar? Be prepared to pay $1500 more
SolarQuotes’ Ronald Brakels says there are probably enough consumers willing to pay a premium for locally made panels for a manufacturer to make a go of it.
- Ben Potter
- Opinion
- Obituaries
The man who discovered people hate losing more than they like winning
Daniel Kahneman was one of the few psychologists to win the Nobel Prize for economics.
- Andrew Leigh
March
Multivitamins can help survival from bowel cancer
A study examining the dose-related influence of multivitamins on non-metastatic colorectal cancer is believed to be the first of its kind.
- Jill Margo
How economists interpreted US inflation data
The Federal Reserve’s key inflation metric has left economists as divided as ever on the timing of a US rate cut.
- Timothy Moore
Bidenomics is making China angry. That’s OK
Biden’s China policy is so tough that it makes me, someone who generally favours a rules-based system, nervous.
- Paul Krugman
No need for Fed to rush rate cuts: Powell
The Federal Reserve chairman said February’s inflation data, released on Friday, was “pretty much in line with our expectations”.
- Catarina Saraiva
US monthly inflation slows; consumer spending surges
Core inflation increased 2.8 per cent year-on-year in February, the smallest gain since March 2021, after rising 2.9 per cent in January.
- Lucia Mutikani
How the McLaren F1 team is helping save the Great Barrier Reef
British Formula One race team McLaren deployed engineers to help the Great Barrier Reef Foundation speed up its coral spawning program.
- Mark Ludlow
