Today
Forced supermarket break-ups ‘a dopey idea’
Former Productivity Commission chairman Peter Harris questions legality of such an arrangement, citing the clause in the Constitution that saved The Castle’s Darryl Kerrigan.
- 38 mins ago
- Ronald Mizen
- Analysis
- Interest rates
The global narrative on rate cuts has just been rewritten
Treasurer Jim Chalmers and the other attendees at this week’s meeting of the G20 finance ministers and central bank governors may be suffering from whiplash.
- Michael Read
- Perspective
- Australian economy
Are we really getting inflation under control?
The price picture is more complicated than usual, with rising house prices one of the reasons that interest rates may not come down this year.
- Karen Maley
- Analysis
- Competition
Five practical ways to turbocharge competition
Former productivity commission chairman Peter Harris suggests that supermarkets, banks and qualifications are some of the areas to focus on.
- Ronald Mizen
Why India’s confidence is growing
Narendra Modi’s reign as prime minister is producing a less liberal but more assured nation that is predicated on the idea of Hindu supremacy.
- Ravi Agrawal
Yesterday
- Opinion
- The AFR View
Australia must pay the price for defence and deterrence
A generation of politicians who grew up with a post-Cold War peace dividend are now struggling to switch from welfare to warfare.
- The AFR View
- Opinion
- Australian economy
Jobs numbers pose a sticky conundrum
The Albanese government can only publicly welcome the strength of the jobs market, but a receding horizon for rate cuts is always difficult for political leaders eyeing their election prospects.
- Jennifer Hewett
- Opinion
- Letters to the Editor
It’s political spending that feeds inflation, not Coles and Woolies
Readers’ letters on wasteful spending; the need for a Made in Australia policy; the fantasy of sustainable aviation fuel; Climate 200 candidates; confusing petrol prices; and Woodside’s climate dilemma.
- Updated
- Employment
Business collapses hit record, jobs market stays strong
The slowing economy pushed a record number of businesses into insolvency last month, but just 6600 people lost their job, suggesting smaller firms were hit hardest.
- Ronald Mizen
China’s iron ore demand may have peaked, RBA warns
The country’s shrinking population is posing a multi-decade headwind for mining industry profits and government revenue.
- Updated
- Michael Read
Is this flat white really worth $500 a cup?
If you thought coffee was getting expensive in Melbourne, it’s hard to beat the eye-watering price for this Japanese-grown coffee in London’s Mayfair.
- Blathnaid Corless
This Month
- Opinion
- Australian economy
So-called ‘reform’ is working against the productivity objective
The government’s (self-)celebrated productivity agenda is mainly a spending agenda, indeed a spending more agenda, and avoids the regulatory reforms we need.
- Gary Banks
Attack on Banducci financially illiterate
Readers’ letters on the clash between Woolworths chief executive Brad Banducci and Greens senator Nick McKim; violence in Sydney; fixed parliamentary terms; and manufacturing in Australia
- Opinion
- Global economy
A double-dip recession in the land of the long white cloud
Recent reports have also revealed sluggish consumer spending, a pronounced slide in manufacturing, and bleak business confidence in New Zealand.
- Daniel Moss
Sticky inflation could cause sharemarket sell-off: IMF
The IMF’s warning came alongside new forecasts showing the Australian economy will grow at a historically slow pace this year.
- Michael Read
- Opinion
- Australian economy
The dangers in using the wrong policy tools for the jobs
There are tangible costs and collateral damage when governments use the wrong instruments for the task at hand.
- Richard Holden
- Opinion
- Mergers & acquisitions
Labor’s making merger law fit for a modern economy
The government’s reforms will make Australia’s approval system faster, stronger, simpler, more targeted and more transparent.
- Andrew Leigh
- Exclusive
- Federal budget
PM’s Made in Australia plan a risk to taxpayers: former RBA boss
Bernie Fraser, the only person to serve as both RBA governor and Treasury secretary, has warned governments have a poor record of picking winners.
- Michael Read
- Opinion
- Australian economy
Forget Made in Australia: we should do the things we already do well
We can’t be sure what the industries of the future will be, so it’s more prudent to compete in fields where Australia already has a good reputation.
- Ed Shann
- Opinion
- Australian economy
Four ways Australia can lift investment in manufacturing
Incentives and subsidies to make things in Australia will work only if the big policy settings are right as well.
- Ben Eade
