Featured Opinion
No place for antisemitic incitement on campus
The protests that reduce the complex history of the Middle East to simplistic anti-Zionist slogans hardly align with universities’ founding institutional mission.
Editorial
Albanese’s troubled critical minerals dream
The Albanese government has high hopes for much more downstream processing of critical minerals. But the numbers aren’t adding up. What can change that?
Columnist
Australia’s in a digital health black hole
The Productivity Commission’s report on the failure of My Health Record should concern all Australians not only as taxpayers, but as consumers in an ageing society.
Contributor
An RBA tightening bias is called for
It’s hard not to interpret the governor’s press conference and the board’s statement as at least a mild tightening bias that will keep the cash rate where it is at least until near the end of 2024.
Editorial
A rate rise was closer than you think
RBA insiders may be making the case for higher rates, as Michele Bullock walks the line between public opinion and the bank’s credibility.
Economist
Australia’s ‘dumb’ luck budget in one extraordinary chart
Treasurers have been extremely lucky to receive big tax revenue windfalls from the China-driven mining boom, but none have been as lucky as Jim Chalmers.
Economics editor
Reforms rather than rate rises
Supply side deregulation to drive productivity is the other half of the policy armoury that should be deployed to help curb inflation and keep employment full.
Columnist
The government goes bold to poke the inflation bear
The Albanese government, after being cautious with its spending in 2022 and 2023, has decided to take risks this year. The greatest is that it brings the RBA off the bench.
Economist
More From Today
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
How 138-year-old Perpetual came unstuck
It is a sad day for Australian funds management. The Perpetual equities team, which stood up to Woolworths, Crown, Brambles, Ramsay and IAG will have to find a new name.
- Updated
- Anthony Macdonald
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
How Goodman Group’s data centre dream could be super-sized
The next generation of data centres will require even more land. That’s something Greg Goodman says his group can provide.
- James Thomson
RBA on the right track with rates
Readers’ letters on the Reserve Bank keeping rates on hold; Labor’s PsiQuantum investment; HECS debt; and the Victorian budget.
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Blackstone’s Jon Gray reveals ‘defining theme for the next decade’
The Wall Street titan says three megatrends that have driven Blackstone to $1.9 trillion in assets under management are now combining in a unique way.
- James Thomson
- Opinion
- Competition
Consulting firm fixes are impractical and an overreach
More importantly, they are not necessary to correct a deficiency in the regulation of delinquent behaviour, says the former ACCC chairman.
- Graeme Samuel
- Opinion
- Victorian budget
Victoria cannot tax its way to prosperity
Victoria arguably has some of the most complex rules and highest property tax imposts in the country. Will it work?
- Matthew Cridland
- Opinion
- Digital Life
Will Apple’s new iPad Pro finally replace your laptop?
Apple says its new M4 iPad Pros will have better AI, better performance and better battery life than laptops. But don’t throw away your laptop just yet.
- John Davidson
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
‘I’m not Buffett’: Druckenmiller on Nvidia, Trump and the Fed’s error
Wall Street legend Stan Druckenmiller has profited from the Federal Reserve’s dovish pivot, though he says it could get harder for investors to time AI’s boom.
- James Thomson
- Driving With Tony Davis
- Motoring
This tiny EV is cute and cool – but is it worth $59k?
The battery-powered Fiat Abarth 500e is a fun way to zip around town. And you can park it pretty much anywhere.
- Tony Davis
Yesterday
- Opinion
- The AFR View
Victoria must get a grip
The heavily indebted state has at least stopped whacking its private sector. But there is little sign of resolve on its debts.
- The AFR View
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
The chart that gives Goldman confidence M&A is on the up
Be wary of bankers talking deal pipelines. But what you can rely on them for is a good chart. Goldman Sachs’ M&A boss Marissa Freund didn’t disappoint.
- Updated
- Anthony Macdonald
- Opinion
- Interest rates
Why data-driven Bullock has her eye on the budget
RBA governor Michele Bullock says it’s too early to declare victory over inflation as she avoids the markets’ frenzied guessing game on interest rates.
- Jennifer Hewett
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
RBA is still betting on Goldilocks. Investors shouldn’t follow suit
With the ASX 200 back near record levels, investors are betting Michele Bullock is right on a soft landing. But with uncertainty high, a more all-weather approach looks sensible.
- Updated
- James Thomson
- Opinion
- Victorian budget
Labor dodges difficult debt decisions
Treasurer Tim Pallas has not delivered the “horror budget” he prepared the ground for, nor a clear path back from the state’s crippling debt levels.
- Patrick Durkin
Qantas must atone for all old baggage
Readers’ letters on the Qantas settlement; franking credits for retirees; the Coalition push for nuclear power; and Israel’s closure of Al Jazeera.
- Opinion
- Interest rates
The Reserve Bank’s bleak news on housing
The central bank sees little respite for struggling home buyers and renters for years to come, as demand in the nation’s housing market continues to outstrip supply.
- Updated
- Karen Maley
- Opinion
- Interest rates
‘Vigilant’ RBA puts home loan borrowers on notice
Governor Michele Bullock has issued a fresh warning to mortgage holders, two years after the Reserve Bank of Australia began raising interest rates.
- Updated
- John Kehoe
- Opinion
- Quantum Computing
Quantum leap to secure first-mover advantage for Australia
The government’s chief scientific adviser says the investment in PsiQuantum may be high risk, but it’s also high reward.
- Cathy Foley
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
The sneaky bad news in the banks’ $4.5b buyback bonanza
ANZ joined the bank buyback party on Tuesday. Investors love getting excess capital back, but do these buybacks show the banks are short of growth options?
- Updated
- James Thomson
- Opinion
- Energy transition
Keeping coal but excluding gas is an irrational path to net zero
Including gas-generation in the back-up electricity mechanism will help avoid taxpayer funds being used for paradoxical cross-purposes.
- Steve Davies
