Business
The economy
Opinion
Immigration
Politicians don’t control immigrant numbers, and usually don’t want to
Politicians could exercise more control over immigration, but neither side has particularly wanted to.
- by Ross Gittins
Latest
Opinion
Global economy
Xi and Putin’s love-in is an ominous sign for the West
Russia and China have traditionally treated each other with mutual suspicion and loathing. But now they are closer than ever.
- by Liam Halligan
Opinion
Housing crisis
Treasury tells all: How the housing market is so stuffed up
Our housing industry has been too slow to respond to the increased demand for housing. What’s the Albanese government doing about this mess?
- by Ross Gittins
Opinion
Employment
We are now in a vaudeville economy where bad news is good news
There’s a good chance that there’s enough bad news around on family finances that the government handouts won’t push up interest rates.
- by Chris Richardson
Opinion
Inside China
The US sends the world a China warning
The US wants a united front with Europe to respond to a flood of cheap imports from China, arguing the consequences of not doing so will be damaging.
- by Stephen Bartholomeusz
Opinion
Immigration
Something truly strange is happening when Dutton wants to slash immigration
The unaffordability of home ownership is a good issue for the election campaign, but Peter Dutton is drawing a long bow in linking it to immigration.
- by Ross Gittins
Delays building renewable energy ‘superhighway’ raise power grid fears
One of the most significant upgrades to Australia’s outdated power grid is facing fresh delays, intensifying concerns about the pace of the clean energy shift.
- by Nick Toscano
Opinion
Inside China
China just unveiled a ‘ground-breaking’ fix for its property crisis. It’s not enough
Three years after China’s property sector started imploding, Xi Jinping is finally doing something meaningful to fix it. He needs to do more.
- by Stephen Bartholomeusz
Opinion
Federal budget
Money can’t buy everything, but Chalmers can buy an inflation reduction
The treasurer’s use of new policy tools to solve new kinds of inflation has enraged many commentators, but the anger of those stuck in the past doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be looking to the future.
- by Richard Denniss
Opinion
Federal budget
How the budget was hijacked by a $300 cherry on the top
The energy rebate is a perfectly sensible device to hasten progress in getting inflation down to the target zone.
- by Ross Gittins
Opinion
Federal budget
Budget’s unspoken message: Maybe we’ll pull off the softest of soft landings
The rate of inflation will probably continue falling and should be back into the target range by this December.
- by Ross Gittins