Latest
Labor braces for higher inflation, interest rates
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese sought to exonerate the government from rising inflation and a possible rate rise, arguing Labor’s two budget surpluses have helped the RBA reduce price pressures.
- John Kehoe
Dealmakers face tougher ‘public benefit’ test on mergers
Businesses using public interest grounds such as climate change action or financial stability to get takeover approvals will face a stricter hurdle from the ACCC.
- Updated
- John Kehoe
The price rises creating a big dilemma for the RBA
High inflation for items that interest rates have little control over, such as education, healthcare and insurance, will force the RBA to consider squashing harder on the prices of other items.
- John Kehoe
Merger crackdown to make ACCC ‘judge and jury’ on deals
More takeovers will be able to be blocked under the government’s move to give the competition watchdog stronger powers than previously thought, lawyers say.
- John Kehoe
Construction collapses lead record insolvency year
It was the highest number of annual insolvencies recorded by ASIC since records dating back to 1999-2000 and surpassed the previous high at the tail end of the global financial crisis.
- John Kehoe
That cool op-shop jacket could earn you carbon credits
Federal regulators are considering a proposal to offer financial incentives to consumers who buy second-hand clothes.
- Peter Ker
Opinion & Analysis
Australia can’t afford for economic security to trump trade in Asia
Economic diplomacy that builds interdependence with China in critical minerals and green energy will contribute to Australian prosperity and security, not detract from it.
Trade expert
Why the Productivity Commission is wrong about green subsidies
The independent government agency has an outdated neoliberal mandate that needs an ESG makeover.
Financial industry expert
We need to clear the runway for new gas supply
Growing acceptance from governments of the role of gas in the energy transition is yet to translate into actions to clear the backlog of projects stuck in regulatory approval purgatory.
Oil and gas industry representative
AUKUS critics fail to match their speculation with substance
There is a long list of loud objections to the project. But how many of them really stand up to scrutiny?
Defence strategist
More From Today
- Opinion
- Australian economy
Australia can’t afford for economic security to trump trade in Asia
Economic diplomacy that builds interdependence with China in critical minerals and green energy will contribute to Australian prosperity and security, not detract from it.
- Shiro Armstrong
- Opinion
- Australian economy
Why the Productivity Commission is wrong about green subsidies
The independent government agency has an outdated neoliberal mandate that needs an ESG makeover.
- Jeremy Cooper
- Opinion
- Gas
We need to clear the runway for new gas supply
Growing acceptance from governments of the role of gas in the energy transition is yet to translate into actions to clear the backlog of projects stuck in regulatory approval purgatory.
- Samantha McCulloch
Yesterday
- Opinion
- AUKUS
AUKUS critics fail to match their speculation with substance
There is a long list of loud objections to the project. But how many of them really stand up to scrutiny?
- Ross Babbage
- Opinion
- The AFR View
Beware propping up ‘bricks and mortar’ hospitals disrupted by ‘virtual care’
Australia needs a big picture reimagining of how to organise and pay for the kind of healthcare services an ageing society needs, setting aside scare tactics about ‘US-style managed care’.
- The AFR View
- Opinion
- Monetary policy
Why the case for an August rate rise has been overdone
The RBA missed its chance to lift rates at the end of last year. Raising them now will be much harder to explain.
- Ben Udy
This Month
- Opinion
- The AFR View
Uranium mining bans belong to a previous era
Labor’s efforts to keep Australia’s energy transition uranium mining-free amount to a self-defeating hobbling of the nation’s green superpower hopes.
- The AFR View
- Opinion
- Company mergers
Merger changes crown the ACCC as Wizard of Oz dealmaking
The legislation, which empowers the antitrust regulator to be the administrative “steward” of M&A, is the most profound reorientation of Australian merger law in its 50-year history.
- Simon Muys
Inflation to test RBA’s interest rate strategy – and credibility
Consumer price figures this week are expected to show inflation has overshot the Reserve Bank’s forecasts for nine of the past 12 months.
- John Kehoe
- Opinion
- The AFR View
Harris v Trump presents starkly different Americas
The exit of Joe Biden and the entry of Kamala Harris means real campaigns and robustly articulated choices.
- The AFR View
- Exclusive
- AUKUS
Submariner in charge of AUKUS says the debate is being hijacked
Navy chief Vice Admiral Mark Hammond has offered a fierd defence of the big-money nuclear-powered submarine pact in an interview with AFR Weekend.
- Andrew Tillett
The inflation number that could trigger an interest rate rise
The RBA will struggle to justify keeping the cash rate on hold if consumer price index figures next week show underlying inflation stuck above 4 per cent.
- Michael Read
- Opinion
- US election
Hoarse but coherent Biden bows out, sets up Democrats’ last hope
Joe Biden says his decision to step aside as the Democrats’ presidential candidate was because the greatest need is to defend American democracy.
- Jennifer Hewett
India’s have-nots are expressing their displeasure
While Mumbai’s super-rich show off their wealth, a chastened Narendra Modi moves to shore up support among the poor.
- Hamish McDonald
The Fed needs to cut rates now: Dudley
Efforts to cool the economy are working and slower growth is turning into fewer jobs, while inflation pressures have abated significantly.
- Bill Dudley
Labor’s green subsidies a risk to living standards: PC
The Productivity Commission has warned Labor’s Made in Australia plan risks evolving into protectionism, undermining decades of reform aimed at creating a vibrant economy.
- Michael Read
- Opinion
- The AFR View
Big super leans into private capital
It makes sense for regulators to peek under the hood on non-bank lending while seeking to remove obstacles to the free and efficient allocation of risk capital.
- The AFR View
DroneShield rubbishes critics, courts politicians
No sooner had we written off Rodney Forrest than he totally crashed the share price of ASX-listed DroneShield.
- Myriam Robin
- Opinion
- US election
One issue where Kamala Harris gives the Democrats an edge
The party hopes to use the burning issue of abortion rights – and the elevation of Kamala Harris – to change what has been a losing election hand.
- Jennifer Hewett
