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    Featured Opinion

    Chalmers is smashing Labor’s economic legacy

    If only the treasurer focused a little less on managing political expectations and a little more on managing inflation expectations we might have avoided this mess in the first place.

    Chalmers is more in touch with the economy than the RBA

    It’s easy enough to understand the treasurer’s criticism of the RBA in political terms. But the inflation target that is good for the central bank as an institution is not so good for the economy.

    John Quiggin

    Economist

    John Quiggin

    Why Albanese is talking big in WA

    The Albanese cabinet is trying to prop up its electoral standing in Western Australia with the promise of new jobs and economic opportunities. The resources sector is highly sceptical of Labor’s agenda.

    Why Elon Musk is much more powerful than you think

    His influence is showing up from Ukraine to China, angering the United States, although he still lacks the ability to make the law.

    Is Anthony Albanese fated to lead the last majority government?

    Labor may not hold off the Greens, and the Coalition may not recapture the seats it lost to the teals. Another marriage of convenience may beckon.

    Lidija Ivanovski

    Former Labor adviser

    Lidija Ivanovski

    The 5 things university students should be protesting about

    Here are some alternative focal points for outrage and protest, particularly for morally energetic university students.

    Bret Stephens

    Contributor

    Bret Stephens

    Why has a long-term understanding with Asia eluded us?

    Even as Australia has become more multicultural, the best we can manage is a pragmatic relationship punctuated with fits of enthusiasm.

    James Curran

    International editor

    James Curran

    Australia’s Constitution isn’t that hard to change

    Most of the 44 attempts to change the Constitution involved taking power from the states and giving it to the Commonwealth. Virtually every time, voters said “no”.

    James Allan

    Professor

    James Allan
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    It’s up to business to take the Asian opportunity

    While the government’s initiatives are designed to make it easier for Australian business to get established in new markets, it is up to business to take the opportunities we have created.

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    AirTrunk’s big number cements its deal of the year trophy

    Eight months ago, bankers were telling their clients they could get the data centre giant for $11 billion to $12 billion. It has just sold for double that.

    • Anthony Macdonald
    Fruits, vegetables, whole grains and other plant foods, like nuts and legumes, are rich in polyphenol.

    How to eat for a long and healthy life

    The length and quality of your life will be determined in part by your genetics. But how you live your life is important, too.

    • Alice Callahan
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    Australia’s big banks exemplify the concentration of ownership by big investors such as super funds and index funds.

    The big banks are about to strangle their golden goose

    Institutions big and little have stormed into business banking in the past five years, attracted by strong growth and fat margins. But the party might be over.

    • James Thomson
    Woolworths and Coles are in a tight race for shoppers. The smaller of the two has had a better 12 months.

    These three charts show how Coles is outperforming Woolworths

    The country’s second-largest supermarket chain is doing better than its bigger rival – from more stock on shelves to lower theft and better value. Here’s why.

    • Carrie LaFrenz
    The commercial property cycle has four stages.

    How investors can profit from the commercial property cycle

    It’s important to recognise and understand the four phases in the cycle – recovery, expansion, hyper-supply and recession – to enable better decisions.

    • Sam Tamblyn
    Not holding the ‘Magnificent 10’ in a portfolio would have led to a 1.93 per cent lower annual return.

    How Australia’s ‘magnificent 10’ contributed to returns over 20 years

    How costly was failing to pick the ASX’s 10 top performers over the past two decades? Vanguard did the sums

    • Carole Okigbo
    The first Zeekr, a small SUV known as the X, will be sold in Australia from October.

    Your electric car choices are about to explode

    The first Zeekr, a small SUV, will be sold from October, and will be followed by as many as 10 other brands from China’s vast portfolio of carmakers.

    • Tony Davis

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    It’s one thing to have a turnaround plan, it is another to get the clear air to pull it off.

    • Anthony Macdonald
    Hence this week’s campaign blitz in the West by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his front bench colleagues, and the blizzard of funding announcements.

    WA a case study in Australia’s carbon challenges

    Where the west goes now, so might Labor’s political fortunes. More important is what WA’s economic fortunes mean for Australia’s prosperity.

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    EA Group’s Owen Wilson has made a bold play for Rightmove – the dominant player in UK property classifieds.

    History says REA’s $9b UK bet is a risk. But here’s why it can work

    Local investors have been repeatedly burnt by big Australian companies trying to go offshore. But there are sound strategic reasons why REA can defy history.

    • James Thomson
    Shemara Wikramanayake says Australia has a huge opportunity in south east Asia.

    Inside Shemara Wikramanayake’s next big mission

    Macquarie has built a powerful business across booming South-East Asia. Now, Shemara Wikramanayake is helping others to break in.

    • James Thomson
    Gina Cass-Gottlieb heads an ACCC that lacks the resources to handle large numbers of merger proposals.

    Raising the bar against mergers will rob everyone of benefits

    Why clamp down on mergers with less than maximum benefits when the public would still gain from seeing them go through?

    • Bran Black
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    Tech moguls face the revenge of the regulators

    Democratic governments are losing patience with cyber-libertarian tech moguls who thumb their noses at authorities perhaps one too many times.

    • Will Oremus
    Fumio Kishida lasted almost three years at the helm, becoming Japan’s eighth-longest-serving post-war prime minister.

    Kishida was better on the foreign stage than at home

    The outgoing Japanese PM strengthened international ties and was decisive on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. However, he missed the opportunity to fix the economy.

    • Shiro Armstrong
     Small shifts in behaviour can have a big effect. A jump in the number of homeowners welcoming flatmates has added the equivalent of 106,000 houses onto the market.

    These two charts show the worst of the rental crisis is over

    Small shifts in behaviour can have a big effect. A jump in the number of homeowners welcoming flatmates has added the equivalent of 106,000 houses onto the market.

    • Michael Read
    Could ever more elephantine salaries for relatively inexperienced people, in the law or anywhere else, skew the way applicants are hired?

    The allure of the loud know-nothing

    Do huge entry-level salaries encourage the selection of assertive, confident, forceful people rather than quieter, shyer rivals who are more competent?

    • Pilita Clark
    The inherent upside of capitalism is that prices contain almost all the information necessary for the efficient allocation of investments.

    Solving the complexity of net zero is not that hard

    The core principles that drive good investment are also at play in climate change. Let prices do the talking.

    • Gates Moss