Women are increasingly dominant across education and the workforce, but leadership, workplace structures and social attitudes have failed to keep pace.
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Category: Economy
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Women are reshaping the workforce – but power hasn’t followed
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Another interest rate rise will tip Australia into a recession we don’t have to have
A sharp fall in confidence and rising fuel prices point to a potential downturn, but traditional policy responses risk making the situation worse.
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‘A very dark picture’: IMF warns Trump’s Iran war could unleash global recession
The war on Iran is disrupting energy supplies, fuelling inflation and raising the risk of a global downturn, with the poorest countries set to suffer most. (more…)
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Stagflation risk puts tax reform back on the table
This budget will be especially challenging. Given the risks of stagflation, fiscal policy needs to be tightened. But in a cost-of-living crisis the main burden should fall on those who are relatively well off and that requires tax reform. (more…)
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By avoiding means testing, the government is giving handouts to the rich
Australia’s highly targeted tax and transfer system is being eroded by a shift toward universal benefits – redirecting support away from those who need it most.
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A costly rewrite of R&D – with no price tag
Proposed changes to Australia’s R&D tax system would expand eligibility beyond genuine research, concentrate benefits among a narrow group of firms, and proceed without clear costings.
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When the world changes, economic policy must too
A new geopolitical shock is exposing the limits of economic orthodoxy, echoing past crises where sticking to old rules only deepened the damage. (more…)
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Cost of living? We should be more concerned about something else
While cost-of-living pressures dominate headlines, deeper shifts are reshaping Australian politics – with Labor consolidating the centre and the Coalition struggling to respond.
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Australia is giving away billions in gas profits
Australia’s failure to properly tax gas exports is costing billions in public revenue, even as other countries capture windfall profits for national benefit. (more…)
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Unwinding the capital gains tax folly
Tax concessions on property and capital gains have driven housing inequality and distorted the market, and fixing them requires structural reform – not Budget tinkering. (more…)
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When will housing completions in Australia overtake population growth?
Australia’s housing pressures reflect years of mismatched policy – with falling supply colliding with surging migration and labour market shocks.
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Reform requires trust – and trust requires openness
Economic reform depends on public trust – and that trust is being undermined by declining transparency, weak accountability and limited public engagement.
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Productivity, inequality and the rise of populism
The rise in populism in numerous advanced economies has been driven by cost-of-living pressures. To protect our democracy, we will need faster productivity growth and all wages to rise with productivity. (more…)
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The three phases of Trump’s quagmire in Iran
Trump’s defenders argue that his contradictory actions are strategic. It’s more likely that panic has him flailing. His gut instinct led him to make a colossal mistake, and he has no idea what to do next. (more…)
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Tax reform isn’t enough – Australia needs an economic reset
Tax reform is necessary, but on its own it cannot fix an economy shaped by housing speculation, resource dependence and weak productivity. (more…)
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Budget savings for Chalmers – fix the bloated pay system at the top of the public service
As the government looks for budget savings, the biggest opportunity lies at the top. Senior public service pay and structures have become costly, inconsistent and hard to justify.
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Time for tax reform – and this may be the moment to act
With inequality rising and budget pressures mounting, a rare political window has opened for meaningful tax reform – if the government chooses to act.
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Australia’s superannuation pivot to America: prudent strategy or moment for pause?
Australian super funds are rapidly increasing investment in US tech and AI, concentrating risk and tying retirement savings to systems linked to modern warfare. (more…)
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The WTO is dead? Long live the WTO
Trade ministers gathering to reform the WTO risk starting from the wrong premise. The WTO’s dispute system is impaired, but its core functions remain active. Reform should build on what still works – not start from a false premise of collapse.
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The Strategic Examination of R&D: can Australia’s innovation system reform itself?
A major new review sets out a coherent plan to reform Australia’s innovation system. But the real challenge is not design – it’s whether the government can afford and deliver it.
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Australia’s great wealth transfer divide isn’t between generations
Australia’s so-called ‘great wealth transfer’ will not be a simple shift between generations, but a widening gap between those who inherit assets and those who do not.
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The Budget needs real tax reform, not tinkering
Australia’s tax system increasingly favours capital and older wealth while leaving younger Australians with rising debts and shrinking opportunities.
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Reclaiming the common good from neoliberalism
New thinking about the common good challenges decades of neoliberal policy and raises questions about inequality, public services and Australia’s federal system.
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Australia’s fuel security crisis needs less diesel, not more refineries
Australia’s heavy reliance on imported diesel has left the economy exposed to global shocks, highlighting the need to cut demand rather than simply increase supply.
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Former defence leaders say oil wars threaten our security, and climate change deepens the danger
In full-page statements in the national media today, 19 Australian security practitioners and former Defence leaders have published an Open Letter on why Australia’s dependence on fossil fuels is a critical economic and security vulnerability. (more…)
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How consultocracy became a national security blind spot
Espionage today is less about weapons than insider access to economic policy. Australia’s muted response to the PwC scandal reveals a serious failure to treat economic intelligence as a core national security asset.
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Should Australia copy Canada and New Zealand on immigration policy?
Canada and New Zealand cut migration sharply and saw modest rent falls – but only alongside weaker labour markets and stronger housing supply. The lesson for Australia is not imitation, but stability.
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How Australia should fix capital gains tax
The 50 per cent capital gains tax discount departs from the original purpose of taxing real gains, entrenches inequality and unfairly advantages wealth over work. (more…)
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Why security-first critical mineral policy risks slowing the energy transition
Western efforts to secure critical mineral supply chains from China are increasingly driven by security logic. That approach risks raising costs, slowing decarbonisation and undermining the global energy transition.
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Capital gains tax should increase
Reducing the capital gains tax discount would make the tax system fairer, raise much-needed revenue and have little effect on housing supply, given how constrained that supply already is.