Flat-earth economists lead the hysteria over budget deficits

Jun 09, 2016 08:55 am UTC| Insights & Views Economy

Back in the good old days of the 19th century when market economies oscillated between boom and prolonged recession, economists believed that nations were like households. They had to balance their budgets. If they spent...

U.S. Jobs report: Slowdown or structural saturation?

Jun 07, 2016 08:40 am UTC| Commentary Economy

Last weeks job report showed headline gains of just 38,000 and Dollar immediately went for a large correction. According to market participants, June hike went off the table. The market pushed back rate hike expectations...

Does government spending on education promote economic growth?

Jun 03, 2016 08:24 am UTC| Insights & Views Economy

Economic growth is driven by new ideas, by discoveries that result in better products and more efficient production technologies. Human capital is the engine of this process: a better educated labour force increases the...

Briferendum Series

Forget Brexit – austerity is far worse for the UK economy

Jun 03, 2016 08:15 am UTC| Insights & Views Economy

The weight of opinion holds that leaving the European Union would be costly for Britain. The latest forecast, from the respected Institute for Fiscal Studies, predicts that austerity measures such as cuts in public...

Tax-free super is intergenerational theft

Jun 03, 2016 08:10 am UTC| Insights & Views Economy

A number of politicians have struggled this week to explain the Turnbull Governments proposed changes to superannuation. Given the complexity of the area, thats not surprising. And this complexity explains why...

What is the temporary deficit levy and why was it introduced?

Jun 03, 2016 07:48 am UTC| Insights & Views Economy

The temporary deficit levy might be here to stay if Labor is elected. The tax, which targets the wealthy, was actually introduced by the Coalition in 2014 as a means of reducing the budget deficit. The levy is a 2%...

Emerging Market Crisis Series

Brazil: no longer the country of the future?

Jun 02, 2016 09:58 am UTC| Insights & Views Economy

When I first served in Brazil in the mid-1960s as a young American diplomat stationed at a small consulate in Belem on the mouth of the Amazon River, the country was in its second year of a 20-year military...