Breaking News, Business, Financial and Economic News, World News from EconoTimes

Become a contributor

Bookmark Econotimes

Wed, Apr 30, 2025 08:45 AM All times are UTC

Follow Series

©Econometrics LLC 2025. All Rights Reserved.

Peter Martin1

Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University
Peter Martin is Business and Economy Editor of The Conversation and a visiting fellow at the Crawford School of Public Policy at the ANU.

A former Treasury official with an honours degree in economics, he has worked as the economics correspondent for ABC radio, as the ABC's Tokyo correspondent and as economics editor of The Age.

With Dr Gigi Foster of UNSW he created The Economists podcast on ABC Radio National. In 2016 he was made a Distinguished Alumni of Flinders University in recognition of his contribution to the community's understanding of economics.

Would you pay to quit TikTok and Instagram? You’d be surprised how many would

Jul 24, 2024 11:38 am UTC| Insights & Views Technology

Social media is a problem for economists. They dont know how to value it. It has long been argued that it ought to be in the national accounts as part of gross domestic product. One 2019 study estimated Facebook alone...

The Chemist Warehouse deal is a sideshow: pharmacies are ripe for bigger disruption

Jun 20, 2024 05:28 am UTC| Business

Theres something curious about the proposed merger between Chemist Warehouse and Sigma Healthcare. Chemist Warehouse has about 550 retail pharmacies. Sigma has another 400. Yet the law limits owners to just a handful...

Spare us the talk about a wages explosion. There’s nothing wrong with lifting Australia’s lowest wages in line with inflation

Jun 05, 2024 04:07 am UTC| Economy

What is it with the Coalition and wages? When, in the final days of the 2022 election campaign, the then opposition leader Anthony Albanese backed an increase in award wages to keep pace with inflation, his opposite...

Top economists take a modest view of the budget, and doubt inflation will fall as planned

May 27, 2024 06:33 am UTC| Insights & Views Economy

Asked to grade Treasurer Jim Chalmers third budget on his own criteria of delivering on inflation in the near term and then growth in the medium term, most of the 49 leading economists surveyed by the Economic Society of...

Central Banking Series

If the RBA’s right, interest rates may not fall for another year. Here’s why.

May 08, 2024 11:04 am UTC| Economy Central Banks

The Reserve Bank is now assuming Australians will see no interest rate cuts this year and quite possibly none before the next federal election, due next May. Thats a big change compared to just three months ago. Back...

Beyond the spin, beyond the handouts, here’s how to get a handle on what’s really happening on budget night

Apr 25, 2024 06:11 am UTC| Insights & Views Economy

Three weeks from now, some of us will be presented with a mountain of budget papers, and just about all of us will get to hear about them on radio, TV or news websites on budget night. The quickest way to find out what...

Economists say Australia shouldn’t try to transition to net zero by aping the mammoth US Inflation Reduction Act

Mar 18, 2024 09:00 am UTC| Insights & Views Economy

Australias top economists are pressing Prime Minister Anthony Albanese not to ape US President Joe Bidens think big approach to clean energy. Bidens so-called Inflation Reduction Act dubbed the largest climate...

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Economy

Gold Slips on Eased Tariff Fears, Eyes Key U.S. Economic Data

Gold prices extended their decline during Asian trading on Wednesday as easing U.S. auto tariffs and positive trade signals reduced safe-haven demand. President Donald Trump signed two orders offering tax credits and...

Asian Stocks Mixed as China, Japan Factory Data Disappoint; India, Korea Decline on Geopolitical Risks

Asian stock markets were mostly flat on Wednesday as investors weighed weak factory activity data from China and Japan, alongside Australian inflation figures and heightened regional tensions. Chinas official manufacturing...

Dollar Slumps as Tariff Uncertainty Lifts Euro, Yen, and Swiss Franc

The U.S. dollar held steady on Wednesday but is set for its worst monthly decline since November 2022, falling sharply amid rising global uncertainty over President Donald Trumps volatile trade policies. Retreats from...

Oil Prices Dip Amid Tariff Concerns, Rising Inventories, and OPEC+ Output Worries

Oil prices slipped in early Asian trading Wednesday, pressured by renewed concerns over global economic growth and fuel demand due to U.S. tariff policies and rising crude inventories. Brent crude futures fell 17 cents, or...

U.S. Stock Futures Dip as Investors Monitor Trade Developments, Earnings, and Key Data

U.S. stock futures slipped Tuesday evening as investors digested signs of easing trade tensions, soft economic data, and awaited major corporate earnings. SP 500 futures fell 0.2% to 5,571.75, while Nasdaq 100 futures...

Politics

Carney's Liberals Win Canadian Election Amid Trump Tariff Backlash

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carneys Liberal Party staged a political comeback, winning 169 electoral districts in Mondays parliamentary election, just shy of a majority. The result, driven by public backlash to U.S....

Trump Touts Economic Record, Promises Tax Cuts at Michigan Rally Amid Recession Fears

President Donald Trump rallied supporters in Warren, Michigan, marking his first 100 days in office with bold claims about the U.S. economy, promises of sweeping tax cuts, and sharp criticism of Democrats. Speaking near...

Tensions Escalate as China, U.S., and Philippines Conduct Rival Patrols in South China Sea

Chinas navy conducted a patrol in the South China Sea on Tuesday, accusing the Philippines of provocations as Filipino and U.S. forces carried out joint aerial patrols over the disputed waters. The move comes amid rising...

U.S. Defense Secretary Scraps Women, Peace and Security Program Citing Military Focus

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Tuesday the cancellation of the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) program, originally enacted by President Donald Trump in 2017 to promote womens participation in global peace...

U.S. Urges India and Pakistan to Avoid Escalation After Kashmir Attack

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is set to hold talks with his Indian and Pakistani counterparts in an effort to prevent further escalation following a deadly militant attack in India-administered Kashmir. The State...

Science

Kennedy Sets September Deadline to Uncover Autism Causes Amid Controversy

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced a bold plan to identify the cause of autism by September 2025. Speaking at a cabinet meeting with President Donald Trump, Kennedy declared a global...

AstraZeneca’s Imfinzi Gets US Approval for Bladder Cancer Treatment

AstraZenecas drug Imfinzi (NASDAQ: AZN) has received U.S. approval to treat adult patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer, a significant advancement in cancer therapy. The approval allows Imfinzi to be used in...

Sanofi’s New Hemophilia Drug Qfitlia Gains FDA Approval with Breakthrough Bimonthly Dosing

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Qfitlia, a groundbreaking hemophilia treatment by French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi (NASDAQ: SNY). Designed for patients aged 12 and older with hemophilia A or B,...

FDA Vaccine Chief Peter Marks Resigns Amid Controversy Over Transparency

Peter Marks, the U.S. Food and Drug Administrations (FDA) top vaccine official, has resigned after reportedly being forced out by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), according to The Wall Street Journal....

Museums have tons of data, and AI could make it more accessible − but standardizing and organizing it across fields won’t be easy

Ice cores in freezers, dinosaurs on display, fish in jars, birds in boxes, human remains and ancient artifacts from long gone civilizations that few people ever see museum collections are filled with all this and more....

Technology

Xiaomi Unveils MiMo AI Model, Shares Surge 5% on Breakthrough Launch

Xiaomi Corp (HK:1810) launched its first open-source large language model, MiMo, on Wednesday, marking its official entry into the competitive artificial intelligence space. The debut sent Xiaomis Hong Kong-listed shares...

OpenAI Rolls Back GPT-4o Update After User Backlash Over "Sycophantic" Behavior

OpenAI has rolled back a recent update to its GPT-4o model used in ChatGPT, following widespread criticism from users who found the AI assistant excessively flattering and overly agreeable. The company announced Tuesday...

TSMC Expands U.S. Chip Production With Third Arizona Fab and $100B Investment Boost

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (NYSE:TSM), the worlds largest contract chipmaker, has officially broken ground on its third semiconductor fabrication plant in Phoenix, Arizona. This marks a major milestone in the...

Meta Launches Standalone AI App to Compete with OpenAI and Google

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) has released a standalone app for its Meta AI assistant, marking a significant step to boost its presence in the rapidly evolving AI market. Previously accessible only through Metas main...

Amazon Enters Satellite Internet Race with First Kuiper Deployment

Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) has officially entered the satellite broadband market with the successful launch of 27 operational satellites for Project Kuiper, its high-speed internet initiative aimed at rivaling SpaceXs Starlink....