How the deficit obsession is eroding the budget's usefulness

Apr 21, 2016 07:10 am UTC| Insights & Views Economy Politics

When government administrations change we can expect a change in the political spin, but anyone who has studied Commonwealth budgets over the years will have noticed something far more significant than swings between Labor...

Limits to growth: policies to steer the economy away from disaster

Apr 21, 2016 07:03 am UTC| Insights & Views Economy

If the rich nations in the world keep growing their economies by 2% each year and by 2050 the poorest nations catch up, the global economy of more than 9 billion people will be around 15 times larger than it is now, in...

Briferendum Series

Gove’s vision for the UK out of the EU: welcome to Vote Leave's parallel universe

Apr 21, 2016 06:48 am UTC| Insights & Views Economy

Vote Leave has finally set out their plan for the UKs future trading relationship with the EU, in the event of a vote to leave the Union in the forthcoming referendum. Justice secretary Michael Gove claims that Britain can...

Renminbi Series

Renminbi Series: China pursues internationalization reforms

Apr 20, 2016 06:19 am UTC| Commentary Economy

Economic malaise or not, one thing Chinese administrators seem to have their minds made is to make Yuan internationally acceptable as a reserve currency. Last Year, International Monetary Fund (IMF) included Yuan as a...

Malaysia’s inflation decelerates in March on sharp drop in transportation costs

Apr 20, 2016 05:44 am UTC| Commentary Economy

Malaysias inflation decelerated in March, recording nearly three standard deviations lower than the median forecast. Inflation decelerated 0.6% on a month-on-month seasonally adjusted basis, whereas core inflation...

Fundamental Evaluation Series

Economists should step out of their bubble more often

Apr 20, 2016 01:02 am UTC| Insights & Views Economy

Scratch an economist who proffers sage words about the state of government debt and you will find someone who believes we are at full employment. If we are below full employment, then the government can monetise debt via...

Indonesian economy likely grew over 5% in Q1, but risks continue to be skewed on downside

Apr 19, 2016 06:32 am UTC| Commentary Economy

Indonesia is due to release its first quarter growth data in May. The economic growth is likely to have remained above 5% y/y in Q1 2016, according to market consensus. The Indonesian government has increased its budget...