Opinion
Interest rates
Maybe only a recession will fix macroeconomic management
The reliance on interest rates to reduce demand is hugely unfair – and it is lacking in effectiveness.
- by Ross Gittins
Latest
Opinion
University
The most deplorable thing unis copied from big business, aside from vice-chancellor pay
Successive federal governments have engineered a kind of backdoor privatisation of our universities. It’s a race to the bottom.
- by Ross Gittins
Opinion
Interest rates
There’s a good case for cutting interest rates ASAP
Data for the two years since the RBA began increasing the cost of money shows a lot more evidence of downturn and pain than you may realise.
- by Ross Gittins
Opinion
Company mergers
Why merger can be a dirty word when it comes to our inflation problem
It’s the great number of our industries dominated by just a few firms that makes us especially susceptible to the inflation surge we’re struggling to get back under control.
- by Ross Gittins
Opinion
Cost of living
Cost-of-living crisis? Why only some of us are feeling the pinch
A fascinating study into how our standards of living have changed since before COVID helps to explain why some Australians are feeling no pain.
- by Ross Gittins
Opinion
Construction
Construction industry a honeypot that capital and labour fight over
Don’t fall for the “rogue union” bogeyman theory. There’s much more going on than there seems.
- by Ross Gittins
Opinion
Roads
Unthinking privatisation leaves much mess to be cleaned up
Private road toll companies have rights, but they don’t have the right to impose on the people of NSW and their government an unfair and unsustainable arrangement lasting forever.
- by Ross Gittins
Opinion
Australian economy
Take heart! Australia is still better and fairer than most
It’s been tempting to think that the goal of every generation being better off than their parents has been lost. It’s not true. Not yet anyway.
- by Ross Gittins
Opinion
Wage growth
OECD’s message to our inflation warriors: calm down, she’ll be right
International public servants in Paris have reminded us that Australia’s real wages are too low. So why is the RBA so worried about continued high inflation?
- by Ross Gittins
Opinion
Federal budget
Forget smaller government, let’s shoot for better government
Randomised controlled trials aren’t just for medicine and pharmaceuticals – they can also help put our taxes to better use in properly evaluated government programs.
- by Ross Gittins
Opinion
Australia votes
There are no ‘safe’ seats any more, and here’s why that’s good news
More power for crossbenchers at the federal level could be a good way to break the big-party logjam. It couldn’t be worse than what we’ve got.
- by Ross Gittins