The nation is finally coming to grips with home affordability

Right now, the prospect of much improvement in being able to afford a home of your own isn’t bright. We don’t look like solving the problem any time soon. But I’ve been watching and writing about the steady worsening in housing affordability for the best part of 50 years, and I’m more optimistic today than I’ve ever been.Why? Not because we’ve got the problem licked – and certainly not because mortgage interest rates will soon...

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Everyone hates government spending - until someone tries to cut it

It seems government spending will be an issue we hear a lot of in this year’s federal election campaign. But remember this: much of what’s said will be influenced by partisanship, ideology, self-interest and populism.Peter Dutton is making wild claims that need fact-checking. The business press is saying things that aren’t a lot better. And the debate will proceed according to an eternal political truth: while voters never mind...

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Economists find social media harms young people's mental health

By MILLIE MUROI, Economics WriterIf the latest research is anything to go by, my risk of developing a mental health disorder is rather high compared to much of the population. I’m in my mid-20s, female, and I can’t remember a day in the past decade that I’ve gone without social media.My first year of high school was the first year I dipped my toe into the space. Until I was about 12, communicating with anyone outside of family,...

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In 50 years, Trump will be remembered as just a puzzling footnote

I know I’m a bit late, but welcome to 2025. Before we get on with a year of absolutely gratuitous economic angst courtesy of a great American conman’s second coming, let’s take a breath and realise we’re already a quarter of the way through what many still think of as the “new” century.How time flies while you’re preoccupied with one crisis – one damn thing – after another. I hate to undercut the media’s business model, but old...

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Want more economics students? Drop the obsession with maths

The Reserve Bank is worried. The number of students wanting to study economics has been falling over the years, and it’s worried this will lead to a fall in the electorate’s economic literacy, which could end up worsening government policy.And the Reserve, being by far our biggest single employer of economists, may be worried its choice of potential recruits will deteriorate.An article by the Reserve’s Emma Chow, published last...

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Think the measurement of inflation's a bit off? You're probably right

By MILLIE MUROI, Economics WriterIf you’ve ever looked at the latest inflation figures and thought to yourself it doesn’t really reflect the ballooning or shrinking prices you’ve been paying, you’re probably right.Like most measures of our economy’s health, the consumer price index (CPI) – our main inflation gauge – is only a rough estimate of what’s happening to prices. It tracks changes in the costs of a vast range of things...

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Why we'd be mugs to focus on the cost of living at the election

It’s a good thing I’m not a pessimist because I have forebodings about this year’s federal election. I fear we’ll waste it on expressing our dissatisfaction and resentment rather than carefully choosing the major party likely to do the least-worst job of fixing our many problems.Rather than doing some hard thinking, we’ll just release some negative emotion. We’ll kick against the pricks – in both senses of the word.We face a...

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Should we really go forth and multiply?

By MILLIE MUROI, Economics WriterFor most of human history, it’s been a miracle for us to survive long enough, or reproduce vigorously enough to rapidly grow in numbers. But as we’ve gotten better at dodging tigers, killing germs and containing pandemics, we’ve also become increasingly intrigued and hungry to know how many of us there are, how many of us there will be and how it will affect our lives.Just before Christmas, the...

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How two economists got themselves more say in government policy

By MILLIE MUROI, economics writerFor all the havoc it has wreaked, some good things were born from the pandemic: widespread hybrid working for one. Another was the emergence of e61: a novel name – not for a virus or robot – but for a factory for economic findings.“What’s new about that?” you might ask. Well, it’s breaking a decades (perhaps centuries) old habit of people sticking to their lanes. Despite the important work done...

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The many different effects of the fall in our dollar

By MILLIE MUROI, Economics WriterThe Aussie dollar seems to have been slammed by a truck over the past few weeks, but it’s not all bad news. Plenty of people – not just overseas friends paying us a visit or buying our stuff – will be lapping up the benefits.As we rang in the new year, we rang in two since the Australian dollar could buy more than US70¢. Now, it’s scratching about at US62¢. You’d have to trek back to the early...

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The secret to better health and less obesity is a tax

By MILLIE MUROI, Economics WriterIf you’re like me, chances are that during the silly season you indulged in a bit more of the guilty pleasures than usual. I would make a bet though (and hit bingo about 90 per cent of the time) that it wasn’t tobacco that you reached for, but sugary treats – and maybe a bit of alcohol.The rates at which we tax tobacco might have you thinking that smoking is among the biggest health risks we face....

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What's happened to the cost of living is trickier than you think

It’s been a year of wearying in the fight against inflation. But if you think you know what it all proves, you’re probably kidding yourself. The first mistake is to subject it to too much rational analysis.While voters in Oz complain incessantly about “the cost of living”, the mug punters who put Donald Trump back in the White House were said to be on about “inflation”. Aren’t they the same thing? Well, maybe, maybe not.A penny...

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Why bribery is key to boosting our economic prosperity

By MILLIE MUROI, Economics WriterOf all the incentives in the world, money must be among the most powerful. Since its birth thousands of years ago, dosh – chasing it, saving it, and paying it back – has driven us to ruin but also some remarkable feats. So, it shouldn’t be any different when it comes to the “p” word.Before your eyes glaze over at the mention of productivity, you should know that had it improved more in recent...

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Don't worry, you'll have enough in retirement ... with one big proviso

Sometimes I think I should appoint myself chief ageing reporter for this august organ. Why? Because I’m the only one left around here to know about – and care about – what’s happening to the oldies. But the truth is it’s not a lot more oldies we need to attract to secure this masthead’s future. That’s why we’re training up bright young economists such as Millie Muroi.But, while we’re having old folks’ day, let me ask you a personal...

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Oligopolists gouge power and gas prices, Albanese cops the blame

If, as seems likely, Anthony Albanese and his government lose seats at next year’s federal election, one thing we can be certain of is that the nation’s economists and econocrats won’t be admitting to their not insignificant contribution to Labor’s setback.Economists have such a limited understanding of how the behaviour of the real-world economy differs from the economy described in their textbooks and measured in their econometric...

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Trade deficits don't have to be wicked, unless you believe Trump

By MILLIE MUROI, Economics WriterWhile the US president-elect would have you believe a trade deficit is a wicked thing, it’s not a hard and fast rule. In fact, it can actually be good. We’ve become used to the word “deficit” being synonymous with “bad” (think about how many governments highlight when they’ve got a “budget deficit” – not a lot!). But deficits don’t have to be bad.Since late 2016, Australia has had a run of trade...

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