The Australian Economy
Australia hasn’t had a recession – in the widely used sense of two or more consecutive quarters of negative real GDP growth – since 1991. Since then, Australia’s ranking among nations in terms of per capita GDP has risen from 22nd to, in the last four years, either 12th or 13th, behind only the United States, Norway, Switzerland and a number of other smaller states which are predominantly either oil producers or financial centres. Australia’s economic performance reflects a combination of luck and management – the relative importance and quality of which have varied significantly from time to time. Monitoring the performance of and analysing the prospects for the Australian economy has been the major part of my ‘day job’ since I completed my university degree in 1979.
Eureka Report: Australian Federal Budget 2021-2022
Australian Society and Politics, Economic Policies, News, The Australian Economy | 13th May 2021Saul talks to Eureka Report‘s Alan Kohler about Australian Federal Budget 2021-2022
Video & Presentation Slides: Saul’s Assessment of 2021 – 2022 Australian Federal Budget
Australian Federal Budget, Australian Society and Politics, Economic Policies, The Australian Economy | 12th May 2021Last year’s budget encapsulated a massive turnaround in the Morrison Government’s fiscal strategy, from one focussed on achieving and then maintaining budget surpluses and paying down with a view eventually to eliminating government net debt, to one focussed on supporting economic activity and employment in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic, even though that meant […]
Tasmania Talk: Australian Federal Budget 2021-2022
Australian Society and Politics, Economic Policies, News, Tasmania, The Australian Economy | 12th May 2021Saul talks to Tasmania Talk’s Mike O’Loughlin about Australian Federal Budget 2021-2022
Our closed borders have turbo-charged the economy’s recovery
Economic Policies, News, Publications, The Australian Economy | 7th May 2021An article in the Sydney Morning Herald and Melbourne Age newspapers on 8th May 2021 by Economics Editor Ross Gittins about the under-recognized stimulatory impact of Australia’s border closures in response to Covid-19, which draws extensively on my Financial Review op-ed of 8th April
The Future of Work
Labour Market, The Australian Economy | 4th May 2021Talk to a conference on “The Future of Work” hosted by ISPT (an industry superannuation funds property trust) in Canberra on 4th May 2021, which looks at the prospects for, and implications of, an increase in the proportion of employees “working from home” in the aftermath of Covid-19
The right and proper thing to do | Inside Story
Economic Policies, Publications, The Australian Economy | 30th April 2021Treasurer Josh Frydenberg makes the ‘right call’ on fiscal policy, 12 days out from the 2021-22 Federal Budget
The implications of Covid-induced changes in patterns of work for property markets
News, Publications, The Australian Economy | 13th April 2021Op-ed piece in the Australian Financial Review for 13th April 2021 looking at some of the implications of Covid-induced changes in patterns of work for property markets
The Australian economy’s recovery from the corona-recession, and implications for interest rates
Economic Policies, The Australian Economy | 8th April 2021Saul talks to the Eureka Report’s Alan Kohler about Australia’s better-than-expected recovery from the “corona-recession”, which in turn reflects Australia’s relatively good performance in keeping the virus ‘at bay’ and the larger-than-average volume of fiscal support provided by the Australian Government. He explains how the closure of Australia’s borders to migrants (as well as tourists […]