Monthly Archives: September 2017

UQ student’s Treasury prize winning essay highlights benefits of competition & free trade

Posted on September 27, 2017 by Gene Tunny

The Australian Treasury yesterday announced the winner of its inaugural essay competition, and the award went to University of Queensland Economics student Elizabeth Baldwin, who incidentally also won the RBA/Economic Society of Australia essay prize last year. The essay question … Continue reading →

Posted in Productivity, Trade, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

My comments on possible NRL Grand Final at Suncorp in today’s Courier-Mail

Posted on September 26, 2017 by Gene Tunny

I am quoted in today’s Courier-Mail story Queensland in talks to host NRL Grand Final at Suncorp in $10 million boost to the economy: MORE than $10 million could be injected into the Queensland economy if the state hosted an … Continue reading →

Posted in Brisbane, Industry policy, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Courier-Mail & 612 ABC Brisbane media this week regarding jobs growth & small business

Posted on September 23, 2017 by Gene Tunny

Today’s Courier-Mail features a short piece (on p. 29) “Employment growth best since the GFC” from Daryl Passmore quoting FNQ-based economist Pete Faulkner and me on Queensland’s recent strong employment growth. The Queensland economy has been recovering strongly over the … Continue reading →

Posted in Labour market, Macroeconomy, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Bigger is better – small businesses once employed over half of private sector workers but no longer

Posted on September 20, 2017 by Gene Tunny

Ten years ago, small businesses, those with fewer than 20 employees, employed over half of private sector workers in Queensland, but that is no longer the case. This was revealed in an excellent note, Small Business in Queensland, published yesterday … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Unmissable upcoming Lowy Institute Choosing Openness paper launch with Andrew Leigh

Posted on September 19, 2017 by Gene Tunny

Australian Shadow Assistant Treasurer Dr Andrew Leigh will be speaking at the Brisbane launch of his Lowy Institute paper Choosing Openness on the evening of Wednesday 4 October, at the Queensland College of Art in South Brisbane. This looks absolutely … Continue reading →

Posted in Trade, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

With One Nation as likely power brokers, expect greater share of Qld Gov’t CAPEX in regions

Posted on September 17, 2017 by Gene Tunny

If I were the Managing Director of an engineering firm, I’d start investigating the availability of office space in Queensland’s regional centres, including Maroochydore, Rockhampton, Toowoomba, and Townsville. I would want the firm well-positioned to win new work from a … Continue reading →

Posted in Infrastructure, Queensland Government, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Strong jobs figures for Qld, although much of recent increase was in part-time employment

Posted on September 15, 2017 by Gene Tunny

The August jobs figures released yesterday by the ABS confirmed the Queensland economy is clearly on an upswing and jobs growth is currently strong, with through-the-year growth in employment at 3.7% compared with a national rate of 2.6% (chart 1). … Continue reading →

Posted in Labour market, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

BWF session considers fake news & economic viability of quality journalism

Posted on September 10, 2017 by Gene Tunny

Yesterday afternoon, Saturday 9 September, I attended a Brisbane Writers Festival panel discussion “The Media in Dangerous Times” at the State Library of Queensland. The topic was “how news organisations are responding to the threat of Fake News and the … Continue reading →

Posted in Brisbane, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Townsville Bulletin report on funding feud: Brisbane economist “under fire”

Posted on September 9, 2017 by Gene Tunny

Tony Moore’s recent Brisbane Times article featuring my chart on per capita State Government capital spending by region has prompted responses from the Townsville Mayor Jenny Hill and Queensland Treasurer Curtis Pitt. As reported in Domanii Cameron’s article Feud over … Continue reading →

Posted in Townsville, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

My comments in Brisbane Times on Qld Government regional CAPEX

Posted on September 8, 2017 by Gene Tunny

Brisbane Times journalist Tony Moore has written an interesting piece based on a QEW post of mine from June on the regional distribution of Queensland Government capital spending in the 2017-18 Queensland State Budget: Analysis shows booming south-east is losing … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments