Monthly Archives: December 2021

Poorly thought out regulations for Qld reopening

Posted on December 29, 2021 by Gene Tunny

With its poorly thought out regulations surrounding Queensland’s reopening, the state government is providing lots of instructive examples of adverse unintended consequences of regulations. Among other problems, we have had: overstretched COVID testing centres, here and in other states, although … Continue reading →

Posted in Queensland Government | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Remembering Tony Makin with ex-Ambassador to OECD Alex Robson

Posted on December 24, 2021 by Gene Tunny

Late last month we lost a great Australian economist, Professor Tony Makin of Griffith University. Episode 119 of my podcast explores Tony’s contributions to the Australian macroeconomic policy debate, particularly his studies and opinion pieces on fiscal stimulus and before … Continue reading →

Posted in Macroeconomy | Leave a comment

Sunny Coast booming | Qld must remain open for business petition

Posted on December 23, 2021 by Gene Tunny

Relative to pre-COVID levels, while all Queensland regions have much higher job vacancies, it is the Sunshine Coast that is well in the lead, according to the National Skills Commission’s internet vacancies data for November 2021, published yesterday (see chart … Continue reading →

Posted in Labour market, Macroeconomy | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

One in every one thousand people in Qld in quarantine with more to come given sharply rising COVID numbers

Posted on December 22, 2021 by Gene Tunny

According to the Courier-Mail, over 5,400 people, or around one in every one thousand people in Queensland are in active quarantine, mostly because they’re close contacts of COVID cases (see the charts below with data for the Queensland Hospital and … Continue reading →

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Optimism at home, big inflation concerns abroad – catch up with my livestream at 11.30am AEST

Posted on December 17, 2021 by Gene Tunny

While Australian economic policy makers are forecasting a growing economy with moderate inflation, policy makers elsewhere are concerned about accelerating inflation. In the federal budget update released yesterday, the Treasury has forecast a growing economy with inflation within the RBA’s … Continue reading →

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Coal the dirty secret behind Qld budget improvement

Posted on December 13, 2021 by Gene Tunny

The super high coal price is the main reason Queensland Treasurer Cameron Dick will report a much improved state budget balance this week. However, yesterday the Brisbane Times reported: Mr Dick said the silver lining of the pandemic was an … Continue reading →

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Was COP26 just a talkfest? Latest podcast episode with Scott Hook, a former COP adviser for Pacific nations

Posted on December 11, 2021 by Gene Tunny

I caught up with my colleague Scott Hook recently to review the outcomes, or arguably lack of outcomes, of the COP26 climate change summit which was held in Glasgow last month (see Economics Explored episode 117). Scott has previously attended … Continue reading →

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Great Resignation chat with Anthony Bersz and Louise Gibson, Remedy Resourcing

Posted on December 6, 2021 by Gene Tunny

The Great Resignation is the label given to the record numbers of people leaving jobs in the US and the UK. For a variety of reasons, many people have re-evaluated their lives and careers during the pandemic. People have quit … Continue reading →

Posted in Labour market | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Livestream featuring US jobless claims, Aussie GDP + farewell to Tony Makin

Posted on December 3, 2021 by Gene Tunny

I did a livestream earlier today with my regular co-host Tim Hughes on the latest economic news of the week, including the latest US initial jobless claims confirming a strong US economy, the impact of the omicron COVID-variant on equity … Continue reading →

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Gov’t and renewables making disproportionate contributions to demand growth in Qld

Posted on December 2, 2021 by Gene Tunny

The September quarter National Accounts published by the ABS yesterday revealed that the general government sector made a disproportionate contribution to Queensland state final demand growth that quarter, suggesting a strong pick up in the hiring of public servants, contractors, … Continue reading →

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