Author Archives: Gene Tunny

White Elephant Stampede – podcast chat w/ Scott Prasser

Posted on October 15, 2022 by Gene Tunny

Queensland has had more than its fair share of white elephant projects, including the Toowooomba Wellcamp quarantine facility and the Gold Coast desalination plant. The economics and politics of white elephants are considered in a new book from Connor Court … Continue reading →

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Regional economic divergence – podcast chat w/ Rob Sobyra, Construction Skills Qld

Posted on October 11, 2022 by Gene Tunny

I’ve reported on how the economic recovery has seen large falls in unemployment rates across Queensland, including in most regions (see Remarkable turnarounds for Townsville, Mackay, and Cairns). But I need to acknowledge that employment growth is still overwhelmingly in … Continue reading →

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National Electricity Market malfunction of June 2022: my latest podcast episode

Posted on September 10, 2022 by Gene Tunny

One of the biggest challenges facing advanced economies is maintaining reliable and reasonably priced electricity as we decarbonise to combat climate change. This year we’ve seen some ominous signs that this may not go well. The war in Ukraine has … Continue reading →

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Remarkable turnarounds for Townsville, Mackay, and Cairns

Posted on September 3, 2022 by Gene Tunny

In my upcoming Brisbane Club presentation on Tuesday, one chart I’ll show is of selected Queensland regional unemployment rates, highlighting how the economic recovery generally and a booming mining sector have translated into some extraordinarily low unemployment rates in some … Continue reading →

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Why the National Accounts matter: podcast chat with Brendan Markey-Towler

Posted on August 20, 2022 by Gene Tunny

This century’s great trends in the Australian economy are evident in the National Accounts data (Chart 1):  a halving of the relative economic contribution of domestic manufacturing, partly due to the car industry shutdown;  the periodic resources booms which have … Continue reading →

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RBA review: why it’s necessary and what it should recommend

Posted on August 9, 2022 by Gene Tunny

The RBA is in the spotlight at the moment as there’s a risk its monetary tightening will crash the housing market and broader economy. Arguably, it should have acted earlier to raise rates and to stop its quantitative easing. Even … Continue reading →

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Qld Gross State Product was up 22% in dollar terms in 2021-22

Posted on July 5, 2022 by Gene Tunny

Hidden in a note to its economic forecasts table in the state budget was the extraordinary estimate from Queensland Treasury that, in nominal dollar terms, the state economy expanded 22% last financial year, 2021-22 (see the chart below based on … Continue reading →

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Qld gaining nearly 1,000 people per week from interstate – new yearly (50k) & quarterly (19k) records

Posted on June 28, 2022 by Gene Tunny

It’s been an extraordinary day of news for Queensland today, with:  a) record net interstate migration over a twelve-month period of just over 50k, and record quarterly net interstate migration of 19k in December quarter 2021, revealed in the ABS’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Migration | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

ASPG-Q prize for essay on a parliamentary topic – my suggestions

Posted on June 23, 2022 by Gene Tunny

If you know of any postgraduate students at a Queensland university who are interested in political science, then please pass on the details of the Australasian Study of Parliament Group – Queensland (ASPG-Q) essay prize: ASPG-Q Parliamentary Scholarship Prize flyer.pdf … Continue reading →

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Qld’s bolshie budget – my latest thoughts

Posted on June 22, 2022 by Gene Tunny

Reading the Courier-Mail’s latest state budget reporting, quoting Cameron Dick as a self-proclaimed Robin Hood Treasurer, it’s clear the state government no longer gives a damn what business thinks. It’s gone full-on economic populist with its royalties hike ($1.2bn over … Continue reading →

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