Author Archives: Gene Tunny

Clever way of getting around Brisbane City Council food business licensing

Posted on March 6, 2014 by Gene Tunny

Bean Coffee, which is accessible from an alleyway off George St in Brisbane CBD, has come up with a clever way of circumventing Brisbane City Council’s food business licensing regulation. Bean will sell you the ingredients to make a toasted … Continue reading →

Posted in Retail trade | Tagged , , , , , | 8 Comments

Reduce youth unemployment through improved regulation – e.g. of penalty rates, taxis

Posted on March 5, 2014 by Gene Tunny

With overall unemployment creeping up to 6%, unemployment among 15 to 24 year olds, which tends to be naturally higher anyway and ends up even higher when the economy slows, has increased to over 15% and has re-emerged as a … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Fiscal restraint impacting Queensland economy

Posted on March 5, 2014 by Gene Tunny

While containing reasonably good news for the national economy, today’s new National Accounts data from the ABS suggest the December quarter of last year was a lacklustre one for the Queensland economy, with the (albeit imperfect) measure of State Final … Continue reading →

Posted in Macroeconomy | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Residential building approvals have recovered nicely – but some weakness still in regions

Posted on March 4, 2014 by Gene Tunny

It appears Master Builders Queensland was right to report last month that Queensland builders are optimistic (see my post on the report), with today’s new residential building approvals from the ABS showing a strong upward trend nationally and in Queensland … Continue reading →

Posted in Housing, Macroeconomy | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

FIFO & DIDO workers in Qld gas fields nearly doubled in 2013

Posted on February 28, 2014 by Gene Tunny

The new data from Queensland Treasury on non-resident – i.e. fly-in, fly-out (FIFO) or drive-in, drive-out (DIDO) – workers in the Surat Basin illustrate the boom we’re seeing in the gas-field communities out west of Toowoomba on the Darling Downs, … Continue reading →

Posted in Macroeconomy, Mining | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Queensland has too many low-performing schools

Posted on February 25, 2014 by Gene Tunny

One major challenge the current Queensland Government faces is the need to reform a school system that historically has had a disproportionate number of low-performing schools. The extent of poor performance among our secondary schools is pretty clear in data … Continue reading →

Posted in Education | Tagged , , , , , | 13 Comments

BCC still needs to fix up paid parking in the Brisbane CBD

Posted on February 24, 2014 by Gene Tunny

Last August I posted on how changes to paid parking  arrangements in Brisbane CBD have adversely affected CBD businesses, particularly in the southern part of the CBD – the part of the CBD which finds it tough enough already owing … Continue reading →

Posted in Brisbane, Retail trade | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Is employment a lagging indicator of the economy?

Posted on February 23, 2014 by Gene Tunny

A tendency has developed among commentators to dismiss the relevance of discouraging employment data, based on the view that the labour market is a lagging indicator of the economy (e.g., a recent post by a prominent Australian economic commentator: Crappy … Continue reading →

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

CPD recommends endowment fund – forgets Qld has projected debt of $80 billion

Posted on February 18, 2014 by Gene Tunny

The Centre for Policy Development’s new report All Boom, No Benefit? Why Queensland needs a new economic strategy ignores some important facts about the Queensland economy and contains some half-baked policy recommendations. The report is getting media attention because it … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget, Mining, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

Sorry to tell you, QTC, but the labour market is not a lagging indicator

Posted on February 17, 2014 by Gene Tunny

I’m glad Queensland Treasury Corporation (QTC) remains optimistic about the economic outlook, even after last week’s discouraging labour force data, but I’m afraid one reason behind its optimism is unfounded. In its Weekly Market and Economics Review sent out via … Continue reading →

Posted in Labour market | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments