Author Archives: Gene Tunny

US libertarian public finance expert Dan Mitchell slams the “global tax cartel” Australia has joined

Posted on January 15, 2022 by Gene Tunny

Last year, Australia signed up to the OECD-led push for a global minimum corporate tax rate of 15%, a measure designed to reduce the profit-shifting to low-tax countries which occurs and disadvantages higher corporate tax rate countries such as Australia, … Continue reading →

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Let’s hope omicron is just a short, sharp shock

Posted on January 10, 2022 by Gene Tunny

Things have worsened quickly with Queensland’s omicron outbreak, and we really hope it is just a “short, sharp” outbreak as many health experts are predicting. The Brisbane Times has reported “University of Sydney infectious diseases expert Robert Booy also forecast … Continue reading →

Posted in Macroeconomy, Retail trade | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Economists needed to design virtual economy for Splash, metaverse entertainment start-up in Brisbane

Posted on January 7, 2022 by Gene Tunny

Splash, a Fortitude-Valley-headquartered start-up, is looking for two economists to design a virtual economy for its online game in which players create music and perform in virtual venues. Splash’s head of People and Culture reached out to me today to … Continue reading →

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Qld Economic Outlook for 2022

Posted on January 6, 2022 by Gene Tunny

Prior to the omicron outbreak, I was very confident about the Queensland economic outlook for 2022. I’m still reasonably confident that the state economy will perform well over 2022, but nothing is certain of course. There’s been a bit of … Continue reading →

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

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 →

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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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