Author Archives: Gene Tunny

Qld unemployment rate creeps up to 6.5 percent due to ongoing weakness in regions

Posted on July 14, 2016 by Gene Tunny

NAB Chief Economist Alan Oster had a memorable quote regarding the latest NAB Business Survey results published in The Australian yesterday: “West Australia is going backwards, South Australia is in no great shakes and Northern Queensland is just as bad, … Continue reading →

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

ANU’s Ben Phillips quantifies the real per capita earnings declines in Qld and WA post-mining boom

Posted on July 12, 2016 by Gene Tunny

ANU Associate Professor Ben Phillips, who was in the same UQ Economics Honours class as me, has released an excellent note Trends in Household Living Standards in Australia: 1990 to 2016, which shows significant declines in real per capita earnings … Continue reading →

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

Heat map of Brisbane metro property prices – big opportunities in the Western corridor?

Posted on July 11, 2016 by Gene Tunny

It is well appreciated that people are willing to pay more for properties that are closer to the CBD, have a greater range of services close by (e.g. transport, retail) and offer an attractive lifestyle (e.g. a cosmopolitan community, river … Continue reading →

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

Makin and Pearce confirm urgency of Budget repair in Conference of Economists paper

Posted on July 10, 2016 by Gene Tunny

At the Australian Conference of Economists in Adelaide this week, Griffith University Economics Professor Tony Makin and ESA Qld Vice President Julian Pearce will present a very interesting paper titled Fiscal Consolidation and Australia’s Optimal Public Debt. Tony and Julian … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

To protect AAA, Federal Government needs to control age pension and manage the Force from the North

Posted on July 8, 2016 by Gene Tunny

What an extraordinary week it has been! We began the week with no clear election winner and the prospect of a hung parliament, and now we end it with the strong likelihood the Government is back with a majority of … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Budget, Macroeconomy, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Qld has lowest annual growth in retail turnover among States and Territories

Posted on July 6, 2016 by Gene Tunny

Weak economic conditions in parts of regional Queensland, particularly the Townsville, Central Queensland and outback regions, have no doubt contributed to Queensland having the lowest through-the-year growth in retail turnover among States and Territories, according to May retail turnover data … Continue reading →

Posted in Macroeconomy, Retail trade, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Recommended reading: The Industries of the Future by Alec Ross

Posted on July 5, 2016 by Gene Tunny

Our embattled Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull was at least right about the importance of innovation, even if that message did not resonate with voters in Western Sydney, Tasmania and other regions where the Coalition suffered heavy losses. One of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Labour market, Macroeconomy, Productivity, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Economic conditions partly responsible for return of Pauline Hanson and One Nation

Posted on July 4, 2016 by Gene Tunny

Dennis Atkins had an excellent column in the Sunday Mail yesterday analysing the return of Pauline Hanson and One Nation, noting that One Nation voters had: “…rejected the Turnbull mantra of embracing the future because of anxiety about the cost … Continue reading →

Posted in Labour market, Macroeconomy, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Heavy construction decline has been greater in Qld than in WA

Posted on June 30, 2016 by Gene Tunny

As I have discussed previously, relatively weak economic conditions in several Queensland regions, including Townsville and the outback, have been partly due to the mining downturn (see my post from last Saturday). At the same time as capital expenditure on … Continue reading →

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

XRR business case should be released in full to give public comfort it is value for money

Posted on June 28, 2016 by Gene Tunny

Yesterday, the Queensland Government sent the Federal Government the business case for the $5 billion Cross River Rail (XRR) project, but alas it has only provided the public with an inadequate, opaque four-page (not counting the cover page) summary of … Continue reading →

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