Category Archives: Uncategorized

Official Qld unemployment rate of 7.9% doesn’t tell the full story

It’s obvious the official unemployment rate figures from the ABS are understating the true unemployment rate due to large numbers of people having left the labour force, evidenced by the collapse in the workforce participation rate. The official estimates for … Continue reading

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Jobs coming back as economy reopens

The AFR’s Matthew Cranston has nicely summarised the latest payroll data published by the ABS yesterday in his article Job market crawls off floor as recovery begins: The worst appears to be over in the job market with Tax Office … Continue reading

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Qld-NSW border & Qld Chief Economist comments

I’ve recorded a new video commenting on: the cost to the Queensland economy of the interstate border closure and other coronavirus measures (thanks to CCIQ for putting some estimates out there, which I’ve provided links to below), what’s been happening … Continue reading

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Seven Habits podcast discussion

In the latest episode of my podcast, I discuss one of my all-time favourite books, Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, with regular podcast guest Tim Hughes. I focus on the relevance of the 7 Habits to economists. … Continue reading

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Economic update: US jobs & Australian PBO fiscal projections

I’ve recorded a video covering the May US jobs data, which have been greeted very positively by the markets despite the data showing only a small rebound*, and the Australian Parliamentary Budget Office’s rather pessimistic projection of an additional $620 … Continue reading

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Picking winners – industry policy podcast chat with Craig Lawrence

With the Queensland Government willing to invest $200 million in Virgin Australia to keep its HQ in Brisbane, I thought it would be timely to record a podcast interview on investment attraction and industry policy more broadly. On Tuesday, I … Continue reading

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Economic impact of COVID-19 & policy responses webinar for QUT Centre for Data Science

The video recording of a webinar on the economic impact of COVID-19 I participated in last Friday is now available. The other panellists were Danielle Wood from the Grattan Institute, Griffith Professor Tony Makin, and QUT Professor Pascalis Raimondos. My … Continue reading

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Qld-NSW border war (of words) chat with Joe Branigan from Tulipwood Economics

Currently, the big economic debate in Queensland concerns the border with NSW, which remains closed to interstate visitors. Earlier today I spoke with my old friend and former Treasury colleague Joe Branigan, Director of Tulipwood Economics, who thinks the border … Continue reading

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ABC Brisbane JobKeeper bungle interview – $60bn error hugely embarrassing but actually good news

On 612 ABC Brisbane yesterday morning I mentioned to host Bec Levingston my first reaction to hearing the news about the $60 billion JobKeeper forecasting bungle was sympathy for my former Treasury colleagues. It’s hugely embarrassing, but actually good news … Continue reading

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US infrastructure: lessons from Australia, with Darren Brady Nelson – Economics Explained EP36

I recently spoke with Darren Brady Nelson about his new Heartland Institute Policy Brief How to fix America’s crumbling infrastructure: lessons from Australia. You can now listen to our conversation which I’ve published as Economics Explained EP36. Darren is an … Continue reading

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