Tag Archives: australia

No substitute for experience

There is a very interesting story at the Huffington Post titled 15 Photos Show You Can Be Awesome At Your Job, No Matter Your Age. That this is the case should not be surprising. Winston Churchill’s finest years, for example, … Continue reading

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

Ex-Holden boss confirms that Carr’s car cash was excessive

Lately I have been hearing a number of people lamenting the loss of car manufacturing in Australia. The loss of jobs is certainly devastating for many former assembly line workers of Holden, Ford and Toyota, who may struggle to find … Continue reading

Posted in Industry policy, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

NZ not only beating us in Rugby, but in economic and demographic games, too

A recent article at the Conversation is titled New Zealand is letting economics rule its environmental policies, which I suppose is meant to shock most Conversation readers. Reading the article it appears to me that NZ mostly appears to have … Continue reading

Posted in Migration, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Gig economy and baby boomers easing into retirement would partly explain why jobs growth mostly part-time

The July labour force data released by the ABS yesterday were good news for Australia and Queensland, with the unemployment rate falling in seasonally adjusted terms for both Australia, from 5.8% to 5.7%, and for Queensland, from 6.4% to 6.1%. … Continue reading

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After botched 2016 Census, let’s have it every ten years and properly resource and manage it

The compliance cost to the community of the upcoming Census has been magnified by the anxiety its botched implementation is causing Australians (see this Fairfax report on Census chaos). It appears many elderly Australians have been surprised by the letters … Continue reading

Posted in Population, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

HILDA reveals very wealthy Canberra households, while Queenslanders much less wealthy

The relatively high salaries of Canberra public servants are allowing them to build up healthy asset portfolios, while average Queenslanders are much less wealthy, according to the University of Melbourne’s Household, Income and Labour Dynamics Australia Survey, the latest report … Continue reading

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

Judith Sloan right to criticise over-reliance on renewable energy

Judith Sloan, Contributing Economics Editor to the Australian, has a brilliant op-ed in the paper today (see Energy price reveals folly of renewables) criticising policies targeting renewable energy, following the wholesale electricity price spike that occurred in South Australia last … Continue reading

Posted in Energy, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

IR reforms could improve employment opportunities for young Australians

Almost eight years after the 2008 financial crisis, young Australians still face a significantly tougher job market than before the crisis. To illustrate, the employment-to-population ratio for young Australians aged 15 to 24 remains well below rates experienced prior to … Continue reading

Posted in Labour market, Macroeconomy, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

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

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

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