Tag Archives: australia

International visitors take advantage of lower Aussie dollar

Posted on March 3, 2016 by Gene Tunny

Expenditure by international visitors to Queensland increased to over $4.9 billion in 2015 from $4.2 billion in 2014, a 19% increase, according to new International Visitor Survey data released by Tourism Research Australia (see chart below). This was less than … Continue reading →

Posted in Macroeconomy, Tourism, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Is banning plastic bags the best option to tackle litter and reduce waste?

Posted on February 26, 2016 by Gene Tunny

Guest post by Rod Bogaards It looks like a push is on to ban single-use plastic bags nationally according to the Courier-Mail. A ban has already been implemented in some of the smaller states and territories but not elsewhere. Perhaps … Continue reading →

Posted in Environment, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Upcoming CPA Australia NFP conference

Posted on February 19, 2016 by Gene Tunny

The discouraging January labour force data released by the ABS yesterday make the economic outlook even more interesting, and Adam Creighton from The Australian is certainly correct that the weak labour market, which saw an increase in the national unemployment … Continue reading →

Posted in nfps, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Unemployment data confirm Qld economy still in soft patch

Posted on February 18, 2016 by Gene Tunny

Regular readers will know that I have been a bit skeptical about the State Government’s overly optimistic statements regarding the Queensland economy (e.g. see yesterday’s post). The economy has certainly been resilient at the end of the mining boom, but … Continue reading →

Posted in Labour market, Macroeconomy, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Negative gearing fine in principle, but capital gains tax discount creates major distortion

Posted on February 16, 2016 by Gene Tunny

The Australian Government is right to be looking at reforming the rules around negative gearing, as the current rules appear to be distorting the market and encouraging excessive borrowing for investment properties (as well as denying the Government significant amounts … Continue reading →

Posted in Housing, Tax, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 12 Comments

Penalty rates reform should be considered as way to reduce youth unemployment

Posted on January 15, 2016 by Gene Tunny

New labour force data from the ABS yesterday showed that Queensland ended 2015 with solid employment growth, and with the unemployment rate falling slightly further to 5.8 per cent, as the Queensland economy remains resilient at the end of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Labour market, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Top 10 Australian economists of all time

Posted on January 12, 2016 by Gene Tunny

Recently, while reading Stuart Macintyre’s Australia’s Boldest Experiment and Frank Moorhouse’s Edith trilogy, it repeatedly occurred to me that Australia has been home to some extraordinary economists who have made major contributions to economic thought and policy making. Here is … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Unit approvals plummet in rest of Aus. with Qld likely to follow

Posted on January 8, 2016 by Gene Tunny

The Brisbane Times reported the other day that Brisbane renters were being offered inducements such as iPads, suggesting that supply growth has got ahead of demand growth in Brisbane recently. This should reduce the enthusiasm of investors for the Brisbane … Continue reading →

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

Holiday reading

Posted on December 26, 2015 by Gene Tunny

Recently I have been reading a variety of interesting books, including Digital Gold: The Untold Story of Bitcoin by New York Times reporter Nathaniel Popper, and the Edith trilogy by eminent Australian author Frank Moorhouse. Digital Gold tells the story … Continue reading →

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Qld currency was model for Australian currency

Posted on December 20, 2015 by Gene Tunny

Last month, former UQ Economics lecturer Dr Jon Stanford published a very interesting paper in the Queensland History Journal titled Queensland’s Own Money, 1893-1910: Model for the Australian Note Issue (paywalled unfortunately). Jon discusses the financial crisis of the early … Continue reading →

Posted in Queensland Government, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments