Tag Archives: budget

What is the fiscal impulse from the Australian Budget?

The Australian Government is moving in the right direction, but not fast enough, with fiscal policy if it wants to fight inflation. It appears too reliant on the expected cessation of pandemic-related stimulated measures to support its claim that the … Continue reading

Posted in Budget | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Qld economic outlook talk at Phil Di Bella’s Coffee Commune this Friday 19 May

The big economic question for 2023 is how much the Australian economy will slow down in response to interest rate increases, regarding which we should expect more to come. Queensland’s economy will benefit from a high-performing mining sector, but there’s … Continue reading

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

White Elephant Stampede – podcast chat w/ Scott Prasser

Queensland has had more than its fair share of white elephant projects, including the Toowooomba Wellcamp quarantine facility and the Gold Coast desalination plant. The economics and politics of white elephants are considered in a new book from Connor Court … Continue reading

Posted in Infrastructure | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Economic update: interest rates, monetary policy, fiscal policy, and coal prices

The election debate would benefit from a clear understanding of the factors affecting interest rates, now that the RBA has increased the cash rate from the “emergency level” of 0.1%, practically the lowest it could go, to the still extraordinarily … Continue reading

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

Unemployment and state budgets update

On Monday, I appeared on the 612 ABC Brisbane Radio Drive program (from 2:09:00) to chat with Kelly Higgins-Devine about how we estimate the unemployment rate, a matter of interest that day obviously due to the Opposition Leader being unable … Continue reading

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

Fake privatisation of Titles Registry helping Qld Gov’t pretend it has debt management plan

This post is an early draft of an article I’m preparing for a public finance or public policy journal about the Queensland Government’s accounting trickery regarding the Titles Registry last year. The state government has violated some well-established principles for … Continue reading

Posted in Budget, Queensland Government | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Qld Economic Outlook for 2022

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

Coal the dirty secret behind Qld budget improvement

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

Posted in Budget | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Good sign the Great COVID Panic will end in Qld soon

A few weeks ago I observed that it took the NRL Grand Final for the Queensland Government to adopt a more rational approach to the pandemic, and now, thankfully, there are further signs of rationality from the Government, with the … Continue reading

Posted in Budget, Macroeconomy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Hospital funding fight the latest illustration of the big problem with vertical fiscal imbalance in our federation

There is a deep structural problem underlying the current hospital funding fight between the Queensland Premier and the PM, the vertical fiscal imbalance (VFI) between the state’s spending responsibilities and the Commonwealth’s revenue raising powers. The states receive around half … Continue reading

Posted in Budget | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments