Tag Archives: queensland

End of the mining boom – speech notes and slides

In Brisbane today, in the theatre of Morgans Financial Limited, along with Griffith’s Tony Makin and Morgans’ Michael Knox, I spoke on “The end of the mining boom”, at an event organised by Griffith’s APEC Study Centre. My slides are … Continue reading

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Residential building will help economy adjust to end of mining boom

March quarter building approvals figures released by the ABS today show that the residential building industry, no doubt encouraged by very low interest rates,  will help the economy adjust to the end of the mining boom (see the Queensland data … Continue reading

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Privatised electricity businesses would better achieve necessary efficiencies

It’s been clear for some time that the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) would make large cuts to future allowable revenues for Energex and Ergon, and that this would potentially impact Queensland Government dividend income. The preliminary determinations from the AER … Continue reading

Posted in Budget, Energy | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Bad day for developers in Queensland – risk to future investment and jobs

At a time when the Queensland economy is experiencing a huge negative shock from the downturn in the resources sector, and at a time when the health of our recovering building industry is very important, it is discouraging that some … Continue reading

Posted in Housing, Macroeconomy | Tagged , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Health & aged care will drive jobs growth in coming years

The March labour force data released yesterday by the ABS show the Queensland unemployment rate has stabilised at around 6.5%, which, while relatively high (see chart above), is not too bad from a historical perspective, as I’ve noted before (Don’t … Continue reading

Posted in Labour market, Population | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Risk to Qld Budget of lower dividends from Govt-owned businesses

In addition to royalties revenue being lower than previously forecast, a major risk to the Queensland State Budget in coming years is lower than expected dividends from government-owned businesses. Currently government-owned businesses contribute over $2 billion to the Budget or … Continue reading

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Upcoming event – 2015 Qld Third Sector Economics Talks

I’m delighted to be a keynote speaker at the upcoming ProBonoEconos and Young Economists event on the so-called third sector of non-profit organisations and charities on the evening of Thursday 7 May at QUT: 2015 Qld Third Sector Economics Talks … Continue reading

Posted in Budget, nfps, Queensland Government, Social policy | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Qld coal exports decline of 5.5% big contributor to total exports decline

Lower coal prices have translated into a decline in the value of Queensland’s coal exports (by 5.5% in the year to February 2015), contributing to a 1.6% decline in the value of Queensland’s total commodity exports over the same period … Continue reading

Posted in Mining | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Upcoming panel discussion – End of the mining boom: What’s next?

It’s clear the mining downturn is having significant adverse effects, such as large increases in unemployment in regions that are more dependent on mining, such as the Mackay and Fitzroy regions (see chart above, and also see the Courier-Mail report … Continue reading

Posted in Macroeconomy, Mining | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Upcoming Young Economists Coffee Connections on taxi regulations and Uber

Ian Harper’s Competition Policy Review has set a big agenda for the next, long-overdue wave of micro-economic reform in Australia, with recommendations calling for substantial deregulation of retail trading hours, pharmacies, liquor sales, imports of books and second-hand cars, and … Continue reading

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