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economics
National affairs
Simpler, fairer and more effective
Saul Eslake
25 August 2025
Jim Chalmers’s roundtable cleared the way for much-needed tax reform
National affairs
High finance
Michael Gill
22 August 2025
A burgeoning finance sector has increased the economy’s vulnerability in an era of heightened global risks
National affairs
Towards a sustainable budget
Saul Eslake
15 August 2025
A federal government faced with greater spending demands needs to bite the tax bullet
National affairs
Productivity puzzles
John Edwards
14 August 2025
Should company taxes changes really be a priority at the next week’s economic summit?
National affairs
We can’t just build our way out of Australia’s housing problems
Andi Nygaard
13 August 2025
A narrow focus on supply is certain to disappoint
International
China’s high-stakes shift
Michael Gill
22 July 2025
Xi Jinping’s refurbished economic policies combine the old and the new
National affairs
John Stone, political activist
Dominic Kelly
22 July 2025
The former Treasury head was revealed to be an arch-reactionary in his long second career
National affairs
Let’s just get this done, shall we?
Karen Middleton
18 July 2025
A former Treasury secretary lays down the environmental law
International
Can the world be governed without the US?
Michael Jacobs
5 July 2025
A UN conference discovers the absence of the United States can be an opportunity rather than a hindrance
Books & arts
How China put the bite on Apple
Michael Gill
3 July 2025
The tech giant helped turn its biggest partner into a world leader in electronics manufacturing
National affairs
Are pro-natalists living on the same planet?
John Quiggin
30 June 2025
Nostalgia-fuelled panic about declining populations doesn’t match plausible forecasts
International
Benefits and costs
Michael Jacobs
29 June 2025
Keir Starmer is paying a heavy price for spending cuts that lacked a defensible rationale
Books & arts
Are we getting in our own way?
John Edwards
24 June 2025
The American bestseller
Abundance
is making waves in Australia, but its key argument has less force on this side of the Pacific
National affairs
Taxing times
Karen Middleton
20 June 2025
Jim Chalmers wants to “test the appetite” for more ambitious productivity reforms
National affairs
It’s not as simple as building more houses
Peter Mares
21 May 2025
Labor’s housing policies focus on increasing supply. Now it must also tackle distribution
Other Voices
Is China the future?
Noah Smith
9 May 2025
What does it mean for China to be “the future”? And what does that future look like?
Books & arts
Meeting the moment
Gary Werskey
29 April 2025
A sociologist’s dissection of hyperglobalisation and its legacies
Other Voices
Donald Trump’s lose–lose tariffs
Noah Smith
16 April 2025
History shows tariffs are bad for rich economies — and Donald Trump’s decisions so far are actually reducing manufacturing investment
National affairs
Be careful what he wishes for
Peter Mares
11 April 2025
Slashing migration is much harder than it sounds
International
Two countries, two fiscal crises
Michael Gill
11 April 2025
Xi Jinping and Donald Trump are responding to a similar problem in dramatically different ways
Books & arts
The improvisers
John Edwards
8 April 2025
As Australia faces a crisis of orientation, an expatriate argues that being adaptable is better than being visionary
National affairs
Donald Trump and the ghost of Al Capone
Saul Eslake
6 April 2025
Australian exporters might well cope with a 10 per cent tariff, but a worldwide recession is another thing altogether
Books & arts
Learning from Hefei
Michael Gill
5 February 2025
Economic and political pressures are pulling in different directions in Xi Jinping’s China
Other Voices
Trump starts to break things
Noah Smith
3 February 2025
The US president’s tariff decisions will damage not just America’s allies but also its own economy
Other Voices
The populist phantom
Larry M. Bartels
18 January 2025
Democracy erodes from the top
International
Neither triumph nor Trumped
Michael Jacobs
25 November 2024
Another cliffhanger climate conference achieves a kind of progress
International
Who governs the climate?
Michael Jacobs
21 November 2024
While COP29 meets in Baku G20 leaders have been making their own decisions in Rio
Other Voices
Americans hate inflation more than they hate unemployment
Noah Smith
16 November 2024
Most commentators didn’t realise the impact prices were having on voters’ perceptions of the presidential candidates
International
A shift in the climate for COP29
Michael Jacobs
10 November 2024
As the UN conference opens in Baku, Azerbaijan, what difference will Donald Trump’s election make?
International
Trumped by the economy
Bill Scher
8 November 2024
Americans still haven’t perceived their country’s strong economic recovery
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