• Despite it all, China dominates Australian trade – again

    David Uren     |      July 4, 2025

    China has reasserted its dominance over Australia’s export markets, taking a record of almost 1 billion tonnes of mineral resources and agricultural commodities last year, and displacing the trading partners that helped Australia out during the years it suffered Chinese economic punishment.

  • Whatever happened to wellness?

    Open Forum     |      June 28, 2025

    The Albanese government devoted time and energy in its first term to developing a wellbeing agenda, but the battle against inflation and the new focus on productivity has pushed wellbeing back down its list of priorities.

  • Pet shop productivity

    Michelle Grattan     |      June 13, 2025

    Former prime minister Paul Keating used to say the resident galah in any pet shop was talking about micro-economic policy. These days, if you encounter a pet shop with a galah, she’ll be chattering about productivity, but will the Government’s new roundtable allow progress to be made?

  • The future of USA-Australian trade

    Patricia Ranald     |      May 30, 2025

    Donald Trump’s tariffs have rocked world markets but a more measured assessment of their impact on Australia-US trade relations should be informed by history and morality as well as dollars and cents.

  • Australian strategy for the Asia Pacific

    Jiye Kim     |      May 19, 2025

    Australia must realign its economic strategy to handle mounting pressure from US tariffs and global trade volatility by deepening ties with key Asian partners and investing in emerging sectors like space technology to safeguard its national prosperity and regional influence.

  • Death of taxes

    Henry Campbell     |      May 9, 2025

    No politician wants to introduce taxes, but Australia may have to as costs increase and revenue declines if Trump’s tariffs plunge the world into recession.

  • Labor’s productivity plan

    Roy Green     |      May 8, 2025

    The Albanese government’s second and possibly third term in office provides another opportunity to undertake the major structural changes required to secure Australia’s future as an inclusive and dynamic knowledge-based economy.

  • The productivity problem

    Lachlan Vass     |      May 5, 2025

    Australia’s productivity performance has been poor for decades, but neither party wants to tackle the issue, despite its importance to economic growth.

  • Rough seas ahead

    Sergi Basco     |      April 25, 2025

    Businesses and global markets thrive in times of certainty, but Donald Trump’s willingness to drive a coach and horses through prior practice and common sense mean that the IMF’s world trade uncertainty index is currently 7 times higher than it was in October 2024, far higher than even during the pandemic.

  • Open for business

    Graeme Dobell     |      April 6, 2025

    As Trump imposes tariffs to shut out the world, Australia could show the Indo-Pacific how open it is by killing the last of its tariffs, completing our trek from being a highly protected economy to one of the most open in the world.

  • A capital idea

    Joseph Zeller     |      March 23, 2025

    To secure a prosperous future, Australia must address capital allocation within its economy, orienting to revitalise its domestic manufacturing industry.

  • Australia’s economic (mini) miracle

    John Quiggin     |      March 22, 2025

    Despite COVID and the current cost of living crisis, the most striking feature of the Australian economy in the 21st century has been the exceptionally long period of fairly steady, though not rapid, economic growth.