The war below

Whoever controls the production and processing of lithium, copper and other critical minerals could dominate the 21st century economy, much as producers of fossil fuels defined the 20th century.

Waiting for the bubble to burst

The global economy is afloat on a tide of cash that is lifting all boats, from gold to tech stocks and everything in between, but when both the hedge and the gamble rise together, the real risk may lie in the plumbing of liquidity itself.

Alpha and Omega

Three economists studying the role of innovation driven creation and destruction in the economy have won this year’s Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences.

Doughnut economics

A new update to an influential economic theory called “Doughnut Economics” shows a global economy on a collision course with nature.

Economic coercion requires a unified response

Economic coercion by both the USA and China weaponises trade so middle powers such as Australia should call out coercion wherever it originates, reinforce the rules and invest in resilience so we can prosper.

Does free trade have a future?

The global trading system that promoted free trade and underpinned global prosperity for 80 years now stands at a crossroads due to the upheaval caused by United States President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff regime.

Economic warfare

A new book envisions the world economy splitting into two blocs, led by the US and China or descending into autarky as business reverts to investing at home in response to Trump’s tariffs.

Australia adrift

If Australia continues to manage our relative decline rather than confront it, we risk drifting into strategic irrelevance – as economically dependent, militarily constrained and diplomatically marginal as Latin American countries like Argentina.

Boosting female productivity

If women’s workforce participation matched men’s, there would be an additional one million workers with post-school qualifications, boosting economic growth by 8.7% or $31 billion by 2050.

The roundtable and after

The Federal Government’s much heralded roundtable on productivity produced a ‘laundry basket’ of ideas, including tax reform, for Labor to pursue in its second term.

Capital gaps and complacency

Capital is not neutral. It shapes what gets built and where. Until it is aligned with the national interest, we will continue to export the value of our ideas and import the technologies on which our sovereignty depends.

Despite it all, China dominates Australian trade – again

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.