The evidence shows that the only households whose living costs have risen faster than their incomes are those homeowners with a mortgage. For the other two thirds of households, their incomes have risen faster than their living costs. Policy should therefore focus on why mortgage costs have risen so dramatically. The cost of living crisis Continue reading »
Economy
Two news items last week completely reversed the economic outlooks in Australia and America. In Australia, the trimmed mean inflation rate for June was 3.8%, which was below the 4.0% expected. This convinced economist that the RBA won’t increase its cash rate in August but instead will reduce it later this year if inflation keeps Continue reading »
If it was panic last Friday, the Asahi Shimbun declared when the stock market fell more than 2,200 points, or 5.8 percent. It was double panic by this afternoon (Monday) when the market fell even more, by 3,800 points to the 31,000 mark. Reasons were various. The fall in the US Dow last week had Continue reading »
Australia has unveiled a new National Interest Framework which integrates security considerations into domestic economic policy, aiming to secure economic resilience and security amidst changing global power structures and increasing geopolitical tensions. But Australia has not yet placed strategic economic diplomacy at the forefront of the framework. Managing Australia’s security environment requires emphasising the importance Continue reading »
Accommodation for asylum seekers awaiting Home Office processing amounted to £6.4 billion of the overspend
The Roman emperor Nero was a horrible, horrible man, as Donald Trump might put it. His murderous reign of terror has certainly earned him a place in the history books, but the only thing most people believe about him is certainly false: that he played the fiddle while Rome burned. He may have strummed his Continue reading »
Yingyao Wang opens the black box of the Chinese bureaucracy to reveal the agency of the men and women who designed and redesigned Chinese economic policy. The People’s Republic of China is not a monolithic entity, and here is a new book delving into the intricate world of Chinese bureaucracy, highlighting the pivotal roles played Continue reading »
“In the Chinese context, there are a lot of talks about remembering your original mission. The original mission is to eliminate inequality” – Wang Dan, chief economist of Hang Seng Bank China. CGTN Radio host Xu Yawen interviews Wang Dan, a chief economist of Hang Seng Bank China, Josef Mahoney, Professor of Politics and International Continue reading »
A Republican administration under Donald Trump would bring a fundamental change to America’s engagement with the world, necessitating a radical reassessment and reformulation of Australia’s foreign, trade, and defence policies. Falling back on the faithful ally tactic would not suffice to buffer the prosperity and security of Australians. Australian policymakers would need to embrace a Continue reading »
It makes sense for Beijing to expand the services sector, but none for the US to transfer higher productivity in services to lower one in manufacturing. So this is how Donald Trump repays his legions of fans in Taiwan, especially those from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party. “Taiwan took our chip business from us,” the Continue reading »