Business
The economy
Opinion
Cost of living
Cost-of-living crisis? Why only some of us are feeling the pinch
A fascinating study into how our standards of living have changed since before COVID helps to explain why some Australians are feeling no pain.
- by Ross Gittins
Latest
Dodgy Perth dealer fined a second time over illegal car trading business
Jacob Hamilton copped a $40,000 fine two years ago for running a car sales business in Stirling without a license. Within weeks he was back at it.
- by Rebecca Peppiatt
Opinion
CFMEU
How the government’s CFMEU response plays into the Coalition’s hands
The government’s light-touch response to the allegations swirling around the CFMEU risks emboldening Labor’s critics.
- by Elizabeth Knight
Opinion
Inside China
Xi just doubled down on his big China bet
China’s struggling economy was the driving force behind an unexpected cut in interest rates, but Xi Jinping is doubling down on his long-term dream.
- by Stephen Bartholomeusz
Opinion
Network outage
The cinema was ‘cash-free’ but the eftpos machines were down. Was I in a movie?
The CrowdStrike outage reminded me and the rest of the developed world of how reliant we are on a few big companies to keep the show on the road.
- by Millie Muroi
Opinion
Construction
Construction industry a honeypot that capital and labour fight over
Don’t fall for the “rogue union” bogeyman theory. There’s much more going on than there seems.
- by Ross Gittins
Explainer
Sovereign wealth
Trillion-dollar piggy banks: Inside the world of sovereign wealth
Norway’s is famously huge. Qatar used its to buy Harrods. How do sovereign wealth funds work? And why isn’t ours as big as Norway’s?
- by Angus Holland
Opinion
Roads
Unthinking privatisation leaves much mess to be cleaned up
Private road toll companies have rights, but they don’t have the right to impose on the people of NSW and their government an unfair and unsustainable arrangement lasting forever.
- by Ross Gittins
IMF warns sticky inflation could keep interest rates ‘higher for even longer’
The International Monetary Fund warned that price growth in many major economies has been cooling slower than expected, flagging a potential risk to global growth from persistently high rates.
- by Eric Martin
Opinion
Australian economy
Take heart! Australia is still better and fairer than most
It’s been tempting to think that the goal of every generation being better off than their parents has been lost. It’s not true. Not yet anyway.
- by Ross Gittins
Nuclear not the solution Australia needs, says electricity grid chief
One of Australia’s top energy officials warns nuclear energy is expensive and cannot be developed in time to replace coal plants.
- by Nick Toscano