For the last few years the Australian economy has been meandering between 2-3% growth. This remained the case through last year with December quarter GDP up just 0.4%, and annual growth of 2.4% as a bounce a year ago dropped out. In the quarter growth was helped by consumer spending... Show More
Structurally, Australia’s growth model has been deteriorating for most of the past two decades and is now arguably one of the poorer examples in the developed world. In the years of the last commodity bull cycle, instead of saving in its ‘times of plenty’, Australia funded a large consumption and... Show More
In January, market commentary was almost universally bullish. Ray Dalio, the billionaire US Hedge Fund Manager told the audience at the World Economic Forum in Davos that those holding cash were “going to feel pretty stupid.” One of the few voices urging caution was that of Chris Watling, CEO and... Show More
In the first podcast for 2018, Dr Shane Oliver, Head of Investment Strategy and Chief Economist at AMP Capital sits down with Livewire Editor, Patrick Poke. The topic at hand is Australia: the share market, the economy, wages, and of course, house prices. They discuss UBS's report late last year... Show More
The International Monetary Fund tips global economic growth to lift from 3.6 per cent in 2017 to 3.7 per cent in 2018. The key issue is whether the low growth rates of prices and wages will continue, thus prompting central banks to remain on the monetary policy sidelines. Show More
Last week the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released the GDP data for the September quarter. The headline result saw an economy that grew at 0.6% for the quarter and 2.8% for the last 12 months, both slightly below expectations. The annual rate increased from 1.9% year on year rate... Show More
The political environment is arguably more important now for investors than it has been for many years. Trump’s presidential victory in the US, the rise of ‘populism’ in Europe, and potentially more regulation for domestic energy, healthcare and banking sectors all have the potential to impact markets. Show More
There’s no question Australia’s economy has enjoyed a stellar run. The trouble is, it’s largely been a consumer-based, credit-fuelled growth story. And the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) reckons it could soon come to a shuddering halt. Show More
NSW has retained the position as the best performing economy, at or near the top of all indicators. Victoria holds second spot on the economic performance rankings with strength provided by high population growth, boosting housing demand. The ACT retains third spot on the performance rankings but there has been... Show More
Australian households are on average better off than they have ever been mostly because of the large increases in household wealth over recent years and a low unemployment rate closing in on what might be considered the “full-employment” unemployment rate. Yet in this age of comparative plenty the household sector... Show More
Australia has just celebrated 26 years without a recession and the Government as well as the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) are cheering the ongoing growth. In fact, the common consensus amongst these authorities is that growth is set to rebound from its current 1.9% year on year rate and... Show More
As global rates start to rise, Australia may follow in the short-term, but structural issues will prevent the RBA from hiking rates far, explains Chris Watling, CEO of Longview Economics. Any rate-hikes from the RBA will be short-lived, he says, and those structural issues will force Australian rates to zero. Show More
“It’s in their [The Telco’s] interest to just flick people to the low speed plans as the lower access charge makes a higher margin for them” Nicholas Demos, CEO, MyRepublic. Below are quotes from the week which in our view detail some of the most important and prominent industry trends... Show More
As commodity prices have risen, the Australian economy is set to benefit from these continuing gains. Australia’s improving terms of trade has led to a big increase in nominal GDP, which is now growing at 6.1% year-on-year. As commodity prices have moved higher in the first half of 2017, this... Show More
Historically the Aussie Dollar has been regarded as a play on both commodities (specifically iron ore) and its higher interest rates relative to the rest of the world. In the past 12 months, though, the correlations of the currency with those two key factors has broken down. As iron ore... Show More
GDP surprised to the downside in the September quarter; despite consensus expectations of 0.3% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) growth, the actual result was -0.5%. According to FactSet, economists are more bullish this quarter, with consensus estimates sitting at 0.8%. But a recent slew of poor data could be calling this into question. Show More
China has experienced an exceptional GDP growth rate of 12.9% per annum over the past 20 years. Yet over the next 12 to 18 months, Chinese investors will struggle to come up with the funds to meet their obligations arising from off-the-plan apartment purchases. Chinese nationals are facing a double... Show More
After a tumultuous 2016, the share market has had a solid start to the new year prolonging the so-called ‘Trump Rally’ which has seen Australian equities rally more than 10.0% from their intraday lows on 9 November when Trump was elected. With the year now underway and reporting season around... Show More
CBA Chief Economist Michael Blythe takes a look at the risks & issues likely to impact the Australian economy in 2017 View parts 2-5 at https://www.commsec.com.au/market-news/year-ahead.html Show More
The Australian economy shrunk by 0.5% in the September quarter - the first contraction in 5½ years. Annual economic growth slowed from 3.1% to 1.8% For more Economic Insights https://www.commsec.com.au/market-news/commsectv.html Show More
