This Month
Out in the cold: Why housing is just one problem for Labor
Unless Labor can dig its way out of its parliamentary quagmire, it faces the real possibility of ending up in minority government – or worse.
- Tom McIlroy
- Analysis
- Political leadership
Labor’s economic agenda finds few friends
Business, big and small, is now united in concern about what many regard as a depressingly counterproductive and backwards-looking strategy from the government.
- Jennifer Hewett
How investors should play the first rate cut
Australian market participants are all-in on the immaculate soft landing narrative. But history says they need to tread carefully as interest rates come down.
- Updated
- James Thomson and Jonathan Shapiro
- Opinion
- Childcare
Why ‘free’ childcare is bad for working parents
Further childcare subsidies will likely require an explicit new tax rise to fund it. Billions of dollars of more debt can’t be added to the national credit card.
- John Kehoe
A new era of sabotage: weaponising everyday items
The attacks in Lebanon took the art of electronic sabotage to new heights. But the sense that ordinary devices can become deadly may be just beginning.
- David E. Sanger
Has the Fed overreacted to the US economy?
The Fed’s decision meets the theoretical economic rules but there is an intuitive question about whether such a large cut was needed right now given the state of the economy.
- Matthew Cranston
- Analysis
- Murdoch family case
Akin to Orwellian genius: Inside Murdochs’ Project Harmony
After a quarter-century of increasingly public bickering, today the only thing that can bring Rupert Murdoch’s family together is a court case.
- Neil Chenoweth
Bipartisan, pragmatic, down to the wire: the deal that almost wasn’t
Panic set in this week as the government’s much-vaunted aged care reforms stalled. They were finally settled on a plane trip from Sydney to Canberra.
- Phillip Coorey
- Analysis
- Interest rates
Chalmers’ RBA dilemma: how much Greens is too much for investors?
Former central bankers say foreign investors who buy Australian government bonds, equities and currency will pay attention to the political standoff over the RBA board.
- John Kehoe
Afghanistan’s long dark shadow still hangs over the military
Two major reports this week brought home painful reminders of the legacy of Australia’s contribution to the war on terror. Will anything change?
- Andrew Tillett
Friend or foe? Europe’s big Chinese EV dilemma
Bad news hasn’t been enough to get European carmakers and politicians to rethink their anti-China strategy. But that’s exactly what might need to happen.
- Hans van Leeuwen
Now it’s the middle ground that matters in the US election
Even Donald Trump’s backers admit Kamala Harris won this week’s debate. How he bounces back from defeat will shape the race for the White House.
- Matthew Cranston
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Housing is eating the economy in countless ways
Australia’s housing woes are causing policymakers, investors and households to make decisions they might not ordinarily make. But to fix it, we need to escape a vicious cycle.
- James Thomson
The brutal retail politics behind the inflation fight
Relations between the Albanese government and the Reserve Bank of Australia are at an unprecedented low. Only one thing will ease the tension.
- Phillip Coorey
China’s economy is on the edge. Why won’t Xi rescue it?
To the rest of the world, it looks like Xi Jinping and his inner circle of economic managers have painted China into a corner. What is less well understood is that he wants to be there.
- Jessica Sier
How to get a white-collar job without a degree
University enrolments are declining as more high-school leavers like Tony Nguyen skip campus and head straight to the workforce.
- Euan Black
AI deepfakes: deeply worrying or deeply amusing?
There are big fears that AI deepfakes could be used by foreign enemies or political operatives to influence elections. Just how worried should we be?
- Paul Smith
- Analysis
- US election
Even Putin jumps on the Harris bandwagon
The momentum behind Kamala Harris’s popularity is starting to taper off, but she is still gaining some big-name, if unusual, fans.
- Matthew Cranston
August
Going rogue: The big questions over the CFMEU clean-out
Secret meetings of a self-described “leadership in exile” are raising fears the administrator has yet to take control of the union.
- David Marin-Guzman
Why Australia’s sick hospitals are on the brink
Australians are paying more for surgery in private hospitals than ever, and there is no cure in sight for facilities struggling with record costs and fees.
- Michael Smith
