http://www.thepunch.com.au/tags/economy/ Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-sun-is-shining-but-storms-lay-ahead-for-the-surplus/ The Reserve Bank has decided the economy is ticking along for the moment, and airline passengers lists confirm that many Australians have had a bit of cash to spare. On the day the central bank left official interest rates untouched, the Bureau of Statistics revealed millions of Australians have been in a position to take advantage of the dollar’s golden powers abroad. Last year, short-term departures by Australians reached a new record of 7.8 million overseas visits, up from 7.1 million in 2010. Back in 2001 there were just 3.4 million visits. Some 57 per cent of those who left the country for a short time last year did so for a vacation and a further 22 per cent said it was to catch up with relatives. That amounts to a lot of people with the dough to put to travel, a relative luxury. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-sun-is-shining-but-storms-lay-ahead-for-the-surplus/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-sun-is-shining-but-storms-lay-ahead-for-the-surplus/#item7706 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 Stop all the cheering, cut off the champagne. Prevent the pollies from barking and silence the drums. The piddling interest rate cut didn’t even happen. Today’s widely expected drop of 25 basis points was the catalyst for plenty of chest beating. Treasurer Wayne Swan tried to unleash righteous fury, the banks tried to cry poor, the unions said the banks are squeezing ordinary Australians, and not in a good way. Nothing happened. The Reserve Bank of Australia decided to keep the cash rate steady. But was all the hullabaloo justified in the first place? http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/interest-rate-barney-barely-even-rates-as-interest/ Stop all the cheering, cut off the champagne. Prevent the pollies from barking and silence the drums. The piddling interest rate cut didn’t even happen. Today’s widely expected drop of 25 basis points was the catalyst for plenty of chest beating. Treasurer Wayne Swan tried to unleash righteous fury, the banks tried to cry poor, the unions said the banks are squeezing ordinary Australians, and not in a good way. Nothing happened. The Reserve Bank of Australia decided to keep the cash rate steady. But was all the hullabaloo justified in the first place? feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/interest-rate-barney-barely-even-rates-as-interest/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/interest-rate-barney-barely-even-rates-as-interest/#item7700 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 Stop all the cheering, cut off the champagne. Prevent the pollies from barking and silence the drums. The piddling interest rate cut didn’t even happen. Today’s widely expected drop of 25 basis points was the catalyst for plenty of chest beating. Treasurer Wayne Swan tried to unleash righteous fury, the banks tried to cry poor, the unions said the banks are squeezing ordinary Australians, and not in a good way. Nothing happened. The Reserve Bank of Australia decided to keep the cash rate steady. But was all the hullabaloo justified in the first place? http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/what-happens-to-us-if-we-collide-with-gfc-2.0/ In 2008, one of the biggest financial disasters in history took place. When investment bank Lehman Brothers collapsed, the global financial crisis announced its unwanted presence to the world. Four years later, the European debt crisis has again left the global financial system teetering on the edge of the abyss. Make no mistake. This is the Cuban Missile Crisis of economics. Christine Lagarde, managing director of the IMF, has warned of a 1930s style Great Depression. Former prime minister Paul Keating has called it the “worst crisis of his lifetime.” Legendary speculator George Soros, in a chilling interview with Newsweek, had this to say: “We are facing now a general retrenchment in the developed world, which threatens to put us in a decade of more stagnation, or worse. The best-case scenario is a deflationary environment. The worst-case scenario is a collapse of the financial system.” feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/what-happens-to-us-if-we-collide-with-gfc-2.0/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/what-happens-to-us-if-we-collide-with-gfc-2.0/#item7680 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 Stop all the cheering, cut off the champagne. Prevent the pollies from barking and silence the drums. The piddling interest rate cut didn’t even happen. Today’s widely expected drop of 25 basis points was the catalyst for plenty of chest beating. Treasurer Wayne Swan tried to unleash righteous fury, the banks tried to cry poor, the unions said the banks are squeezing ordinary Australians, and not in a good way. Nothing happened. The Reserve Bank of Australia decided to keep the cash rate steady. But was all the hullabaloo justified in the first place? http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/A-bloody-good-reason-to-subsidise-car-making/ The announcement by Toyota of several hundred job losses this week is certainly alarming and it will have had and will continue to have ramifications for the broader industry. But it will only mark the end of the industry if we as a society say we don’t want manufacturing and we are happy to simply be China’s quarry and maybe a second tier tourist destination. In all the hyperbole and wild statements we hear about our mining industry, we rarely hear some of the uncomfortable truths. That it’s only 9 per cent of the economy, that it is the cause of the high Australian dollar which is putting pressure on our manufacturers and farmers, and that, at its best, it really only represents the highest aspirations of the average third world dictator. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/A-bloody-good-reason-to-subsidise-car-making/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/A-bloody-good-reason-to-subsidise-car-making/#item7659 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 Stop all the cheering, cut off the champagne. Prevent the pollies from barking and silence the drums. The piddling interest rate cut didn’t even happen. Today’s widely expected drop of 25 basis points was the catalyst for plenty of chest beating. Treasurer Wayne Swan tried to unleash righteous fury, the banks tried to cry poor, the unions said the banks are squeezing ordinary Australians, and not in a good way. Nothing happened. The Reserve Bank of Australia decided to keep the cash rate steady. But was all the hullabaloo justified in the first place? http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/how-to-give-a-speech-that-wont-come-back-to-bite-you/ That fateful ``no carbon tax’’ statement by Julia Gillard just before the last election has turned Australian political leaders into timid campaigners for the public vote. We now are being courted by scaredy cats. Opposition Leader Tony Abbott showed that yesterday with his aspiring and projecting a range of projects, anything short of a genuine commitment he might later be bound by. Or hung from. Prime Minister Julia Gillard repeated that caution over-load today with an economic policy outline which had no specific, detailed objectives. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/how-to-give-a-speech-that-wont-come-back-to-bite-you/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/how-to-give-a-speech-that-wont-come-back-to-bite-you/#item7658 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 Stop all the cheering, cut off the champagne. Prevent the pollies from barking and silence the drums. The piddling interest rate cut didn’t even happen. Today’s widely expected drop of 25 basis points was the catalyst for plenty of chest beating. Treasurer Wayne Swan tried to unleash righteous fury, the banks tried to cry poor, the unions said the banks are squeezing ordinary Australians, and not in a good way. Nothing happened. The Reserve Bank of Australia decided to keep the cash rate steady. But was all the hullabaloo justified in the first place? http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/abbott-downgrading-promises-to-aspirations/ You were always going to hear a lot about disability insurance over the next few years and Tony Abbott today made sure you will hear a lot more. There are some one million disabled Australians and the Opposition Leader told them that under an Abbott government their insurance scheme would be deferred. In addition, pensioners and low-income families were told that their welfare increases and tax cuts were on the way, but please don’t ask when because Mr Abbott doesn’t know. In his speech to the National Press Club he logged the disability insurance and a significant number of other economic elements under ``aspirations’’ column, rather than as imminent certainties. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/abbott-downgrading-promises-to-aspirations/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/abbott-downgrading-promises-to-aspirations/#item7647 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 Stop all the cheering, cut off the champagne. Prevent the pollies from barking and silence the drums. The piddling interest rate cut didn’t even happen. Today’s widely expected drop of 25 basis points was the catalyst for plenty of chest beating. Treasurer Wayne Swan tried to unleash righteous fury, the banks tried to cry poor, the unions said the banks are squeezing ordinary Australians, and not in a good way. Nothing happened. The Reserve Bank of Australia decided to keep the cash rate steady. But was all the hullabaloo justified in the first place? http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/maybe-women-are-just-bad-at-asking-for-a-higher-salary/ When the annual figures come out on the gender gap in salaries the standard argument is that women earn less because a) they take time off work to have kids, and b) they dominate lower-paid industries such as health and education. While both those points are solid explanations for the gap, new figures that have nothing to do with either (a) or (b) show women graduates are paid less than the men who graduate from the same degrees - 14 per cent less. Graduate Careers Australia found in 2011 graduate males started work on a full-time median salary of $52,000, and women on $50,000 (which could be accounted for by different industries). But in 14 industries male starting salaries were higher than female starting salaries in the same industry. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/maybe-women-are-just-bad-at-asking-for-a-higher-salary/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/maybe-women-are-just-bad-at-asking-for-a-higher-salary/#item7556 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 Stop all the cheering, cut off the champagne. Prevent the pollies from barking and silence the drums. The piddling interest rate cut didn’t even happen. Today’s widely expected drop of 25 basis points was the catalyst for plenty of chest beating. Treasurer Wayne Swan tried to unleash righteous fury, the banks tried to cry poor, the unions said the banks are squeezing ordinary Australians, and not in a good way. Nothing happened. The Reserve Bank of Australia decided to keep the cash rate steady. But was all the hullabaloo justified in the first place? http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/time-for-an-inquiry-into-this-bunch-of-bankers/ Poor old bankers. They keep telling us how tough it is for them with their funding costs expected to go up and how they will need to keep interest rates inflated. And if the crying poor line isn’t enough the banks are quick to tell us that we are “picking on them” if we have a debate about how poorly they behave especially when the RBA changes the official interest rate. Perhaps the “we’re doing it tough” line would carry some weight if the big banks didn’t show record profits year after year and if the banks’ CEOs weren’t getting such big pay packets year after year. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/time-for-an-inquiry-into-this-bunch-of-bankers/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/time-for-an-inquiry-into-this-bunch-of-bankers/#item7543 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 Stop all the cheering, cut off the champagne. Prevent the pollies from barking and silence the drums. The piddling interest rate cut didn’t even happen. Today’s widely expected drop of 25 basis points was the catalyst for plenty of chest beating. Treasurer Wayne Swan tried to unleash righteous fury, the banks tried to cry poor, the unions said the banks are squeezing ordinary Australians, and not in a good way. Nothing happened. The Reserve Bank of Australia decided to keep the cash rate steady. But was all the hullabaloo justified in the first place? http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/rubbery-figures-and-the-ghosts-of-budgets-past/ Amidst all the presents, food and rowdy family gatherings, Christmas has also traditionally been a time for pause and reflection. The many modern variations of Charles Dickens’ classic cautionary tale A Christmas Carol, where a miserly old man is visited by the specter of a deceased friend who shows him the error of his ways by traveling through time to reveal the impact of his miserable actions, reveals how this story of reflection and redemption at Christmas time still rings true. With Labor’s crisis mini-Budget (sneaked in after the Parliament rose for the year and while Australians started focusing on Christmas) revealing yet another deficit blow-out, I can’t help wondering if Julia and Wayne could do with a visit from the Ghost of Budgets Past. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/rubbery-figures-and-the-ghosts-of-budgets-past/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/rubbery-figures-and-the-ghosts-of-budgets-past/#item7428 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 Stop all the cheering, cut off the champagne. Prevent the pollies from barking and silence the drums. The piddling interest rate cut didn’t even happen. Today’s widely expected drop of 25 basis points was the catalyst for plenty of chest beating. Treasurer Wayne Swan tried to unleash righteous fury, the banks tried to cry poor, the unions said the banks are squeezing ordinary Australians, and not in a good way. Nothing happened. The Reserve Bank of Australia decided to keep the cash rate steady. But was all the hullabaloo justified in the first place? http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/zumbos-wrap-what-2011-meant-for-small-business/ As 2011 fast comes to an end it’s timely to reflect on the significant policy reforms that gave small businesses a helping hand during the year. Central to these reforms has been the move towards Small Business Commissioners around the country. The year started off with the South Australian Small Business Minister, Tom Koutsantonis, launching a period of wide ranging consultation with small businesses in that State. With South Australia’s draft small business commissioner reforms unveiled in February and explained during information briefing sessions across Adelaide and regional South Australia, there was considerable excitement amongst small business and farmers that they would finally have an independent person to turn to in the event of a dispute with a larger business. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/zumbos-wrap-what-2011-meant-for-small-business/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/zumbos-wrap-what-2011-meant-for-small-business/#item7416 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 Stop all the cheering, cut off the champagne. Prevent the pollies from barking and silence the drums. The piddling interest rate cut didn’t even happen. Today’s widely expected drop of 25 basis points was the catalyst for plenty of chest beating. Treasurer Wayne Swan tried to unleash righteous fury, the banks tried to cry poor, the unions said the banks are squeezing ordinary Australians, and not in a good way. Nothing happened. The Reserve Bank of Australia decided to keep the cash rate steady. But was all the hullabaloo justified in the first place?