Unconventional Economist

Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also Chief Economist and co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.

The Census is nearing redundancy

Tumbling stamp duty receipts pressure state budgets

Indebted state governments are likely to be the biggest losers from the synchronised housing market correction.

CBA home loan applications plunge following federal budget

The nation’s biggest mortgage lender, CBA, has released its annual results, and the investor presentation contains interesting information on home lending.

Data centres drive up US emissions

Following on from Tuesday’s article on the massive 336‑MW data centre campus planned for Melbourne, which would operate with dozens of diesel generators, it is worth examining the global leader in data centres – the United States – to see what the future may hold.

Australia’s rental pain is forecast to continue

Australian tenants have experienced the most severe rental cost inflation in living memory.

RBA fires inflation warning shot

As expected, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) unanimously voted to keep the official cash rate on hold at 4.35% at Tuesday’s monetary policy meeting.

The bank mortgage squeeze begins

According to Justin Fabo from Antipodean Macro, there has been almost a full pass-through of the Reserve Bank’s 75 bps of tightening this year into the weighted-average new and outstanding home loan rates.

Data centres increase Australia’s fuel dependency

The spurious claim that intermittent, weather-dependent energy is best to power data centres has been thoroughly debunked by the operators of such sites.

Canada’s immigration cuts improve migrant outcomes

In 2024, Canada experienced the largest immigration boom in its history, with an unprecedented 1,260,000 people arriving in the year to March 2024, almost all of whom came via net overseas migration.

How Australia became the go-to destination for international students

The 2011 Knight Review strongly advocated expanding post-study work rights (PSWR) to significantly boost Australia’s appeal as a destination for international students and to help Australian universities and employers. The Gillard Labor government significantly enhanced employment rights for graduate (485) visas in 2013.

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