Australian Economy

Aussie retail sales have been structurally weak, falling in per capita terms over the past two years.

The Climate Council claims that Australians are paying $30 billion more on insurance than they were a decade ago, while premiums have risen at more than twice the average rate of inflation over that time.

Via S&P comes the Aussie flash PMI. Flash Australia PMI Composite Output Index(1): 51.4 (Mar: 51.6). 2-month low. Flash Australia Services PMI Business Activity Index(2): 51.4 (Mar: 51.6). 2-month low. Flash Australia Manufacturing Output Index(3): 51.5 (Mar: 51.8). 2-month low. Flash Australia Manufacturing PMI(4): 51.7 (Mar: 52.1).

Australia’s universities must rank as the nation’s most poorly run organisations.

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is famously bad at forecasting Australian wage growth. For the past 15 years, the RBA’s Statement of Monetary Policy (SoMP) has routinely forecast stronger wage growth than has occurred.

The Albanese government’s Australian Universities Accord Final Report set a target of 55% of young Australians having a university degree by 2050.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released its March labour force report, which was steady as she goes.

Hellbourne is Australia’s first version of Mega-City One.

Seek released its latest employment report for Australia, which suggests the job market is deteriorating.

Roy Morgan unemployment is a better measure than the doctored ABS version.

Justin Fabo from Antipodean Macro published intriguing charts showing the sharp decline in consumer inflation expectations. The following chart shows that the long-running monthly Melbourne Institute measure of consumer inflation expectations has fallen to the long-run (1995–2019) average on a quarterly basis.

Bitcoin (BTC) has come a long way since its humble beginnings in 2009.

President Trump’s 10% tariff on Australia never made sense. Australia has historically had a gaping trade deficit with the United States. As illustrated in the table below from Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), the United States exported (A$88.2b) more than double what it imported (A$37.5b) from Australia in 2023-24.

Australia’s labour productivity performance has ranked among the lowest in the world. The following chart shows that the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) projections for productivity growth have been far too optimistic over the past decade.

Great ideas, these.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers reportedly held an emergency meeting with Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) governor Michele Bullock, suggesting deep interest rate cuts are likely.

Out with the new and in with the newer at the Lunatic RBA.

The Trump administration’s tariffs and the associated stock market rout have had an immediate negative impact on Australian consumer sentiment.

The Australian’s Tom Dusevic published a strange report claiming that ‘Big Australia’ is over.

The global trade war has escalated with US President Donald Trump threatening China with an added 50% tariff, which would take the total levy to 104%.

Christopher Joye, the Chief Investment Officer at Coolabah Capital Investments, made an appearance on Mark Bouris’ podcast, sharing his insights on the significant consequences of Trump’s tariffs, the underlying issues facing China, and the potential for Australia to become entangled in a global trade war.

Last week, the ABC published the following table showing Australia’s most valuable goods exports: Since Australia doesn’t manufacture much anymore, mining, energy, and agricultural goods comprise virtually all of Australia’s goods exports.

The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) released new car sales data for March, which revealed that 108,606 new cars were delivered during the month, and a total of 1,206,558 were delivered over the year.

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