The state of the economy at the street level

[divs4ever]

i wonder how much manufacturing demand will be pushed back into China , as there seems to be little benefit in abandoning China for other regions

( you can almost count on more policy changes from the US and EU )

 

[JohnDe]

The Albanese labor government is more than likely to win this election, but even if the Coalition win it looks like more of the same to come. However, with a labor win the Unions will become more emboldened to further socialise the country.

​

Continuing with the Albanese government’s policy agenda of debt-funded high spending with no productivity expectations in exchange for higher earnings is a recipe for continued economic decline. But this is the plan inherent in Labor’s support for a higher than inflation wage rise for the low paid that is detailed in the ACTU’s claim for 4.5 per cent or $41.22 a week for 2.9 million low-paid workers that will flow on to millions employed under other awards. National employers want a rise to be limited to 2.5 per cent in line with the inflation rate. But what they want more is a considered plan to address the structural issues that are holding back productivity growth and making it harder to compete.​

Anthony Albanese appears sanguine about the economic advice on offer from the Reserve Bank.​

Wage rise consent confirms the lack of policy contest

For evidence of a race to the bottom on economic policy, voters need look no further than the wedge politics being played on the minimum wage. Labor and the ACTU are backing an above-inflation rise despite warnings from the Reserve Bank of Australia that uncertainty about future wage pressures are a factor against lowering interest rates. “If (wages growth) doesn’t come off then that adds inflationary pressure and we will be trying to bring demand in line with supply again by raising interest rates,” Reserve Bank governor Michele Bullock cautioned on Tuesday.

Anthony Albanese appears sanguine about the economic advice on offer from the Reserve Bank. “There has been wages growth and productivity growth has been lower, so they’re just facts,” the Prime Minister said on Wednesday. This followed comments by Mr Albanese’s Employment and Workplace Relations Minister, Murray Watt, that Australia “could have higher wages even with lower productivity”, something that was disputed by economists.

Peter Dutton was quick to state that the Coalition also wanted higher wages. This message no doubt was calculated to avoid an obvious “fairness and envy” trap being laid by Labor. But what it shows is the Opposition Leader is struggling to find a cut-through way to argue that economic management is on the wrong track and the Albanese government is the problem.

Opposition Treasury spokesman Angus Taylor made the right points in an address to the National Press Club on Wednesday but he lacked the punch necessary to make a convincing case in voter land. Mr Taylor is correct to state that what is needed is an enterprise-focused refit that rewards initiative so people can buy a home, start a business and build a career across time. As he argues, the answer is for a strong private sector investing in the future of the nation.

But the detail on how we should get there is still missing from Mr Dutton and his team. Voters will not be convinced that putting a major project facilitation agency into Treasury, consolidating the market and infrastructure functions of Treasury, and bringing elements of foreign investment screening and the takeovers panel under one function is the cost-of- living relief they are seeking.

Regrettably, Mr Dutton has made it clear he sees no budgetary scope for the sort of personal tax reform necessary to arrest bracket creep and promote incentive and deliver reward for effort. Neither is there a plan that challenges the economy-wrecking industrial relations reforms pushed through by the Albanese government in cahoots with the trade union movement despite Labor having not raised the issue at the 2022 election. Instead, the central message is that the opposition supports popular giveaways such as temporary fuel tax relief and higher wages, with a longer-term plan to get things back into order by restoring the guard rails on government spending as a share of the economy.

The business community is entitled to ask: Where is the fight? As Robert Gottliebsen wrote on Wednesday, in the eyes of the business community the Albanese government “has legislated lower productivity via its industrial relations laws, introduced high-cost and uneconomic electricity generation projects, contributed to a cost-of-living crisis, done nothing to avert the housing crisis and greatly reduced the standard of living for ordinary Australians”.

Continuing with the Albanese government’s policy agenda of debt-funded high spending with no productivity expectations in exchange for higher earnings is a recipe for continued economic decline. But this is the plan inherent in Labor’s support for a higher than inflation wage rise for the low paid that is detailed in the ACTU’s claim for 4.5 per cent or $41.22 a week for 2.9 million low-paid workers that will flow on to millions employed under other awards. National employers want a rise to be limited to 2.5 per cent in line with the inflation rate. But what they want more is a considered plan to address the structural issues that are holding back productivity growth and making it harder to compete.

Mr Albanese has made it clear where the government stands. Mr Dutton must get the message to voters that the Coalition is capable of staging an intervention. Refusing to tackle the concerns of business and our economic institutions on spending, debt and productivity is a recipe for national drift and disappointment that ultimately will lead to socially damaging austerity.

 

[Dona Ferentes]

Some 16.3 million international passengers travelled through Sydney Airport in 2024, up 12 per cent on a year earlier. It handled more than 25 million domestic travellers, up 4 per cent over the same period.

 

[sptrawler]

Some 16.3 million international passengers travelled through Sydney Airport in 2024, up 12 per cent on a year earlier. It handled more than 25 million domestic travellers, up 4 per cent over the same period.

Everyones doing it tough.
I read today that the Govt will be spending more next year, than during the covid pandemic and during that time everyone was being paid to stay home. Lol

 

[qldfrog]

Everyones doing it tough.
I read today that the Govt will be spending more next year, than during the covid pandemic and during that time everyone was being paid to stay home. Lol

Stop it, if you carry on, we might even start talking economy and budget for the elections, what a far right fascist concept