Mining investment 'still a key driver'
Peter Martin The mining investment boom is slowly coming off the boil, according an ABS survey.
Warning: after boom it'll be Dutch and go
Peter Martin Australia faces a run on its currency, a deeper collapse in housing prices and a bank funding crisis to rival Europe's as it tries to come to grips with life after the mining boom, according to a...
Peter Martin
Smoke signals: plans of Big Tobacco plain to see
Peter Martin - Economics Correspondent The attempt by Phillip Morris to get mileage out of a treaty masks an attempt to turn treaties into instruments.
Is the mining boom over?
Matt Wade and Peter Martin Australia's mining boom was never going to last forever. Tucked away in the budget papers two years ago were estimates from Treasury and Geoscience Australia about how long our minerals would last.
Household bonus boost fails to linger
Peter Martin The boost to retail spending flowing government handouts appears to have ended.
Ukraine disputes packaging law
Peter Martin Big tobacco has opened up a new front in its war against Australia's plain packaging laws.
Tax Office's 'black box' faces audit: watchdog
Peter Martin The 'risk engine' used by the Tax Office to single out Aussies for audits may itself be probed by the complaints watchdog.
Corporate tax cuts not so easy
Peter Martin Set up amid optimism about finding ways to cut Australia's 30 per cent corporate tax rate almost a year ago, the Treasurer's business tax working group will report this week that the task is harder...
Peter Martin
RBA breaks silence on soaring dollar
Peter Martin The Reserve Bank turns to 'open mouth' operations in a bid to hold back the rising Aussie dollar.
Peter Martin
Time to come clean on US bedfellow, minister
Peter Martin - Economics Correspondent What on earth is our trade minister doing? Late last year he flew to Tokyo to sign a so-called Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement that, among other things, would have broadened the definition of...
Call for rethink of RBA's role
Peter Martin Professor Ian Harper, considered one of the architects of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, says he would be prepared to consider refashioning a Wallis-style inquiry into the financial...
Rate cuts, handouts boost sales as shoppers get their mojo back
Peter Martin PEOPLE stormed back into shops in June as back-to-back interest rate cuts, mid-winter sales and $2.85 billion of government handouts pushed spending on shoes, clothes, cosmetics and takeaway food...
ABS clashes with UN on carbon tax reporting
Peter Martin If the government imposes a tax, then pays the bill, did it impose a tax in the first place?
Inflation fall clears way for more rate cuts
Peter Martin, Stephen Nicholls and Chris Zappone INFLATION has slipped to its lowest point this century, giving the Reserve Bank ample room to further cut interest rates and calling into question claims that Australians are pressured by the cost of...
Peter Martin
Housing investment will 'replace' the mining boom
Peter Martin THE other side of Australia's mining investment boom won't look so bad, according to long-term forecasts released today by BIS Shrapnel.
Mining boom forecast to end in two years
Peter Martin Australia's budget surplus has evaporated and its mining investment boom has only two years to run, according to Deloitte Access Economics.
More rate cuts off table for the time being
Peter Martin THE Reserve Bank is done with interest-rate cuts for the moment, believing Australia has a ''Goldilocks'' economy that's neither too hot nor too cold.
All bets on Reserve to stay its hand
Peter Martin THE Reserve Bank's board is considered to be certain to sit on its hands today for the first time in three months amid signs that its previous rate cuts are stabilising property prices.
ABS job figures wrong, but it's too big a job to fix
Peter Martin Bureau won't correct errors in the official record because it will cost too much money.
