Ross Gittins
Ross Gittins is economics editor of the SMH and an economic columnist for The Age. His books include Gittins' Guide to Economics, Gittinomics and The Happy Economist.
Deficit realities finally dawn on all
Ross Gittins Something highly significant has happened in just the past week: it's become clear the tide has turned in our politicians' demonisation of budget deficits and debt.
Ross Gittins
The four industries that rule Australia
Ross Gittins Like most, I believe in democracy. But I also believe in capitalism, and though the two have usually been seen in the West as a good fit, of late I'm having doubts.
Ross Gittins
Tail wagging uneasy dog in budget debate
Ross Gittins I hate to burden you with a topic as earnest as the budget deficit so close to the holidays.
Ross Gittins
It's the weak recovery that worries, not surplus
Ross Gittins I hate to burden you with a topic as earnest as the budget deficit so close to the holidays - I had hoped to write about the idea of giving someone a goat for Christmas - but the saga of whether the...
Ross Gittins
A warning as market pipes tune in America
Ross Gittins Just as it's taking the world a lot longer to recover from the global financial crisis than we initially expected, so it's taking a lot longer than we might have expected for voters and their...
Ross Gittins
Lucky Country's had a lot more going for it than just chance
Ross Gittins It drew little comment, but the centrepiece of Julia Gillard's white paper on the Asian century was her target of raising Australia's standard of living - income per person - from the 13th highest in...
Ross Gittins
Lucky country also blessed with skilful management
Ross Gittins It drew little comment, but the centrepiece of Julia Gillard's white paper on the Asian century was her target of raising Australia's standard of living - income per person - from the 13th highest in...
Ross Gittins
Prudence is back - and it's about time, too
Ross Gittins One of the first lessons economists teach us is that the economy moves in cycles of boom and bust. A second, trickier lesson is that although most of the changes going on in the economy at any moment...
Ross Gittins
Dear prudence, you've come back to stay
Ross Gittins It's better for businesses to adapt to the way the world now works.
Ross Gittins
Rates gap a fair price to pay for safer banks
Ross Gittins As I'm sure you've gathered, a surprising number of our industries are going through a painful, job-shifting process economists euphemistically refer to as ''structural adjustment''.
Ross Gittins
Think smart is way ahead
Ross Gittins THE fall in the Herald-Lateral Economics index of wellbeing is telling us Australia has come to the end of its good luck and from now on further improvement in our wellbeing will rely on good...
Ross Gittins
The elusive sweet spot in the middle
Ross Gittins Individualism or state interference? A mix of both is desirable in life.
Ross Gittins
Jump off the policy pendulum
Ross Gittins I like Americans. I have American friends, and I remember a trivial incident that endeared me to Americans forever.
Ross Gittins
Demand a better deal and stop moaning about greedy banks
Ross Gittins Forgive me if I'm less than impressed by the tirade of righteous indignation being unleashed against the banks. It's self-serving, selective and uninformed.
What Keneally and co achieved ... and what they didn't
Ross Gittins This budget foreshadows a marked improvement in the budget balance, which has returned to operating surplus two years earlier than expected.
Ross Gittins
Low rates not always best option
Ross Gittins I think I can safely predict this will be another year of much fuss about rising interest rates and worsening home loan affordability.
Ross Gittins
Four big bugs threaten our comfort zone
Ross Gittins Two weeks ago the Secretary to the Treasury, Dr Ken Henry, delivered a momentous speech on ''The Shape of Things to Come'' for Australia.
Ross Gittins
How the puny Pacific Peso became a pumped-up dollar
Ross Gittins Last week a picture of Australia's Reserve Bank governor, Glenn Stevens, appeared on the front page of The Wall Street Journal, a rare occurrence.
