Unconventional Economist

International Reading: Top Economist Warns Trump Tariffs Effectively Impose Tax Rate On Low-Income Households That Is Triple Of High-Income Ones – Bezinga ‘China was playing chess while the rest of us were playing checkers’: Bombshell study finds $200 billion of secret loans to U.S.

New Zealand provides a textbook example of why lowering immigration below the nation’s home building capacity lowers rents, benefiting tenant households.

A new report from The Australian Population Research Institute (TAPRI) contends that Australia may be on the brink of a political realignment, similar to movements in the UK, France, and the US, driven by populist challenges to mainstream policies on immigration, cultural diversity, net zero, and free trade.

Five young economists from Deloitte have rejected calls to lower immigration to alleviate housing pressures, instead arguing that migrants are part of the housing solution: The young economists argue migration is a solution to the housing supply gap rather than a problem because it will help fill skills shortages in the construction industry.

On Thursday, I lambasted Treasurer Jim Chalmers for boasting that Labor has delivered the “longest period of consecutive real wage growth in almost a decade” following eight consecutive quarters of annual real wage growth: Chalmers’ boast came despite real wages falling by 0.5% in Q3 2025, tracking at mid-2011 levels.

One year ago, Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Finance Minister Katy Gallagher declared that the Future Fund, which is one-third the size of the Australian economy, would be directed to invest in housing and the green energy transition “where possible, appropriate, and consistent with strong returns”.

A new proposal has been pitched in the United States to address the country’s housing crisis.

All recent opinion polls show that Australian voters are fed up with excessive levels of immigration.

The following chart from Alex Joiner from IFM Investors summarises how the billions of taxpayer dollars spent on energy subsidies have masked the rise in electricity costs: In 2024–25, households received up to $300 in rebates, and eligible small businesses up to $325, costing the federal budget $3.5 billion.