Unconventional Economist

Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also Chief Economist and co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.

Victoria: the unemployed state

The state of Victoria has the highest unemployment rate in the nation.

Media Watch turns immigration Ministry of Truth

The Australian Bureau of Statistics’ (ABS) attempted censorship of the migration debate, explained in detail here and here, received support from ABC’s Media Watch, which attacked so-called ‘right-wing’ media outlets for raising alarm at the astronomical numbers of net migrants landing in Australia, which are higher than anything Australia experienced before the pandemic.

Migration blindspot renders productivity roundtable useless

A key reason for the decline in Australia’s productivity and living standards is that the country has grown rapidly through mass immigration. World Bank data presented below shows that Australia’s population increased by 45% (circa 8.5 million) in the first 25 years of this century, the strongest growth in the advanced world.

A modest proposal to end the charade of performative democracy

Below is another brilliant guest post from MB reader Erin Rolandsen, CEO of Angelassist: It is rare, as a writer, that I ever venture beyond the comfortable veil of the third person.

Labor lights match under house prices

The Albanese government announced that it will bring forward its 5% home deposit scheme for first home buyers by three months.

The endless decline of New Zealand house prices

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand has cut the official cash rate (OCR) by 2.5%, with another 0.5% worth of rate cuts expected by the end of 2026.

ABS migration censorship controversy explodes

There are two key migration data sets published by the ABS. These are regularly utilised by analysts, the media, and the government. There is the official quarterly net overseas migration (NOM) data, which is published on a six- to nine-month delay.

Australia urged to create reserve army of eKarens

Australia is slowly transforming into 1984’s Ministry of Truth.

RBA rate cuts pull Aussie consumers out of recession

Australian consumers have been trapped in a recession.

Australia’s economic ‘lost decade’

Independent economist Chris Richardson published the following chart on Twitter (X) showing that Australia has experienced one of the poorest increases in living standards over the past decade among advanced OECD nations.

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