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.

Weekend reading and media appearances

International Reading: Elon Musk, Amazon, and AT&T are demanding a return to office.

Deepening recession shocks Reserve Bank

On Thursday, Statistics New Zealand released the national accounts for Q3 2024, which reported a 1.0% decline in GDP over the quarter to be 1.5% lower annually.

Albanese has abandoned the “forgotten Australians”

Redbridge Group Director Simon Welsh was interviewed by Sky News this week.

The key problem facing the federal budget

I noted earlier this week how the federal budget is facing a decade of deficits.

Australia imports engineers to drive Uber

The AFR’s Ronald Mizen has published an article describing Australia’s broken ‘skilled’ visa system, which is importing many purportedly skilled workers who end up working in menial jobs such as driving Uber.

Australia’s wealth is an illusion

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) recently released data on the value of the country’s residential housing stock.

Australia ‘caught-up’ on immigration. What about housing?

Earlier this month, the ANU’s chief immigration propagandist, Alan Gamlen, claimed that “by March 2024, Net Overseas Migration (NOM) had added 31,000 fewer people to the population than it would have if migration had stayed at 2019 levels”.

Developers collapse on Labor’s housing target

The Albanese government’s target of building 1.2 million homes over five years, or 240,000 homes annually, necessitates having a capable construction industry. The latest insolvency data from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) does not inspire hope, with a record number of construction firms collapsing.

‘Net Zero’ is a delusional fantasy without China

According to the Climate Change Authority’s (CCA) annual progress report, Australia’s CO2 emissions fell by 3 million tonnes between 2023 and 2024, accounting for one-fifth of the 15 million tonnes required annually to meet the federal government’s target of 43% reduction in emissions from 2005 by 2030.

Australia’s record-breaking recession less severe than feared

Last week, I questioned why the population estimates in the Q3 National Accounts were substantially different from the official Q2 population figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) only eight days later.

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