Latest Economy & Markets Stories

A key recommendation of the Productivity Commission was for a Best in Show list of the top super funds. The sector hated the idea because it threatened their gravy train. MPs duly fell into line and instead last week passed legislation that, on its own, could worsen the problem of fund underperformance. Harry Chemay investigates.

Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp reckons it’s $1 billion. Google reckons it’s a piddling $10 million. News and Nine Entertainment have enlisted the Government and the ACCC in their battle to force Google to pay for their news content. Just how much money does Google Australia make from traffic to its site from news-related queries?

Astronomical profits on the back of continued exploitation of Indigenous-owned land in WA. It’s time Rio upped the royalties it pays, moved its HQ to Australia, hired Indigenous Australians in senior roles, and ditched its colonial British establishment attitude.

The Law Council has bounded to the rescue of Lendlease as the Tax Office closes in on the construction giant’s billion-dollar tax rort. The stakes are high. Michael West explores what appears to be a classic mates deal to rescue a large tax rorter at the expense of all other Australian taxpayers.

We are privileged this week to be part of Democracy’s Watchdogs — Bill Birnbauer’s non-profit organisation — which “aims to honour the work of Australian investigative journalists and educate the public about the work of our watchdogs and how they have enhanced our democratic processes”. Michael West reports.

Lendlease relied on a technicality to refuse to refund 100-year-old Egon Pedersen his $270,000 bond, making a mockery of its “pillars” of integrity, openness and trust. It quickly changed its tune when Michael West Media got involved. Dr Sarah Russell reports.

They should call it MMP not MMT, Modern Monetary Practice, not Modern Monetary Theory. It is happening now. They are creating new money, and in a speech last week, Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank endorsed and explained it. Michael West reports on the debate over MMT and how it is being used to soften the impact of recession.

The numbers are in — the Trump-Radical Republican response has been great for corporations and the one-percenters, not so good for Americans, writes DCReport editor-in-chief, David Cay Johnston.

The government has tossed $130 billion at business, the corporate largesse is dripping all over the big end of town. Even highly profitable $8 billion property developers such as Mirvac are rolling in the free money, yet when it comes to Virgin Australia they are being all punctilious about “letting the market sort it out”. Michael West reports on the future of Virgin.

The cuff-linked bottom-feeders are now preying over the carcass of Virgin Australia, 10,000 jobs are on the line, government is dithering and Qantas circles, the famishing spectre of a monopoly in its sights. This is not about bailing out Virgin, it’s about bailing out the banks.

Toll road behemoth Transurban pays no tax and controls 18 toll roads. How sustainable is this suite of tolling monopolies? Michael West investigates. Tollroad monopoly Transurban got itself in a spot of bother last week for jacking up its tolls during the misery of...

Small investors on the ASX are being ripped off again by Wall Street investment banks, writes shareholder activist Stephen Mayne. This time, it’s a sneaky tweak to the rules governing how companies raise new capital, and right now, there are a lot of companies raising new capital, or dying to …

Donald Trump’s biographer and Pulitzer Prize winner David Cay Johnston investigates the US stimulus plan and finds, unless a lot more is done, the country faces depression.

Before the coronavirus, property market pundits were tipping their usual, regulation, 10% rise in house prices. They have been quiet in recent days. Callum Foote reports on the impact of the virus on an already weak economy, racking up the present crisis against the...

Alan Joyce is a canny operator. As the ravages of the coronavirus began to hit the airline hard, the Qantas boss announced he would take no salary for the rest of the year; no salary for the rest of the financial year that is. Who will the Government bail out?

Australia’s economic growth improves, but hold the champagne. Economic headwinds? Not really. Economy stronger than the OECD, Europe, Canada and the UK? Errr … no. Strong jobs growth? Sorry, no. Alan Austin runs his ruler over the latest quarterly accounts.

Australia now has a record number of underemployed workers, and total hours worked per person per month are also at an all-time low. Alan Austin reports on the latest job data which augurs for what many believe will be a dreadful week for the Government as a slew of economic data is about to be released.