Articles from Grattan Blog

Our economic institutions are forecasting policy failure. Governments will have to spend up big to avoid it.

Australia is in for a long and damaging economic slump, unless governments inject substantially more fiscal stimulus.

The track record of OECD Economic Surveys

Between 1972 and 2018, the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) issued 31 Economic Surveys of Australia – about one every 18 months. Each survey suggested policy reforms that the OECD believed would increase economic growth and living standards. How often were their recommendations implemented?

Tax-deductible childcare — the worst of all worlds

Making childcare tax-deductible would be a backward step. Most families, and especially low-income families, would be worse off than under the subsidy. And work disincentives would be even worse than they are now.

8 in 10 hardest-hit federal electorates are now in Victoria

Updated ABS payroll data shows that job losses due to COVID-19 were clearly concentrating in Victoria, even before Stage 3 and 4 restrictions took effect across the state.

Early release of super doesn’t justify higher compulsory contributions

New Grattan Institute modelling shows that most Australians will have a comfortable retirement - even if they’ve spent some of their super early.

Victorians must all share the lockdown load

Victorians in 10 postcodes across Melbourne’s north and west have been ordered back into lockdown. But regaining control of COVID-19 remains the responsibility of all Victorians.

The latest jobs data shows urban electorates are now being hit hardest by COVID-19

Previously hard-hit rural electorates in Queensland and NSW with large tourism industries have regained some jobs, while inner-city electorates are now among the hardest hit.

Job losses caused by COVID-19, electorate by electorate

Coastal electorates that rely heavily on tourism have been hit hardest, and workers in rural and regional electorates have been hit harder than workers in the major capitals.

The modest rise in unemployment hides a much grimmer picture

2.7 million people either lost their jobs or lost hours of work in April. The unemployment rate doesn't capture the scale of COVID's effect on jobs.

Tracking economic uncertainty in the age of COVID-19

A defining feature of the COVID-19 crisis is the uncertainty it’s created. The uncertainty could be very costly for the Australian economy, and will weigh on the economic recovery in Australia until we’re certain we’ve got the virus under control.

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