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Showing 221 - 230 of 2991 results for Benjamin Ong

Chief economist update: Good US employment news is not so good

BENJAMIN ONG  |  MONDAY, 10 AUG 2020
There's good news and bad news in the US labour market report for July. First, the good news: The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that total non-farm payrolls rose by 1.8 million in July - more than market expectations for an increase ...

Chief economist update: Escape from Victoria

BENJAMIN ONG  |  FRIDAY, 7 AUG 2020
It's that time of the year when many Victorians escape the winter chill for the warmer climate of its northern neighbour - notably, Queensland (where it's "beautiful one day, perfect the next")... and in the current setting, coronavirus-free. ...

Chief economist update: The V in recovery

BENJAMIN ONG  |  THURSDAY, 6 AUG 2020
Were it not for the "second wave" now doing the rounds in a number of cities around the world, the letter "V" would now be standing for "victory" against the war on COVID-19. The gradual easing of restrictions has unfrozen social and business activity ...

Chief economist update: The RBA's lullaby

BENJAMIN ONG  |  WEDNESDAY, 5 AUG 2020
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) delivered what every rational individual expected it to. At the conclusion of its August 4 meeting, the board of the Australian central bank kept monetary policy settings unchanged - the official cash rate at a historic ...

Chief economist update: Could COVID-19 dissenters be correct?

BENJAMIN ONG  |  TUESDAY, 4 AUG 2020
"I see dead people." - The Sixth Sense Coronavirus conspiracy theorists and/or "sovereigns"-- those who refuse to obey government advice and/or restrictions for one reason/cause/principle or another - are getting a bad rap lately. Correction, they've ...

Chief economist update: It's about human life, not human rights

BENJAMIN ONG  |  MONDAY, 3 AUG 2020
"We are all prisoners here of our own device." - Hotel California, The Eagles Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews declared Victoria in a "State of Disaster" from 6pm on August 2 and imposed Stage 4 restrictions that will run for six weeks (until September ...

Chief economist update: A tiny bug takes down the largest economy

BENJAMIN ONG  |  FRIDAY, 31 JUL 2020
"Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore." - Wizard of Oz Data revealed in the latest US National Accounts gave meaning to declarations that we are living in unprecedented times. Some would be concerned, but most would understand, reading ...

Chief economist update: Cheaper prices not a bargain

BENJAMIN ONG  |  THURSDAY, 30 JUL 2020
Down, down, prices are down... big time! The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reported that the country's headline inflation dropped by 1.9% in the June quarter - the largest quarter on quarter decline in the 72-year history that the statistician ...

Chief economist update: Gold 2000

BENJAMIN ONG  |  WEDNESDAY, 29 JUL 2020
Gold prices have already been on the up and up last year, buoyed by major world central banks' about face towards a more accommodative policy - led by the US Federal Reserve's interest rate cuts (July, September and October 2019). Gold prices ...

Chief economist update: No Karens in China

BENJAMIN ONG  |  TUESDAY, 28 JUL 2020
The difference between Australia and China, my friends, is there are no selfish, stupid "Karens" in China. None that compare to the one in the state of Victoria that has now gone viral, protesting against the mandatory wearing of face masks. Let's ...