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Economics

Three days to lift off

BENJAMIN ONG  |  MONDAY, 14 DEC 2015
While there's still a 20% chance that the Fed could abort lift-off (again), unless conditions severely deteriorate in three days' time, chances are it won't without making a mockery of its "forward guidance".

Belabouring the labour market stats

BENJAMIN ONG  |  FRIDAY, 11 DEC 2015
Measurement and sampling ("rotation") issues suggest that the Australian labour market is definitely not strong as what the seasonally adjusted numbers indicate.

Four steps up, four steps down

BENJAMIN ONG  |  THURSDAY, 10 DEC 2015
Is the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) just toying with monetary policy or what?

Economist says innovation one small part of growth

DARREN SNYDER  |  WEDNESDAY, 9 DEC 2015
The federal government's innovation statement was well received among the financial services industry but there are still gaps to be filled in transforming Australia's fiscal growth according to a chief economist.

Oil slip

BENJAMIN ONG  |  TUESDAY, 8 DEC 2015
Would the removal of OPEC's production ceiling also take away the floor from the price of oil? The equilibrium price of crude - or any commodity for that matter - after all, is driven by the fundamental law of supply and demand.

US Fed cleared for lift-off

BENJAMIN ONG  |  MONDAY, 7 DEC 2015
As fate or coincidence would have it, 16 December marks the beginning and now the coming end of the US Federal Reserve's near zero interest rate policy - precisely seven years.

Did ECB under-deliver or markets over-expect?

BENJAMIN ONG  |  FRIDAY, 4 DEC 2015
Just imagine a world where central bank actions are dictated by their whims and tantrums and not the other way around.

Fairy tales may come true

BENJAMIN ONG  |  THURSDAY, 3 DEC 2015
Did I just type stupid? Oh yeah, the same ones who day in day out, month in month out, quarter in quarter out, warn about the coming Australian recession.

The GFC is still among us: Varoufakis

LAURA MILLAN  |  WEDNESDAY, 2 DEC 2015
Greece's former Finance Minister, Yanis Varoufakis, spoke recently in Sydney and argued that economic unrest in China is a sign that "the GFC is still with us."

ASX jumps "despite" naughty news

BENJAMIN ONG  |  WEDNESDAY, 2 DEC 2015
The S&P/ASX 200 index started the day strong and finished stronger - up 1.9% from its 30 November close. So did the All Ordinaries index - up 1.8%.