Newspaper icon
The latest issue of Financial Standard now available as an e-newspaper
READ NOW

Economics

Household wealth hits record high

ELIZA BAVIN  |  THURSDAY, 17 DEC 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to household wealth hitting a record high as Australians stashed their cash during a year plagued with volatile markets and an economic shutdown.

Chief economist update: Fed acts with inaction

BENJAMIN ONG  |  THURSDAY, 17 DEC 2020
The Fed's final act for the pandemic year 2020 was inaction.

Australia in China's shadow

BENJAMIN ONG  |  WEDNESDAY, 16 DEC 2020
Then again, domestic politics leave the Morrison government with no alternative but to stand its ground against China. But for sure and for certain, China wouldn't be backing down.

Chief economist update: East and west at crossroads

BENJAMIN ONG  |  TUESDAY, 15 DEC 2020
China has continued to tighten the screws on Australia after formally banning the importation of Australian coal. The reason, or reasons, are immaterial.

Chief economist update: An extra mile for a deal

BENJAMIN ONG  |  MONDAY, 14 DEC 2020
All good things must come to an end. Delayed by COVID-19, the UK and European Union have settled on a date for the Brexit transition to end, but what happens if no deal is reached?

Chief economist update: ECB expands PEPP

BENJAMIN ONG  |  FRIDAY, 11 DEC 2020
The European Central Bank has increased the size of its pandemic emergency purchase programme (PEPP) by another ?500 billion ($806.5bn).

Chief economist update: Confidence unlocks Australia's virtuous cycle

BENJAMIN ONG  |  THURSDAY, 10 DEC 2020
The Westpac-Melbourne Institute index of consumer surged to a reading of 112 in December - up by 4.1% from November's read, 48% higher than the low recorded in April of this year and is the best reading in more than a decade.

Chief economist update: Japan's five minutes of sunshine

BENJAMIN ONG  |  WEDNESDAY, 9 DEC 2020
Economic growth has rebounded in Japan but it seems the Japanese government is not entirely convinced that the rebound can be sustained.

Chief economist update: China turns crisis into opportunity

BENJAMIN ONG  |  TUESDAY, 8 DEC 2020
While it's been debunked, the current state of affairs has me thinking of a well known JFK quote; "When written in Chinese, the word 'crisis' is composed of two characters. One represents danger and the other represents opportunity."

Chief economist update: Greed is good

BENJAMIN ONG  |  MONDAY, 7 DEC 2020
While the US economy slows, Wall Street is gaining upward momentum and the worse it gets the better policy responses should be.