Global Economy
Rethinking macroeconomics: the missing financial sector
Past posts have examined how monetary policy has adapted since the 2007–08 global crisis and how fiscal policy is still unresolved. But neither monetary nor fiscal policy caused…
The right balance for ocean protection and industrial fishing
When the Convention on the Law of the Sea allowed countries to establish exclusive economic zones, coastal nations claimed 90% of the world’s fisheries. This carried enormous…
‘Economic aggression’: Donald Trump picks a fight with China
The Trump administration’s determination to meet China’s ‘economic aggression’, announced in this week’s National Security Strategy (NSS), is already being portrayed as a striking…
Economic diplomacy brief: The business end of the Foreign Policy White Paper
The official title of the government's latest Foreign Policy White Paper, Opportunity Security Strength, seems to imply that the business prospects in rising Asia have a…
Why GDP grows and people feel worse off
Gross domestic product (GDP) has lost its lustre as a measure of wellbeing. Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz is running a project to explore its shortcomings. The…
Rethinking macro-economics: Fiscal policy
My recent post on rethinking macro-economics argued that monetary policy did all it could (and maybe was overstretched) during the weak recovery from the 2007-2008 crisis. The…
Analyses
The missing middle: A political economy of economic restructuring in Vietnam
Despite impressive economic performance, Vietnam’s strong trade and investment gains have yet to fully overcome the vestiges of its economic past.
Matthew Busch
The ill-advised rush for Australia to strike a trade deal with Indonesia
Negotiations for the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IA-CEPA) entered extra time this week, as negotiators agreed to add an 11th round (the 7th…
The Bitcoin bubble
With Bitcoin trading at more than US$10,000 and suggestions it is not just a technological breakthrough, but also an exemplar of how to get around the failings of the nation state…
Converging approaches on Chinese investment
This article is part of a series for the Australia-UK Asia Dialogue, co-hosted by the Lowy Institute and Ditchley Foundation, and supported by the Department of Foreign Affairs…