Global Economy

The demise of the Australia Network
May should have been a milestone month for Australian international broadcasting, and arguably the most celebratory in the 13-year history of the Australia Network. ABC…
Inequality on the G20 agenda? Obama and the Pope would probably support that
Will Prime Minister Abbott be discussing inequality with fellow G20 leaders when they gather in Brisbane this November?  He would if civil society and the labour movement had…
The analytical intransigence of the real world: Gary Becker (1930-2014)
Economists owe a debt of gratitude to Gary Becker, who passed away on 3 May 2014. In the words of his Nobel Prize citation, Becker 'extended the domain of microeconomic analysis…
What the Vietnam-China standoff means for Australia's foreign investment debate
There is an active dialogue happening here on The Interpreter about the China-Vietnam oil rig confrontation, and I can't add much to the strategic dimensions of the debate. But…
Falafelnomics: Purchasing power in the Middle East
From Forbes: The Big Mac Index – now a golden standard for measuring purchasing power– doesn’t quite size up the region’s economic situation.  This index determines the…
China's economy is #1, so now what?
So China officially becomes #1 in purchasing power parity (PPP) output and that is indeed a BFD. But there is both less and more here than meets the headline, and that's what's…
More on China's GDP and those 'biggest economy in the world' claims
I reported on this last week, using the FT's analysis as a starting point. I noted in my piece that, although the passing of the 'biggest economy in the world' baton to China was…
The other income-equality debate
Rock-star economist Thomas Piketty is getting headlines for his book on income distribution,  mainly focused on disparities within advanced economies. This might be the moment to…
China to overtake US as world's biggest economy this year
So reports the FT. Now, Interpreter readers have been hearing about China's rise for years, so they might be a bit jaded to such news. But try to shake off your lethargy and…
Economic reform: Can China escape its contradictions?
China has made progress implementing the reform agenda of last November's Third Plenum. Private and foreign investors, especially those in Hong Kong, find themselves at the crux…