Global Economy
Free trade deal: Did Australia just breach Japan's protectionist fortress?
For a trade deal that Prime Minister Abbott says is the most significant since the 1957 post war-trade pact with Japan, there seems to be a lot of whinging.
The trade minister…
Reports
Think20 2014: Progress report on Australia’s G20 presidency
Leading analysts from influential think tanks from 11 countries across the world provide their interim assessment of the Australian G20 presidency in this report. They all…
What Abbott's business delegation can learn in Japan, Korea and China
Prime Minister Abbott's team for his current visit to Japan, South Korea and China is certainly business-heavy. So too was his warm-up speech, which one observer suggested might…
The three arrows of Abenomics: A report card
Today the Japanese value-added tax (VAT: what Australians call the GST) rises from 5% to 8%. This seemingly mundane event is a key part of the 'Abenomics' program, the effort to…
G20: BRICS muscle up over Russia
The good news is that the odds are clearly in favour of the Brisbane G20 Summit going ahead: Sportsbet is offering $1.05 that the Summit will be held and $8.00 that it won't. The…
Two recent reports on poverty
First, the Chronic Poverty Report 2014-15, produced by the Chronic Poverty Advisory Network and published by ODI.
The report focuses on the policies needed to get to zero extreme…
Why China is unlikely to have a 'Lehman moment'
Financial markets are worried about the Chinese financial sector, with some even talking about the possibility of a 'Lehman moment', which would set off a major financial…
Japan transfers weapons grade plutonium and highly enriched uranium to US
As the Nuclear Security Summit meets in The Hague this week, Japanese Prime Minister Abe and US President Obama have jointly announced that Japan will transfer all plutonium and…
Reports
G20 2014: perspectives from business, civil society, labour, think tanks and youth
G20 engagement partners from Business (B20), Civil Society (C20), Labour (L20), Think Tanks (T20) and Youth (Y20) have each provided a contribution for this issue of the Monitor…
Is the IMF a political football in the Ukraine crisis?
The way they were. Yanukovich and Strauss Kahn in 2010.
Ukraine faces an economic crisis as well as a political one. Its economy is a mess and it will take a lot of money and…