News, media releases, opinions and articles from the Centre for Future Work.
The Reserve Bank’s decision to raise rates shows a total lack of coherency
Wages growth is rising slowly and inflation is falling faster than expected, and yet the RBA decided to hit the economy again with another rate rise. Yesterday the Reserve Bank shocked markets and most economists by raising the cash rate to 3.85%. But it didn’t just contradict outside observers, it contradicted the views of the…
7% Minimum Wage Rise Would Tackle Inflation, not Feed it: Research
A 7% National Minimum Wage rise for low paid workers would help tackle the rising cost of living for those on award wages while having a virtually undetectable impact on economy-wide prices, new research from leading economists at the Centre for Future Work has found.
Key Points:
The national mi…
Latest inflation figures show the RBA was right not to raise rates in April
Inflation is falling steadily but hitting low-income households the most. The March quarter consumer price index figures showed a 7.0% annual rise, however as Policy Director, Greg Jericho, notes in his Guardian Australia column, the monthly inflation figures that were also released on Wednesday showed annual growth had fallen to 6.3%. This fall was down…
The Stage 3 tax cuts are bad economics combined with terrible politics. They should be dumped.
The Stage 3 tax cuts were always bad, but with the removal of the low-middle income tax offset, they become a terrible political strategy as well During the 2022 election campaign the ALP in a desperate and misguided move to avoid being wedged, agreed to implement the horrendously inequitable Stage 3 tax cuts. But, as…
Wealth inequality across generations will only fuel voter disenchantment
Millennials are not becoming more conservative as they age – and the rigged housing market is just one reason why While income inequality is an often discussed topic, wealth inequality is just as pernicious though often less discussed issue. Worse still the inequality of wealth across generations has lasting impacts for people into retirement. Policy…
With the impact of rate rises still to come the RBA is wise to pause
Perhaps as much as a third of the rate rises since April have yet to fully hit the economy Since April the Reserve Bank has increased the cash rate by 350 basis points from 0.1% to 3.60% – the fastest and largest increase since the late 1980s. But as policy director Greg Jericho notes in…