The Dismal Science

The Reserve Bank keeps hiking and there's more to go Governor Lowe says. But with protesters hitting Martin Place, will the bank be able to withstand the public pressure to slow up? Plus, Australian GDP keeps growing despite the cost pressures, job ads are up again and we talk about the persistence of inequality in Communist China.

Fed Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has promised to 'keep at it' raising interest rates, house prices in Australia are falling, we take a look at the ideas from the Jobs Summit, and the future of Ethereum.

Australia's flash Purchasing Managers' Index has fallen into contractionary territory. Is it a sign of a slowdown to come? Plus, we preview this week's Jackson Hole monetary policy jamboree.

The latest data out of China shows the slowdown deepening. The People's Bank of China has bucked the trend in the rest of the world by cutting interest rates. Will Chinese authorities also be forced to reconsider their zero covid stance? Plus, Australian unemployment falls again but wages remain sluggish and UK inflation hits double digits.

As tensions increase between China and Taiwan, we look at the risks for the global economy. Plus, business and consumer confidence continue to diverge and US inflation eases.

The IMF says the outlook for global growth is increasingly gloomy and uncertain, Australia's productivity growth is its lowest in 60 years, the Reserve Bank continues to hike rates and the US is in recession. We're not called The Dismal Science for nothing.

Is the situation in Sri Lanka a harbinger of an emerging market debt crisis? We look at the pressure emerging markets face from rising costs and interest rates. Plus, we catch up on the extraordinary unemployment result for June, the RBA review and the mortgage boycott in China.

Who should be on the Reserve Bank board? Economists are calling for more, uh, economists. But is monetary policy an entirely technocratic endeavour? Or should the views from businesspeople and workers be represented? Plus, retail sales are holding up, a call to arms from the central bankers' central bank and Russia's debt default.

The market has the cash rate in Australia at 3.6% by year's end, up from the current 0.85%. This would be the sharpest tightening in three decades. RBA Governor Lowe thinks this is unlikely but concedes the market has had a better record than the bank at forecasting rates. So who is right? And can the economy handle it? Plus, iron ore plummets and NSW takes on stamp duty.

A bit going on. The Fed is tightening, markets are freaking, crypto is collpasing. Are we headed for a global recession? While at home, will the Fair Work Commission's decision to raise the minimum wage fuel inflation?