Off the Charts // Economics
A picture tells a thousand words and Off the Charts is where you’ll find the charts and graphs that tell the most interesting stories. Across all the areas the Australia Institute covers, we give you the pictures that help you understand what is really going on in the world.
The number of people working multiple jobs hits another record
For the sixth consecutive quarter a record number of people are working more than one job
OECD confirms that inflation has been mostly driven by corporate profits
In the debate over what is driving inflation – the OECD has looked at 15 nations across the world and found that in Australia and most other nations, the answer is profits
With the Budget predicting a bad year ahead the RBA should not raise rates next week
Whenever Australia’s GDP per capita has gone backwards through a year Australia has been in recession or nearly so. And right now the Budget expects that to happen in 2023-24.
May 2023
HECS/HELP debt for low income earners is set to increase due to indexation
The indexation of HECS/HELP debt this year will leave people earning less than $62,000 with a bigger debt even after their repayments.
As profits rise, workers continue to be the ones reducing inflation
While record company profits are dismissed as “short-term” workers continue to suffer ongoing falls in real wages
The RBA raised rates in March and May despite its own analysis saying they were not needed
The Reserve Bank’s own research showed that raising rates after February would only increase unemployment, not lower inflation
Surging mining sector profits are distorting Australia’s economy.
Profits in the mining sector are surging, but output is not – and the increased prices come at a cost to the rest of the economy
How the public is kept in the dark about what consultants tell the government
Less than 20% of consultants’ reports to government are published
The latest enterprise agreements show public sector workers are being hurt by wage caps
Stronger wage growth in the private sector is good news, but public sector workers continue to be left behind
It’s not just mining – non-mining profits have also driven inflation
As the Reserve Bank continues to raise rates, it continues to misread the nature of inflation that is being driven largely by profits.
April 2023
The Stage 3 tax cuts are so geared towards the rich that most workers will pay more tax in 2025 than they did in 2022
Losing the low-middle income tax offset and getting the Stage 3 tax cuts will leave most workers worse off
March 2023
Ignore the fears from the gas industry, Australia has more than enough gas
Once again the gas industry is crying wolf and telling us we need more gas to prevent shortages. But if you read beyond the scare quotes today’s report from Australia’s Energy Market Operator report shows we already have more than enough gas.
December 2022
New data shows how important funding public services is for reducing inequality
Public services massively reduce inequality, but the Stage 3 tax cuts will make it much more difficult to fund them
The latest data shows the urgent need for more public housing
As approvals for public sector housing hit 2 year lows, the ambition for more public housing needs to be even greater than the government’s 20,000 in 5 years target.
November 2022
Stronger wages growth from enterprise agreements, strongest from unions
The latest wage rises from enterprise agreements show good improvement, but overall, workers continue to see their wages lag behind inflation
Business groups say they want higher wages, but their actions show the opposite
Business groups like the ACCI and AI Group say they want higher wages, but their recommendations for minimum wage rises show they rarely want real wages to rise
Not even the Liberal Party can defend the Stage 3 tax cut on its own merit
In defending the Stage 3 tax cuts in parliament, Angus Taylor inadvertently highlighted the real benefits for low-middle income earners comes from Stages 1 and 2.
Some small signs of better wage rises
The latest enterprise agreements figures show small signs of wage growth and once again the benefits of being in a union
Latest RBA estimates show real wages in 2023 will be where they were in 2008
A third of Australia’s biggest companies paid no tax in 2020-21
In 2020-21 the biggest companies in Australia were able to reduce their taxable income to just 12% of their total income
The RBA talks tough about low-rising wages but not soaring profits
Wages are rising within the RBA’s target band of inflation but profits are soaring 7 times that rate. And yet the RBA is more concerned with rising wages than profits
October 2022
The Stage 3 tax cuts will be responsible for up to 42% of the Budget deficit
The Stage 3 tax cuts are not just unfair, they create a massive hole in the budget
The Budget reveals the failure of the PRRT
Right now the gas industry is booming, but the Petroleum Resource Rent Tax is not.
Rental prices are going up fast across Australia
People around Australia have been seeing the advertised prices of rents increasing, now the inflation figures are catching up.
The Budget shows the big hole in Real Wages
The Government acknowledges the need to get wages growing again, but the budget reveals just how big the task is
Worrying signs of weak wages growth
Australia’s tax system is failing to deliver the benefits of the gas boom
Norway shows how Australia can get a fair return from oil and gas
Australia’s and Norway’s economies both have massively profitable resource industries, but Norwegians receive a much larger and fairer share
After the Stage 3 tax cuts only the top 10% highest paying occupations will be better off
The Stage 3 tax cuts will only balance out the tax increase from the end of the low-middle income tax offset for those earning above $97,000
Low and middle income earners about to be hit with a massive tax increase
The end of the Low-Middle Income Tax Offset will deliver a tax increase of up to $1,500 for people earning under $90,000 – a 3% tax rise for someone on $50,000
Curated by
Off the Charts is curated by the Centre for Future Work’s Labour market and Fiscal policy director Greg Jericho.
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