Podcasts
March 2024
Too good to be true? Employment spike exceeds expectations
Unemployment dropped in a big way in February, so is the Australian economy now out of the woods?
The end of capitalism with Yanis Varoufakis
Capitalism is dying, but not in the way you might think.
Housing is so bad that 2020 prices look good…
Housing prices have risen so much in Australia that 2020 prices look almost reasonable.
Great expectations: will Australia walk the talk on climate change?
The Albanese government came to power with big expectations around climate action, but are the government’s actions falling short of their rhetoric?
GDPitiful
Australia’s recent gross domestic product (GDP) figures show that the economy is weak and people are struggling to keep up. So what can the federal government – and the Reserve Bank – do to help? Greg Jericho is Chief Economist at the Australia Institute and the Centre for Future Work and popular columnist of Grogonomics
Robodebt, repeated? How government is failing the nation on climate
The ‘robodebt’ debacle was a shameful episode for the federal government, but was it an anomaly? Our guest today says the same behaviours that enabled robodebt have been playing out for decades in our climate policymaking and questions whether the government has appetite to implement its proposed integrity reforms. australiainstitute.org.au // @theausinstitute Guest: Polly Hemming, Director,
A Bad Case of Gas
The gas industry likes to tell us it’s vital to the Australian economy. But when people are paying more in GST for Taylor Swift merch than many companies are paying in company income tax per year, and the government collects more from HECS than the PRRT, you know something is seriously wrong. Greg Jericho is
February 2024
The Push to Stop Pork Barrelling
Independent MP Helen Haines has introduced a bill to Parliament designed to prevent pork-barreling, where taxpayer money is allocated according to where it is needed to win votes, not where the public needs it most. This was recorded on Tuesday 27th February 2024 and things may have changed since recording. australiainstitute.org.au // @theausinstitute Guest: Bill Browne,
Wages are up! And, why non-compete clauses are bad for the economy
Wages are up over the past year, for the first time since 2021! Which means your real wage has increased as well, but by a small amount. Also this week, the Bureau of Statistics looked at restraint clauses, or non-compete clauses. So what do they mean for workers, and the economy as a whole? Lower
Tasmanian State Election Announced
Tasmania is heading to an election – 14 months early. Tasmania is retuning the size of its lower house from 25 seats to 35 seats at this election and multiple polls have predicted the result will be a minority government, so this is shaping up be a particularly interesting contest. This was recorded on Tuesday
How John Howard Ruined Housing
The Right to Disconnect is attracting criticism from business groups and others, saying it will reduce productivity. Well, it won’t. And do they mean productivity, or profits? Also, how negative gearing and the capital gains tax discount delivered massive tax breaks to the rich at the expense of affordable housing for the rest of Australia.
The Right to Disconnect
Federal Parliament is set to pass new industrial relations laws, including the ‘right to disconnect.’ This means that workers will legally be able to ignore calls outside of work hours. This was recorded on Tuesday 13th February 2024 and things may have changed since recording. australiainstitute.org.au // @theausinstitute Guest: Dr Jim Stanford, Director, the Centre for
New Look RBA, New Direction?
With Michele Bullock at the helm of the RBA, there’s change in the air. But do the changes extend below surface level? Where do they think inflation is going, and what about those pesky interest rates? Join us as we dive into the latest monetary news. Greg Jericho is Chief Economist at the Australia Institute
The Great Gas Rort: Fixing the Petroleum Resources Rent Tax
Every year, the Commonwealth collects more revenue from HECS than it gets from the Petroleum Resource Rent Tax. The PRRT is so weak that gas companies love it! Mark Ogge explains the Government’s proposed changes, and how we can fix it to tax our gas companies fairly. This was recorded on Tuesday 6th February 2024
Inflation seems to be under control…what now?
The latest CPI figures show inflation has fallen, hopefully putting an end to interest rate rises for the moment. But does that mean the economy is healthy now, or is there more to it? Greg Jericho is Chief Economist at the Australia Institute and the Centre for Future Work and popular columnist of Grogonomics with
Stage 3 Tax Cuts reform: “The biggest and most honest piece of tax reform in decades”
It’s been a week for the books in Australian Politics history, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announcing changes to the highly-criticised Stage 3 tax cuts. Which got the media, and the opposition, into a bit of a frenzy. So what’s changed, and how will it affect you? This was recorded on Tuesday 30th January 2024
January 2024
Stage 3 tax cuts are Dead, Long Live (the Improved) Stage 3 tax cuts
The (old) Stage 3 tax cuts are dead. Long live the (revised and much improved) Stage 3 tax cuts. Some may cry ‘broken promises’ but it’s a bit hard to make an impact with that argument when the broken promise gives most people more money in their pocket. Greg Jericho is Chief Economist at the
Brace yourselves… US Election 2024
With the Iowa Republican caucus over, the starting gun on the 2024 US Election has fired, with the promise of a dramatic election year, and democracy itself on the ballot. This was recorded on Tuesday 23rd January 2024 and things may have changed since recording. australiainstitute.org.au // @theausinstitute Guest: Dr Emma Shortis, Senior Researcher, International &
Can Anything Dent the Housing Market?
It’s quite amazing how nothing – not a pandemic, not rising interest rates – seems to do much to dampen the housing market. Amazing, that is, unless you forget that the entire focus of political pressure over the past 40 years or so has been designed to keep house prices from falling, or even abating.
The War On Waste with Craig Reucassel | Summer Series
Our summer podcast series brings you some of the best conversations from our webinars and live events in 2023. 7 years ago, The ABC’s groundbreaking environmental series War On Waste firmly placed the nation’s attention on Australia’s waste issues and solutions. The new season investigated recycling in Australia, brought to light new waste topics, challenged
Heat: Life and Death on a Scorched Planet with Jeff Goodell | Summer Series
Our summer podcast series brings you some of the best conversations from our webinars and live events in 2023. Extreme heat is the most direct and deadly consequence of our hellbent consumption of fossil fuels. It is a first order threat that drives all other impacts of the climate crisis. And as the temperature rises,
Aussies Love a Bargain – What Retail Figures Show
Today Greg’s taking a look at retail figures over the past month, and what they say about our spending habits. Also, how much stuff from the 1980s could you buy today? Greg Jericho is Chief Economist at the Australia Institute and the Centre for Future Work and popular columnist of Grogonomics with Guardian Australia. In
Global Financial Crisis 15 Years On: What Have We Learned? with Wayne Swan | Summer Series
Our summer podcast series brings you some of the best conversations from our webinars and live events in 2023. On 15 September 2008 came the collapse of Lehmann Brothers, the largest bankruptcy in US history. This set off a chain reaction and had a massive impact on the Australia financial system and economy. Across the
Ending Native Forest Logging with Bob Brown | Summer Series
Our summer podcast series brings you some of the best conversations from our webinars and live events in 2023. Australia’s native forests are not only home to some of our most vulnerable and threatened species, they hold critical cultural and ecological value. While native forest logging is being phased out in Western Australia and Victoria,
Truth on Trial: War Crimes and Whistleblowers | Summer Series
Our summer podcast series brings you some of the best conversations from our webinars and live events in 2023. The first person will face trial in relation to Australian war crimes in Afghanistan is David McBride, the whistleblower on trial, not an alleged war criminal. On the eve of David McBride’s trial, a distinguished panel
Isabella Weber: The Economics and Politics of Seller’s Inflation | Summer Series
Our summer podcast series brings you some of the best conversations from our webinars and live events in 2023. What if we’re thinking about inflation wrong? Join renowned economist Isabella Weber, Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst for a discussion about the economics and politics of seller’s inflation. This was recorded
December 2023
Profits v Wages, what’s driving inflation? – Rerun | Summer Series
Our summer podcast series brings you some of the best conversations from our webinars and live events in 2023. This episode, we’re listening back to one of our most popular episodes from the year with our Executive Director Richard Denniss, digging into the cycle of corporate profits, inflation, and low wages. This was recorded on
The Great Divide: Australia’s Housing Mess and How to Fix It | Summer Series
Our summer podcast series brings you some of the best conversations from our webinars and live events in 2023. One of the great mysteries of Australian life is that a land of sweeping plains, with one of the lowest population densities on the planet, has a shortage of land for houses. As a result, Sydney’s
A Penny-Pinching Christmas – 2023 Wrap-Up
2023 was a big year in economics, with inflation and the cost of living crisis dominating the headlines. Greg is taking a look back at the year, and how the economy shaped our lives in 2023. Greg Jericho is Chief Economist at the Australia Institute and the Centre for Future Work and popular columnist of
Politics in the Pub: End of Year Wrap | Summer Series
Our summer podcast series brings you some of the best conversations from our webinars and live events in 2023. This year has been a doozy in Australian politics, and we need to talk about it. We invited a panel of distinguished press gallery journalists along to our Politics in the Pub live event, to give
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