Sydney experienced its largest housing supply expansion on record in 2018–19, but research indicates that its impact on housing prices was small relative to other price drivers. This housing supply boom was primarily large apartment buildings. While prices were in decline when these buildings were being completed, this data shows they were sold years before.

Australia’s market-sector labour productivity has steadily fallen behind the United States (US) over the past decade. This research note explores the productivity gap and finds that in addition to lower rates of IP investment in Australia, there is also limited diffusion of US knowledge capital to Australian firms and industries.

This research links the decline in consumer sentiment in Australia to the cumulative, broad-based impact of high inflation on consumer purchasing power. The evidence suggests it is the persistent price pressures, rather than mortgage rates which are driving the pessimism across all household types, suggesting a return to confidence depends on inflation easing back.

Australia’s Baby Bonus, implemented from July 2004, provided a $3,000 payment for each newborn child, aiming to support families and boost fertility rates. Twenty years later, this paper explores whether the Baby Bonus shifted the course of these young people’s lives in a measurable way.