The focus in current anti-inflation policy on suppressing wage growth, enforcing a permanent reduction in real wages, while ignoring the role of record profits in driving post-pandemic inflation reflects an ahistorical and ideological approach to macroeconomic management, writes Jim Stanford.

This paper describes the trends, variation and determinants of wellbeing over the tumultuous period since COVID-19 first reached Australia and up until October 2022, with a particular focus on changes in economic wellbeing.

This report investigates the history of Australian inflation and policy choices, and provides a counter to the view that low inflation and the current inflation target is acceptable.

ACOSS has released its proposals to restore full employment in Australia for this week’s Jobs and Skills Summit, including a bold plan to reform employment assistance for people unemployed long-term.

This paper highlights areas of policy that will be relevant for addressing current and persistent challenges related to energy markets, climate change, economic policy and inflation.

This paper examines some of the reasons why governments approach inflation the way they do and surveys some recent contributions to the policy debate.

In this paper, the authors make a convincing case that stimulative monetary policy during the global COVID-19 pandemic contributed materially to the inflation surge that followed and which persists today. Equally important, they focus intensively on the various reasons that might have contributed to this...

The distributional consequences of record high profits and record low real wage growth have been widely discussed in Australia recently, but the data presented in this paper suggests that rising profits are now the major driver of inflation.

The recent federal election featured important debate regarding the recent acceleration of inflation in Australia, and whether and how wages should be boosted to keep up with higher prices. This briefing paper reviews the detailed findings of an exit poll regarding wages, prices and the...

The author of this paper argues that recent inflationary pressures have mostly supply-side origins, caused by the COVID-19 crisis, which have been enabled by poor macroeconomic policy choices.

The economic crisis facing the United Kingdom is very different to the 2008 financial crash and the early 1990s recession – which means a very different response is required by the government, argues Gemma Tetlow in this report.

While significant concerns have been raised about the inflationary impacts of a five percent increase in the minimum wage, in reality, the authors of this paper argue that the direct inflationary impact of a five percent increase in all wages is only 1.27 percent, and...

Inflation is rising around the world, the sting in the tail of the pandemic economic stimulus packages unleashed by governments in 2020. This analysis paper examines the implications for prices and wages growth in Australia.

Wages growth in Australia has been sluggish for years, well before the coronavirus pandemic hit the economy. In a Facebook post, Federal Labor claimed that "under Scott Morrison real wages have fallen 2.1 per cent in 12 months, the fastest drop in wages in 20...

In a July 30 tweet, Greens leader Adam Bandt claimed house prices are rising by $1,200 a day, warning that younger workers have been locked out. Is it correct that house prices are rising by $1,200 a day? RMIT ABC Fact Check investigates.

After being overly optimistic with its wage forecasts for years, Federal Treasury is now, according to Labor, predicting that real wages will fall. RMIT ABC Fact Check investigates. The verdict: Mr Albanese is close to the mark.

Economic history teaches us that sharply deteriorating macroeconomic conditions create a vacuum for alternative policy-oriented frameworks to emerge. This paper evaluates the macroeconomic worth of Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) and concludes that adhering to the policy prescriptions of MMT would lead to disastrous macroeconomic consequences...

This paper considers the inflation experience of Australian households in different parts of the income distribution.

This publication provides a multi-perspective and historical overview of the Victorian economy. It is largely based on the most recent release of economic data published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, covering the 2018/19 financial year.

Identifying the causal effect of monetary policy on inflation remains a challenge. Researchers frequently find evidence of a ‘price puzzle’: increases in the policy rate are followed by higher rather than lower inflation.

For the last generation, macroeconomic policy in Australia has been based on the assumption that unemployment must be maintained at a certain minimum level in order to restrain wages and prevent an outbreak of accelerating inflation. Now, after six years of record-low wage growth, this...

In the first leaders' debate of the 2019 election, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has claimed wages growth under the Coalition is at record lows while living costs are rising across the board.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg claims that workers on the minimum wage have fared better under the Coalition than when Labor was last in government.

Jobs and Industrial Relations Minister Kelly O'Dwyer claims that wages have grown steadily over the past decade, rising by 30 per cent and outstripping inflation at 20 per cent.