The government of low interest rates hasn't done notably well in comparison to other western economies, writes Peter Browne.

One recent means of addressing the supposed asymmetry of knowledge between finance providers and consumers has been the introduction of mandatory comparison rates, which calculate the total cost of a fixed term loan, including interest and all fees and charges. Scott Ewing looks at Australian overseas research on schemes of this type and reports on...

The recent decision by the Reserve Bank of Australia to increase interest rates following seventeen months of unchanged, historically low rates has generated interest in the impact of this decision on the approximately 32 per cent of Australian households with mortgages. It has also prompted speculation about further rate rises in the next few months.

Under the National Drought Policy, created in 1992, federal government support for farmers comes predominantly in two forms: interest rate subsidies and a special welfare payment. Support under these programs is only available to farmers in defined areas which have been declared to be experiencing 'exceptional circumstances'. In this paper Bruce Chapman and Linda Botterill...

This Note provides an estimate of the present average value of home loan mortgages and indicates the strong growth in new mortgage values over the second half of the 1990s to the year 2000. It also examines the variation between States in mortgage values and the link between interest rate changes and home loan repayments.