Australia and New Zealand can cut themselves off from the world if they want to,but they are condemning themselves to eventual poverty.
Today on Please Explain economics editor Ross Gittins joins Jess Irvine to discuss the adequacy of support for people whose incomes have been affected by COVID-19.
Before lockdowns were imposed on the nation’s largest state economies,the RBA believed an economic rebound was on the cards.
Small businesses want a national approach to rent relief,including federal government-backed loans to help repay their accumulated debt to landlords.
Pandemic lockdowns over the past 9 weeks have already dealt a $17b hit to the economy and Australians are becoming increasingly reliant on government support.
Governor Philip Lowe says the economy will shrink in the September quarter due to the latest lockdowns before rebounding in the final three months of the year,making a recession “quite unlikely”.
The number of people on business payrolls has tumbled across Sydney as the city’s lockdown drags on,with fears the impact will widen to the rest of the country.
Sydney’s economy made an impressive recovery after last year’s lockdown but as the Delta crisis deepens will the bounce back be so strong this time around?
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has warned the nation could fall into a second recession if the Greater Sydney lockdown failed to contain the coronavirus outbreak.
Major banks are warning up to 300,000 jobs in Sydney will be lost due to extended lockdowns,as prices for staples rise at double the rate of wages growth.
Childcare prices have soared 20-fold in Sydney alone over the past year. But it’s just another sign the pandemic is still roiling the economy.