The government is swimming against the tide on Westpac’s Adani decision

No one is going to make even short-term profits out of the Adani coal mine, with its huge upfront capital investment, unless they get a substantial subsidy from the taxpayer. And the long-term prospects look grim. David Peetz and Georgina Murray (Griffith University) explain that those who argue that Westpac’s decision was “illogical” are swimming against both the financial and technological tides.

Why biased budget forecasts make poor politics

Budget outcomes have continued to surprise because of systematic revenue forecast errors by Treasury, which dwarf actual policy changes in explaining changes to the budget bottom line. These are compounded by the wilful blindness of politicians, happy to use these forecasts to justify avoiding difficult decisions. John Daley and Danielle Wood (Grattan Institute) explain.

WA’s economic mismanagement is not a reason to review how the GST is carved up

The questions in the terms of reference, that the Treasurer has given to the Productivity Commission, were answered almost five years ago by a similar inquiry, which found many of the concerns about the current system were overstated. And, contrary to the Treasurer’s insinuation that “the current approach of horizontal fiscal equalisation creates disincentives for reform”, the previous inquiry concluded there was not enough evidence of efficiency losses in the economy. Saul Easlake (University of Tasmania) explains.

Budget explainer: has there been a blowout in social security and welfare spending?

It is difficult to reach the conclusion that the share of the population receiving social security payments has been increasing significantly, or that spending has been growing at an unsustainable rate relative to the size of the economy. Peter Whiteford (Australian National University) explains.

The need for new housing solutions for low-income groups is clearly a pressing requirement

Growth in the national housing stock has kept pace with population growth for almost a decade. However, the picture differs across state and territory capitals. Official figures (June 2015) reveal there were 154,000 households on state housing authority waiting lists for public housing, but it is likely that the length of these waiting lists underestimates the need for public housing. The need for new housing solutions for low-income groups is clearly a pressing requirement. Gavin Wood (RMIT University) and Rachel Ong (Curtin University) explain.

Mortgage stress isn’t as bad as we are told

The debate about housing affordability has recently drifted into the issue of systemic financial system risk. However, the risk of people not being able to repay their home loans appears small and 

there is no clear case that the household sector has borrowed excessively. 

A lot of the confusion about housing arises because people make inappropriate comparisons. One common mistake is to compare the amount of housing debt with national income - this is highly misleading. Rodney Maddock (

Monash University) explains

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Australian politics explainer: the writing of our Constitution

Ryan Goss (Australian National University) explains the development of Australia's Constitution, its impact at the time, and its relevance to politics today.