ABC News Daily

Has a housing bubble ever burst without devastating pain across the economy and society? 

New Zealand is in a recession and home values are more than 17 per cent lower than the post-COVID peak. In Ireland, a massive house price surge and crash in the 2000s saw house prices in Dublin more than half. 

So, does Australia need a crash and what would that mean for all of us? 

Some economists think recessions are needed occasionally to reset the economy. In this episode ABC business editor Michael Janda explains how a shock wave would ripple through the economy if the housing bubble bursts. 

Is the medicine worth the pain? 

How did Australia go from a place where most middle-class people could own their own house, to one where even a small apartment is out of reach for so many? 

You can pick your villain. Is it immigrants, investors, Howard and Costello, the big banks, or something else? 

In this episode, ABC business editor Michael Janda identifies the key moments and policies that cemented property as a lucrative investment, creating a mismatch in supply and demand and sending house prices to extraordinarily high levels. 

Imagine it’s 2050 and the housing bubble in Australia never burst. Where do we live, how do we pay for it and what is day to day life like?

Exorbitant home prices not only keep Australians in the crowded and expensive rental market, but they also change life plans and society. 

In this episode, ABC business editor Michael Janda explains why housing crisis is the country’s biggest issue. It locks people into debt, delays retirement, creates stress and insecurity, contributes to falling birth rates and exacerbates inequalities between the generations. 

We’re hostage to housing. 

Housing has become a dream for investors and a nightmare for those struggling to get a slice of the pie. We find ourselves increasingly mired in a debt trap at both an individual and economy-wide level. 

This is Housing Hostages; a five-part series from ABC News Daily. With the help of ABC business editor Michael Janda, we’ll get to the heart of the housing crisis and explain why we’re all hostage to housing. 

Imagine owning dozens of properties at once. In this episode, investing expert Margaret Lomas explains how climbing the property ladder over decades delivered her housing and financial security. We meet desperate first home buyers and explain why emulating Margaret’s property success is now impossible. 

In this series, we’ll scrutinise the possible culprits for this crisis and look at how our housing fortunes influence everything from birth rates to retirement plans. Is it time for the housing bubble to burst and what lessons are there from overseas about what happens next?

Finally, we examine the supply solution that so many vested interests reach for and ask; what really needs to be done to boost the supply of housing and dampen demand for it, to try to make things just a little bit better?   

It was Donald Trump’s first cabinet meeting of his second term, sitting at a table with his controversial picks, all dressed in suits and smiling for the cameras.

But it was a man dressed all in black, wearing a T-shirt, jeans and a black MAGA cap who dominated the room. 

Elon Musk is the man of the moment, as he goes about slashing government spending and jobs. 

Today, Tom Nichols, staff writer at The Atlantic, on what Musk and Trump are really trying to achieve. 

Featured: 

Tom Nichols, staff writer at The Atlantic

At 4.1 percent, Australia has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the world.

That should mean that most people who want a job, have a job. 

But for anyone looking to switch jobs or climb up the ladder it’s really hard. 

Experienced professionals who have decades of experience are being overlooked for cheaper, younger talent. 

Today, business reporter Nassim Khadem on why job hunting’s become like online dating, where hirers ‘ghost’ applicants. 

Featured: 

Nassim Khadem, ABC business reporter

US President Donald Trump insists that Russian leader Vladimir Putin would allow peacekeepers into Ukraine as part of a deal to end the war.

But how would that work and would it be risky having soldiers from European nations on Russia’s doorstep?

Today, Russia expert Matthew Sussex on the three-year anniversary and what version of peace the US and Russian leaders are aiming for. 

Featured: 

Matthew Sussex, associate professor at the Centre for European Studies at the Australian National University

Labor and the opposition are in furious agreement, each committing to boost funding for Medicare to stop the decline in the number of GPs bulk billing.

But what was behind the fall in the first place and can $8.5 billion fix it? 

Today, health economist Stephen Duckett on how the bulk billing incentive policy could work and whether your GP is about to offer bulk billing. 

Featured:

Stephen Duckett, Honorary Enterprise Professor in the School of Population and Global Health at the University of Melbourne

You’ve heard of IVF, now scientists are working on the next generation of reproductive technology, called IVG or in vitro gametogenesis. 

It’s technology to produce eggs and sperm in a lab, possibly from just the skin cells of a prospective parent. 

It would, in theory, allow three people to create a baby or even just one person, alone. 

Today, Dr Alexandra Harvey, a senior research scientist with Melbourne IVF on the science behind it and the ethical dilemmas it will bring.

Featured: 

Dr Alexandra Harvey, senior research scientist at Melbourne IVF

Donald Trump declared Ukraine had started the war with Russia and labelled its leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a dictator. 

Trump’s vice president JD Vance has thrown his support behind far-right parties in Germany.

At the same time, talks on ending the war in Ukraine began with only the US and Moscow at the table. 

It was a week where we saw an extraordinary shift in American foreign policy, which led to European leaders holding crisis talks. 

Today, Samir Puri, director of Chatham House’s centre for global governance and security on how it all unfolded and the consequences that could follow.  

Featured: 

Dr Samir Puri, Director of the Centre for Global Governance and Security at Chatham House and author of Westlessness: The Great Global Rebalancing