Twelve of Australia's prominent economists penned an open letter to the new Treasurer Jim Chalmers about what they want to see in the promised review of the Reserve Bank of Australia. Renee Fry-McKibbin, Professor of Economics at the ANU's Crawford School of Public policy and interim director explains why this review is so important to get right.

RBA review; infrastructure spend and improving public service delivery

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This year’s Budget tries to do several things at once. In the short term it offers cost-of-living relief but tries not to contribute to inflation. In the longer term it departs from decades of economic orthodoxy by picking industries to invest in.  Specifically, green hydrogen and critical minerals.   

But will it work? And how responsible is it? Three of the country’s leading economists offer their views.

Guests:

Shane Oliver, Chief Economist, AMP

Richard Holden, Professor of Economics, UNSW Business School

Luci Ellis, Chief Economist, Westpac Banking Group

Marking the Treasurer’s work: Three leading economists discuss the federal budget.

Australians have a sleeping problem. The most conservative estimates show one in 10 have a sleep disorder, which is having an impact on their safety, wellbeing and productivity.

This ends up costing almost a $1 billion a week. And that’s not all. The total cost of inadequate sleep is thought to be as high as $75 billion a year.

We’re not alone either. International research shows places like the US, the UK and Europe are facing similar problems, with similar costs.

Guests:

Shanthakumar Rajaratnam, Chair of the Sleep Health Foundation

Professor Ron Grunstein, The Woolcock Institute 

Wendy Troxel, The Rand Corporation

Zafina Ademi, Professor of Health Economics, Monash University

The Sleepless Economy: The High Costs of Losing Shut Eye

You don’t need to be paying too much attention to be aware that economic growth matters.

Growth is central to economics. And growth of the last 60 years has delivered. We’ve seen a rise in prosperity, and developments in health and education.

But the pursuit of growth has also had consequences.

In his new book Growth: A Reckoning, Daniel Susskind explores the tension between the positives and negatives created by the pursuit of growth.

Guest:

Daniel Susskind, Research Professor in Economics at King’s College London

Global Growth: The Benefits vs The Consequences

Research shows loneliness costs the Australian economy $2.7 billion per year or $1565 per person.

The World Health Organisation has also declared loneliness to be a global health concern. And it’s estimated loneliness has an equivalent health impact on the body to smoking 15 cigarettes a day.

Before the pandemic older Australians were found to be the loneliest in the nation. But now the data now shows this has shifted and younger Australians are the feeling the effects of being alone and isolated.

Technology has allowed us to be more connected than before, but has all this left us lonelier than ever?

Guests:

Andrew Dempster, Principal Director & Leader of the National Mental Health Advisory Business, KPMG

Roger Wilkins, Professorial Fellow at Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, and Co-Director of the HILDA Survey

Liesel Sharabi, from the Hugh Downs School of Human Communication at Arizona State University.

Lixia Qu, Senior Research Fellow at the Australian Institute of Family Studies.

All By Myself: The Economics of Loneliness.

The growth of cyber-crime is considered to be the biggest challenge facing Australian businesses.

Collectively cyber-attacks cost the economy $42 billion dollars last year, with ransomware the most disruptive type of hack, costing $3 billion.

So what is the government doing? And what can organisations do, both to lower their risk of attack, and if the hackers succeed in accessing their systems?

Guests

Nick Espinosa, Chief Security Fanatic, Security Fanatics

Dr Jay Jeong, Senior Research Fellow, University of Melbourne

Dr David Tuffley, Senior Lecturer in Cyber Security, Griffith University

David Cullen, National Director of Advocacy, CISO Lens

Abi Bradshaw, Head of the Australian Signals Directorates Cyber Security Centre

RBA review; infrastructure spend and improving public service delivery

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