The Dismal Science

As the global economy goes into freefall, policymakers are faced with a dilemma: how do they slow activity enough to halt the spread of coronavirus, while at the same time providing enough stimulus to keep the economy going.

Mark and Ivan discuss how bad the coronavirus crisis could get, what the impact might be on GDP and whether there is hope for flattening the curve.

Are there any positives to take from the latest GDP numbers? Is the RBA about to embark on QE? And is the property market back?

With Mark back from holidays, we catch up on the RBA's historic rate cut early this month and do a Nobel edition of the number of the week.

Special guest Jamie Smyth of the Financial Times helps Mark and Ivan make sense of the Brexit omnishambles.

This episode was recorded on 4 September, the day after Boris Johnson's government lost its majority in the House of Commons and the morning of the start of the fourth Ashes test.

What the hell is an inverted yield curve and should we be worried?

This episode was recorded on 22 August.

Finally, we are back!

New AICD chief economist Mark Thirlwell joins Ivan to talk about why Mark fell in love with economics, the US-China trade war, whether the RBA has failed and the AICD's number of the week.

This comeback episode was recorded on 8 August.

Stephen and Ivan catch up on the budget and discuss the fragile Chinese economy.

In the first episode of the year, Stephen and Ivan catch up on the 'boomy' November retail sales and the surprising midyear budget review.

In this episode, recorded in early December, Stephen and Ivan look ahead to 2018. Will the Reserve Bank continue to stay its hand? Will wages growth finally pick up? And what's the outlook for the Australian and global economies?