The Economists' Corner

The Federal Budget is less than two weeks away and following widespread public pressure, it’s expected to include a range of items benefiting women. Among the measures the government is said to be considering are expanding access to childcare, and changes to superannuation.

Gabriela D’Souza, Senior Economist at CEDA is joined in this episode by Rebecca Cassells, Deputy Director of Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre and one of the authors of their annual Gender Equity Insights series.

In today's episode, CEDA Chief Economist Jarrod Ball and CEDA Senior Economist Cassandra Winzar talk about property taxes, in particular what some call one of the least efficient taxes – stamp duty.

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, house prices are growing at their fastest pace in more than 30 years, thanks partly to record-low interest rates. Now, there are growing calls to abolish stamp duty, to help young people get on to the property ladder and encourage more people to downsize.

The ACT has already taken this step, and NSW is looking into it.

In today's episode of The Greater Good, CEDA CEO Melinda Cilento is joined by Susan Wheeldon, Airbnb Country Manager Australia and New Zealand.

Travel industries were hit hard by COVID-19. In the space of a few months tourism went from Australia’s fourth largest export to all but stopping, leaving many Australians without a source of income.

As a leader in the short-term rental market, Airbnb and its hosts have been particularly affected by this downturn. With the pandemic winding down, the platform is now a weathervane for the recovery of the sector.

While dealing with the challenges of COVID-19, Airbnb has also been facing questions about its responsibility to its hosts and the communities it operates in. Those questions have taken on more urgency since the company’s much touted IPO in December.

This episode of CEDA's Policy Snacks looks at the skills mismatch in Australia’s permanent skilled migration system, what it is, and how we can fix it.

A new CEDA report has found this mismatch cost the Australian economy at least $1.25 billion in foregone wages between 2013 and 2018.

To discuss this, CEDA Chief Economist Jarrod Ball is joined by CEDA Senior Economist Gabriela D'Souza, lead author of the report.

In today's episode, CEDA Chief Economist Jarrod Ball is joined by CEDA researcher and economist Ember Corpuz to look at the rising rate of female imprisonment in Australia, and what can be done to reduce it.

The number of women in Australia’s prisons has been growing at a faster rate than that of men over the past decade, and while women account for a smaller proportion of the country’s prison population, the fiscal, social and economic costs of female imprisonment are significant.

We’ve known for a long time Australia’s aged care system is in crisis, from horrific reports of abuse and mistreatment, to the long waiting lists for in-home care, and figures showing high rates of malnourishment among residents.

The COVID-19 pandemic has served as yet another reminder of the challenges the sector faces. Three-quarters of Australia’s COVID deaths have been in aged care.

To discuss this, CEDA Chief Economist Jarrod Ball is joined by Julie Ratcliffe, Professor of Health Economics at Flinders University and a member of CEDA’s Council on Economic Policy who also conducted some research for the Royal Commission, and former chair of the Productivity Commission Peter Harris, who wrote the chapter on aged care in CEDA’s 2020 Economic and Political Overview.

When the pandemic hit last year, the economic priority for policymakers was to save jobs and help people and businesses through the financial fallout.

The JobMaker policy was different though.

The wage credit was designed to create jobs, to get young Australians back to work in the midst of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.

But will it work?

Join CEDA Chief Economist Jarrod Ball and Professor Jeff Borland, Truby Williams Professor of Economics at the University of Melbourne and a member of CEDA’s board of directors to find out.

COVID-19 has shown us that health problems don’t happen in isolation. Our physical wellbeing often depends on our economic and social wellbeing, and vice versa.

These connections are especially apparent among those living in disadvantage. As CEDA’s research shows, people struggling with disadvantage are often also experiencing problems with the law, health, and housing security. To properly deal with any of these issues, you have to address all of them.

Today's guest is Dr Tessa Boyd-Caine. An expert in bringing services together as founding chief executive of Health Justice Australia, she works to connect healthcare and legal assistance, and to give people access to help for their problems when and where they need it.

Welcome to the first episode of CEDA’s Policy Snacks podcast, a series of bite-sized explainers about today’s big policy ideas.

In today's episode, CEDA Chief Economist Jarrod Ball is joined by CEDA Senior Economist Melissa Wilson to take a closer look at Australia's looming fiscal cliff, and what can be done to avoid going over it.

From the Olympics to Formula 1, from cricket to the NBA, no major sport has been untouched by this pandemic. And while they’re trying to be COVID-safe, that looks different for each sport and not everyone has got it right.

In today's episode, CEDA CEO Melinda Cilento and CEDA Chief Economist Jarrod Ball are joined by Hans Westerbeek, Professor of International Sport Business and Head of Sport Business Insights Group, Victoria University to take a deep dive into sport, money and COVID-19 to find out how the business and economics of sport look in the new COVID normal.

**This episode was recorded prior to Victoria's Feb 12th 5-day snap lockdown