The Australian government is spending at unprecedented levels with the coronavirus pandemic. Where does this money come from, and can governments keep borrowing – without saddling young people with too much debt?

The latest ABS labour force figures provide the first tiny glimpse into the labour-market fallout from Australia’s recent lockdowns, writes UNSW Business School's Richard Holden

Economists have contributed to a richer understanding of important public-policy questions by combining rich data with clever empirical methods, says UNSW Business School's Richard Holden

New research shows Uber has led to a reduction in drunk driving and offers a system to tally up the total social value of other business or technological innovations

There are a number of significant social and community-related factors outside of the school system which play an important role in academic excellence

Dealing with the pandemic requires collaboration and insights from a range of disciplines, write UNSW Business School's Richard Holden and The University of Queensland's John Quiggin

Australia’s unemployment rate has fallen below 5 per cent for the first time in a decade, but it's not time to celebrate just yet, writes UNSW Business School's Richard Holden

The Reserve Bank Governor's 'forward guidance' approach runs the risk of being unable to adapt to changing circumstances, says UNSW Business School's Richard Holden

Australia appears to have cracked the case on teen driver safety by restricting late-night passengers, writes UNSW Business School's Richard Holden

Innovations in technology are needed to boost productivity, improve living standards and lift GDP, writes UNSW Business School's Richard Holden

Although the prospect of inflation is an important consideration, the Reserve Bank of Australia shouldn't be spooked into raising interest rates, says UNSW Business School's Richard Holden

Activist short selling plays an important role in keeping financial markets accountable and efficient, writes UNSW Business School's Richard Holden

The latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reveal businesses are optimistic about the future and are looking to expand despite ever-present uncertainties, writes UNSW Business School's Richard Holden

Australia's official unemployment rate falling to 5.5 per cent is enough to make a treasurer dance. But with low wages growth we shouldn't get too carried away, writes UNSW Business School's Richard Holden

While the federal government is spending big in the budget, this won't necessarily translate into stronger employment and wages growth, writes UNSW Business School's Richard Holden

The RBA has said it will look to zero in on unemployment, but this puts the onus on the government to take action to rein in home prices, writes UNSW Business School's Richard Holden

While the federal government is currently carrying record levels of debt, there are more important considerations for the Australian economy in the federal budget, says UNSW Business School

As Australia’s economy emerges from recession in 2020, universal basic childcare is a no-brainer when it comes to stimulating growth and productivity, says UNSW Business School

Inflation, interest rates and booming mining royalties give the Morrison government scope to ignore the deficit daleks, writes UNSW Business School's Richard Holden

Greater diversity doesn't necessarily equal better performance, and organisations still have to be mindful of how diversity is managed in order to improve performance, writes UNSW Business School's Richard Holden

Private-sector incentives don’t lead to the best outcomes when an organisation such as Australia Post needs to balance a hard-to-measure social mission with a relatively easy-to-measure corporate mission, writes UNSW Business School's Richard Holden

Failing to address skyrocketing housing prices risks the future of young Australians and the financial system, writes UNSW Business School's Richard Holden

While there has been plenty of justified criticism of the financial sector in recent years, new and better financial products can help small-time investors, writes UNSW Business School's Richard Holden

We must rethink the political and ideological factors that have led to inequality in order to achieve a new era of economic justice, says French economist Thomas Piketty

For an orderly transition away from fossil fuels, Australia needs a carbon price to replace its hodgepodge of clumsy government interventions, writes UNSW Business School's Richard Holden

The RBA will win whatever battle it chooses to fight because, unlike traders, it can create as many Australian dollars as it needs in order to buy as many bonds as it needs, writes UNSW Business School's Richard Holden

The Biden administration’s stimulus package has been criticised as unncessarily large, but it's better to run the risk of spending too big rather than too small, writes UNSW Business School's Richard Holden

Australia's economic recovery from COVID-19 depends on government spending and how quickly we get the vaccine, writes UNSW Business School's Richard Holden

Australia's economy still needs all the support it can get, which means the Reserve Bank should stick to its guns and keep interest rates low, writes UNSW Business School's Richard Holden

Joe Biden's middling economic policies offer a chance to cut through the bitter polarisation of US politics, writes UNSW Business School's Richard Holden

A great measure of skill on the part of government policy (and a good dose of luck) helped Australia avoid a COVID catastrophe in 2020, writes UNSW Business School’s Richard Holden

The next US Treasury Secretary – widely tipped to be Janet Yellen – will take office with the US in the worst economic shape since the Great Depression, writes UNSW Business School’s Richard Holden

Australia needs to take bigger steps towards a cleaner and greener economy, and it can do so without disadvantaging exporters, writes UNSW Business School's Richard Holden

Monetary and fiscal authorities should use all the firepower at their disposal to avoid ongoing unemployment rates of 5.5 per cent, writes UNSW Business School's Richard Holden

Just because a tech company has a big share of the market doesn't mean it has the power to keep it, writes UNSW Business School's Richard Holden

It makes sense for Australia to take a more strategic approach to manufacturing certain equipment, even if producing these goods locally is not as efficient as buying them from overseas, writes UNSW Business School’s Richard Holden

By not bringing phase 3 tax cuts forward in its federal budget, the government risks waiting too long to begin the task of serious tax reform, writes UNSW Business School’s Richard Holden

Making Google and Facebook pay Australian news publishers might be good politics, but it is odd economics, writes UNSW Business School's Richard Holden

50 years ago Milton Friedman declared that greed was good, but there was always more to the story – as well as making profits firms hold the unique power to achieve social objectives, writes UNSW Business School's Richard Holden

The current recession is an unusually deep one, and digging out of it will require first containing and defeating the virus followed by significant spending in addition tax cuts, writes UNSW Business School's Richard Holden

Australia's higher education sector needs significant reform to remove the perverse incentives that have made universities dependent on revenue from international students, writes UNSW Business School's Richard Holden

With the resignation of key board members from AMP, UNSW Business School's Richard Holden says company shareholders looking to achieve socially optimal goals need to speak up and be heard

With the Reserve Bank Australia having exhausted the limits of monetary policy, now is the time for the government to step up – like reducing imposts on business by lowering taxes, writes UNSW Business School's Richard Holden

COVID-19 induced lockdowns have reduced the amount of time most workers spend in meetings but increased their working hours, writes UNSW Business School's Richard Holden

Profound confusion about the economic cost of the coronavirus compared to the economic cost of lockdowns needs to be cleared up, writes UNSW Business School's Richard Holden

It's time to reform stamp duty – one of the most inefficient and distorting taxes collected by Australia's state and territory governments, writes Richard Holden

Policy responses to the current economic crisis must be different to past responses as fiscal contraction may simply make a recession worse, writes UNSW Business School's Richard Holden

Australia has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to rebuild the economy, but the government must reform six key areas if it is to kickstart the post-coronavirus economic recovery, according to UNSW Business School's Richard Holden

Australia’s industrial relations system needs reform but it won’t happen without the key players agreeing to it themselves, writes UNSW Business School’s Richard Holden

The economic costs associated with the COVID-19 shutdown don't accurately factor in the real statistical value of people's lives, according to UNSW Sydney’s Richard Holden and University of Melbourne’s Bruce Preston

The government is providing stimulus on a scale hitherto unseen and could introduce “COVID bonds” to stimulate spending and growth, according to UNSW Business School's Richard Holden and University of Sydney's James Morley

The Federal Government’s JobKeeper program requires a bigger revolution in our national thinking about debt and deficits, writes Richard Holden

With the Reserve Bank cutting interest rates to record lows, the government has an opportunity to make smart investments that will pay huge dividends, writes Richard Holden

The same technological forces that make the Wuhan Coronavirus outbreak a global concern are also key to managing the crisis response, writes Richard Holden

A decade on from the GFC, it appears the economic hangover is still with us. UNSW Business School economics professor Richard Holden explains the situation to Julian Lorkin for BusinessThink.

Can we utilise the power of connections and still facilitate competition?

We are caught in a low-growth, low-interest rate, low-inflation trap

Australia's central bank will meet again to consider a move in interest rates, and is tipped to cut the cash rate to a record low 1.25 per cent. At least one further reduction is expected over coming months. An academic from UNSW Business School argues that a sharp cut in interest rates is needed to give a boost to the economy. However, he adds APRA’s planned cuts to lending rules may re energise the housing market more.

A carbon tax plan to aid climate change doesn't need loopholes or incentives to get handouts from the government, write UNSW Business School's Richard Holden

The metrics may be of little use and specific targets give rise to manipulation

We are failing to address the gap in school achievement between rural, regional and remote children and their city counterparts.

A new methodology measures social and commercial returns

Our experts assess the government’s latest fiscal game plan

The Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA) has released a report titled 'Australia's Place in the World', which considered how Australia should respond to changing attitudes to globalisation

Housing as a wealth generator drains investment from other areas

Our experts look beyond the politics of the government’s latest plan

Treasurer Scott Morrison used to like to say Australia “doesn’t have a revenue problem, we have a spending problem”. It turns out this sentiment was true in 2016.

The Treasurer, Scott Morrison, got a little unexpected positive pre-Budget news with upbeat reporting of Tuesday's Reserve Bank of Australia decision to do ... nothing.

Can something that you think is almost surely going to happen still be big news when it does?

The better angels of Britain's nature lost. It is also a vote against the economic interest of Britain, Europe and the world.

Our experts drill down into the government’s latest fiscal plan

I’ve always thought all businesses capable of creating jobs and wealth, regardless of their size. There’s certainly no economic theory that suggests big businesses can’t.

Earlier this year, during the Prince Phillip knighthood debacle (dubbed #knightmare by Twitter), we speculated how Tony Abbott could make Malcolm Turnbull his treasurer, in place of the hapless Joe Hockey, and thereby save his prime ministership.

Last week, the man who led Greece to the brink of financial Armageddon, Alexis Tsipras, was returned to power in Greek elections. Is it a case of 'Here we go again'?

In his victory speech on election night last September, Prime Minister Tony Abbott declared Australia was “under new management and … once more open for business”.

The decline in the yuan is not really very large, and the way in which it happened is not all that nefarious

National Australia Bank’s business confidence index jumped from 3 to 7 points this week, a nine-month high coming on the back of this year’s federal budget. The ANZ-Roy-Morgan consumer confidence index also rose after the budget.