The Economy, Stupid
Formerly The Money, The Economy, Stupid is your weekly guide to the world of business, economics and finance. Every Thursday, economist Peter Martin is joined by a team of sharp young thinkers for a fresh conversation about the financial stories making headlines and how they might affect you.
ABC Australia
Show overview
The Economy, Stupid has been publishing since 2021, and across the 5 years since has built a catalogue of 254 episodes. That works out to roughly 120 hours of audio in total. Releases follow a weekly cadence.
Episodes typically run twenty to thirty-five minutes — most land between 29 min and 30 min — and the run-time is fairly consistent across the catalogue. None of the episodes are flagged explicit by the publisher. It is catalogued as a EN-language Society & Culture show.
The show is actively publishing — the most recent episode landed 5 days ago, with 27 episodes already out so far this year. Published by ABC Australia.
From the publisher
Formerly The Money, The Economy, Stupid is your weekly guide to the world of business, economics and finance. Every Thursday, economist Peter Martin is joined by a team of sharp young thinkers for a fresh conversation about the financial stories making headlines and how they might affect you.
Latest Episodes
View all 254 episodesIs tax reform even possible anymore?
How to avoid a world on fire
Is bracket creep saving us from ourselves?
Australia is in a 'vibecession' - is a recession next?
Australia's $200 billion budget secret
How to end the tobacco wars
Could Labor's budget narrow the wealth gap?
The budget and housing — a fix?
Interest rate rises are designed to hurt. But how much is too much?
Inflation’s jumped again - is another rate rise coming?
Australian gas is booming. But who benefits?
Why we still can’t quit petrol even as prices soar
What could be in the budget?
Australia’s baby bust: what happens when a nation stops replacing itself?
Australia’s birth rate is collapsing, heading for a record low next year, well below the level needed for the population to replace itself. Fewer couples, fewer kids, and a world where ageing societies reshape everything from innovation to taxes. Why is this happening everywhere at once, and what does it mean for your future?Guests: Viva Hammer, ANU population researcher and tax expertMyriam Robin, AFR senior writer
Stagflation is about to push unemployment higher: here's what to expect
What happens when the economy stops playing by the rules?We’re taught that inflation and unemployment move like a seesaw, one goes up, the other goes down. But sometimes the seesaw snaps. Prices climb and people lose jobs at the same time. It happened dramatically in the 1970s, and with oil prices surging again and global tensions rising people are whispering the word Stagnation once more. Guests: Professor Bob Gregory, one of Australia’s most influential economists, who watched the original outbreak of stagflation unfold and later sat on the Reserve Bank board during another era of economic upheaval.Gareth Hutchens, ABC business and economics reporter who has spent years examining how these big economic shocks ripple through everyday life.
Did the RBA just choose recession?
The Reserve Bank says it’ll do whatever it takes to crush inflation, even if it means Australia falls into recession. But for millions of Australians, the pain is already here with petrol prices soaring and mortgage repayments climbing. So did the RBA really have no choice but to lift rates again? Or is this a risk the Bank didn’t need to take?Guests: Gianni La Cava, Former Senior Research Manager at the Reserve Bank of Australia; now Senior Economist at the e61 Institute.Cherelle Murphy, Oceania Chief Economist, EY
Navigating a global energy crisis
From food security to fuelling our air force, the global oil crisis threatens far more than the cost of driving a car. So what happens next?
War boosts GDP. But should it?
GDP is meant to measure economic progress, yet even war can make it rise. So what exactly is it measuring?
WA’s Special Deal: Fair Reward or Billion‑Dollar Rort?
What happens when the nation’s wealthiest state gets extra funding on top of a needs‑based system? Since 2019, Western Australia has received a special billion‑dollar boost that no other state gets, and now the deal is under review. WA wants it to stay. The rest of the country is paying for it. So is the arrangement justified, or overdue for a rethink?Guests:Saul Eslake, Economic consultant and former chief economist for ANZ and Bank of America Merrill Lynch in AustraliaMatt McKenzie, Economics writer for The West Australian
The Most Explosive Tax Debate in Australia Is Back
Australia does something a bit weird: if you make money selling a house or shares, you get taxed at half the rate you’d pay on your actual job. Nice if you’re the one pocketing the profit… not so great if you’re trying to buy your first place and keep getting outbid by investors.People have argued about this discount for years; it’s political TNT. Bill Shorten tried to change it twice and got burned both times. Now Labor’s back in government, the issue’s landed in a Senate inquiry, and it’s shaping up to be the first real showdown between Treasurer Jim Chalmers and newly appointed Opposition Leader Angus Taylor.Is this tax break helping the country or just helping those already ahead? And if we tweaked it… would anything actually get better?Guests: Brendan Coates – Program Director, Housing and Economic Security, Grattan Institute.Cathal Leslie – Generation Z economist who has worked at the Productivity Commission, the Australian Treasury, and the OECD in Paris, now working in the AI sector.