Ross Gittins

Australia

Economics Editor at Sydney Morning Herald

Economics Editor, Sydney Morning Herald

Articles

I have good news and bad about your superannuation

2 weeks ago | johnmenadue.com | Ross Gittins

When the government wants to cut back the massive tax concessions the rich receive on their superannuation, the media is full of it for weeks. Ask the rich to pay a bit more and there’s hell to pay. But I bet no one’s bothered to tell you of something that’s about to affect the super of every worker in the country. Why no mention? Because there’s no shootfight. It’s only when people are boxing it out that the media take an interest. And it seems like it’s good news, not bad.
I have good news and bad about your superannuation

2 weeks ago | smh.com.au | Ross Gittins

Economics Editor June 11, 2025 — 5.00am, register or subscribe to save articles for later. Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. When the government wants to cut back the massive tax concessions the rich receive on their superannuation, the media is full of it for weeks. Ask the rich to pay a bit more and there’s hell to pay. But I bet no one’s bothered to tell you of something that’s about to affect the super of every worker in the country. Why no mention?
If bulldusting about productivity was productive, we’d all be billionaires

2 weeks ago | smh.com.au | Ross Gittins

Economics Editor June 9, 2025 — 12.15am, register or subscribe to save articles for later. Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. It seems the longer we wait for a sign that productivity has stopped flatlining, the more and the sillier the nonsense we have to listen to, brought to us by a media that likes to stand around in the playground shouting “Fight! Fight! Fight!″⁣.
In one awful decision, Albanese has revealed his do-nothing plan

3 weeks ago | johnmenadue.com | Ross Gittins

It didn’t take long for us to discover what a triumphantly re-elected Labor government would be like. Would Anthony Albanese stick to the plan he outlined soon after the 2022 election of avoiding controversy during his first term so he could consolidate Labor’s hold on power, then get on with the big reforms in term two? Or would he decide that his policy of giving no offence to powerful interest groups had been so rapturously received by the voters, he’d stick with it in his new term?
Australia news LIVE: Canavan says ‘no way in hell’ Nationals will back Labor’s super tax; Ley urges US to grant Australia an exemption to Trump’s metal tariffs; Westpac-owned RAMS admits to home loan misconduct

3 weeks ago | watoday.com.au | Cindy Yin |Alexander Darling |Ross Gittins |Chris Zappone

Australia news LIVE: Canavan says ‘no way in hell’ Nationals will back Labor’s super tax; Ley urges US to grant Australia an exemption to Trump’s metal tariffs; Westpac-owned RAMS admits to home loan misconduct By Cindy Yin Updated June 4, 2025 — 8.44amfirst published at 5.20am Save Normal text sizeLarger text sizeVery large text size Key posts Hide key posts Tasmanian Premier on thin ice amid no-confidence threat By Alexander Darling Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff is facing a...
In one awful decision, Anthony Albanese has revealed his do-nothing plan

3 weeks ago | smh.com.au | Ross Gittins

Economics Editor June 4, 2025 — 5.00am, register or subscribe to save articles for later. Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. It didn’t take long for us to discover what a triumphantly re-elected Labor government would be like. Would Anthony Albanese stick to the plan he outlined soon after the 2022 election of avoiding controversy during his first term so he could consolidate Labor’s hold on power, then get on with the big reforms in term two?
Let’s stop kidding ourselves. Taxes will have to go up

3 weeks ago | smh.com.au | Ross Gittins

Economics Editor June 2, 2025 — 5.00am, register or subscribe to save articles for later. Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. Before the election, the business press was terribly concerned about the decade of budget deficits and ever-rising public debt the Albanese government had clocked up.
Don’t let rich old men tell you the planned super tax is terribly bad

1 month ago | johnmenadue.com | Ross Gittins

Would you want Australia to become more like America? How on Earth did so many Yanks vote to reinstall a crazy, destructive leader such as Mad King Donald? If we don’t want to become more like them, it’s worth thinking about how it happened, so we know what not to do. Americans brought Trump back for two main reasons. First, extreme partisanship. Many registered Republicans voted for him because, no matter how bad he was, he couldn’t possibly be as bad as a Democrat president would be.
Don’t let rich old men tell you the planned super tax is terribly bad

1 month ago | smh.com.au | Ross Gittins

Economics Editor May 28, 2025 — 5.00am, register or subscribe to save articles for later. Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. Would you want Australia to become more like America? How on Earth did so many Yanks vote to reinstall a crazy, destructive leader such as Mad King Donald? If we don’t want to become more like them, it’s worth thinking about how it happened, so we know what not to do. Americans brought Trump back for two main reasons. First, extreme partisanship.
Why we need our economists to try a lot harder

1 month ago | johnmenadue.com | Ross Gittins

For most economists, their view of how the world works is virtually unchanged from one decade to the next. They’ve already found the truth, so nothing needs changing. I noticed in The Psychologist magazine one of that profession’s old hands advising newbies to “think outside the box and question everything”. What? With economists, such heretical advice would be unthinkable. In their profession, all the advice is to learn the orthodoxy and never question it. Why? Because it’s the revealed truth.