The Economy, Stupid

The funding of the National Disability Insurance Scheme has always been a contentious issue between the ALP and the Coalition. Economist Dr Angela Jackson from Impact Economics and Policy outlines why the costs are so high and how to make it more sustainable. What can economic modelling tell us about who will win the Federal Election? Economist Hamish Greenop-Roberts from the University of Queensland, has studied past elections to determine which economic figures are the best indicators for a win. And what does it mean for a country to default? Eliza Wu, Sydney University's associate professor of finance discusses the consequences of defaulting and what will happen with Russia, and PhD candidate Nimna Prematilaka from the University of Melbourne shares her insights on the economic crisis facing Sri Lanka.

There's been a lot of noise around the unemployment figure of 4 percent, but that's not the only figure we should be concerned about with youth unemployment currently at 9.3 percent. How this figure can be improved is explained by Eliza Littleton, research economist at The Australian Institute and co-author of the report Youth unemployment and the pandemic . In the 2019 federal election, political parties collectively spent $433 million. We won't know the figure for this election until next February and even then, we won't know where some of this money came from. Kate Griffiths,deputy director of the Grattan Institute's budgets and government program discusses why greater transparency is needed. And as the destruction of Ukraine continues from Russian forces, estimates of the cost of reconstruction has already began. Christian Odendahl, European economics editor at The Economist explains where the money will come from and the reforms required to rebuild Ukraine.

As we all await for the Prime Minister to announce the date for the 2022 Federal Election, the Australian Electoral Commission began preparing for it the day after the last election in 2019. What is involved and what is the cost of running an election across the nation? The AEC's spokesperson, Evan Ekin-Smyth explains. And the French head to the polls this weekend in the first round of Presidential elections. In the last few weeks, polling shows a close contest with purchasing power as a number one issue, but there are other factors at play with a result that not only affects France but the EU as well. Lionel Page, Professor of Economics at the University of Queensland, discusses. And venture capital: Sebastian Mallaby, the Paul A Volcker senior fellow for international economics at the Council on Foreign Relations, charts the history and the impact of this once risky venture.

The Money continues with the Federal Budget analyses but with a difference. Four younger economists, including three recipients of the Economic Society of Australia's Young Economist award, discuss how the budget stacks up when applying their specialist lens.

If you could nominate what you wanted from next week's federal budget, what would it be? Join us on The Money as four people representing different parts of Australian life - the community, small business, employers and those under housing stress - answer this question. Cassandra Goldie, CEO of Australian Council of Social Services; Alexi Boyd, CEO of the Council of Small Business Organisations Australia; Innes Willox, Chief Executive at Australian Industry Group and Kate Colvin spokesperson for the Everybody's Home Campaign.

Inflation is on the rise, driven by supply shocks. Does the Reserve Bank of Australia need to do something about it? Sean Langcake, head of macroeconomic forecasting at BIS Oxford Economics explains.

Insurance premiums are increasing with the frequency of climate induced natural disasters. The government is planning a reinsurance pool of $10 billion in the hope of making premiums cheaper. But this may not work as Antonia Settle from the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economics and Social Research explains.

This week as severe flooding causes havoc in south east Queensland and parts of NSW, two important, relevant reports were released. One by the Insurance Council of Australia outlining what the Federal and State Governments need to invest to protect against the cost of increasing climate disasters and one by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change with a very grim outlook for Australia if emissions aren't cut dramatically. Nicki Hutley, independent economist and Economist with the Climate Council untangles the numbers and considers what we're facing with these current floods.

Does extending parental leave entitlements present a greater cost to the Australian economy or a benefit? The answer from economists and gender equality groups seem to agree, it is beneficial for all. Both socially and economically. These benefits extend to unpaid work at home. This does make sense when you listen to economist Jessica Mizrahi, Director at Accenture Australia and Vice President of the Economic Society of NSW and Mary Wooldridge, Director of the Workplace Gender Equality Agency. We also hear from Hugh Sinclair, a senior finance manager with property group Stockland, who took his full parental leave entitlement when his second child was born. He compares the experience and the benefits from when he took two weeks leave and twenty weeks leave.

It has been a bumpy few years with the pandemic and businesses have had to make huge adjustments. So how are they feeling about the future? Jeremy Thorpe, chief economist of PwC Australia shares the results of their annual survey of CEOs and explains why cybersecurity is the number one risk, as well as why businesses are focussing on the US and New Zealand.