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Peter Martin
Peter Martin is a visiting fellow at the Crawford School of Public Policy at the Australian National University and Business and Economy Editor of The Conversation.
A former Commonwealth Treasury official and former economics editor of The Age, he has reported economics since 1985, mainly for the ABC.
In 2019 he was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for significant service to multi platform and print media as an economics journalist.
In 2016 he was made a Distinguished Alumni of Flinders University in recognition of his contribution to the community's understanding of economics.
Latest by Peter Martin
Analysis
analysis:What has just happened in the US will help Australia's inflation situation, big time
Australian financial markets are now pointing to a close to zero chance of further rate rises — with a fair chance of a rate cut next year. That's thanks to the latest news from the US and UK, writes Peter Martin.
Opinion
opinion:We could make most Australians richer and still save billions — it's not too late to fix the stage 3 tax cuts
What if the government kept the Stage 3 tax cuts, but reoriented them to Australians who actually need them, asks Peter Martin.
Analysis
analysis:Australia is the odd one out on interest rates around the world
There's nothing in the RBA governor's statement to suggest she is thinking of pushing up rates again, and financial markets are also betting this rate hike will be the last, writes Peter Martin.
Analysis
analysis:Australia's Big Four banks are betting on a Cup Day rate rise, and it's not because of inflation
Why on earth would Australia's Big Four banks be expecting the Reserve Bank to lift rates on Melbourne Cup Day when Australians are buying less than a year ago and annual inflation is heading down, asks Peter Martin.
Analysis
analysis:Should more retirees be working? New Zealand could have the answers
Retirees on a pension begin to lose it if they earn over $227 a week, yet the rules for older workers are very different in New Zealand. If Australia adopted New Zealand's approach we could have an extra 500,000 willing workers, writes Peter Martin.
Analysis
analysis:They weigh more, use more fuel and may be more dangerous. So why are more Australians driving SUVs?
SUVs now outsell passenger cars three to one, even as petrol prices have risen. What's driving our love of large vehicles, asks Peter Martin, and how can we make them cheaper and safer?
Analysis
analysis:Petrol prices have pushed up inflation — and they could lead to an interest rate hike next month
Petrol prices have pushed inflation up. At its next meeting, the RBA board is going to have to decide if that warrants an increase in interest rates, writes Peter Martin.
Analysis
analysis:The Albanese government missed a huge opportunity for a historic new target this week
Unemployment is now well below 5 per cent, meaning "full employment" is now much less than 5 per cent. Yet the Albanese government has passed up a historic opportunity to say how much less, which it could have done by setting its own target, writes Peter Martin.
Analysis
analysis:Making refunds hard is standard practice — but Qantas appears to have added a twist
I’m not sure whether I’ve got any unclaimed Qantas flight credits. I haven’t looked, which is exactly what Qantas wants. Separating people determined to get their money from those who give up is a standard business practice, writes Peter Martin
Analysis
analysis:With his last interest rates decision made, will Philip Lowe move to a private bank?
The public service code of conduct sets out reasons why a Reserve Bank governor should not move to a private bank at the end of the term. But there is nothing to stop Philip Lowe doing so and — as shabby as it seems — he wouldn't be the first, writes Peter Martin.
Analysis
analysis:Australia isn't quite facing the 'ageing time bomb' alarmist headlines would have you believe
I've read the 300-odd pages of the Intergenerational Report pretty carefully and, with the exception of the section on climate change, I'm yet to find anything particularly alarming, writes Peter Martin.
Analysis
analysis:Anthony Albanese is right about one thing when it comes to public holidays — and it's nothing to do with economics
It is unconscionable to talk about the cost of a public holiday without also talking about the benefit. But there's something else that needs discussing too: declaring a public holiday is a job for states and territories. The PM doesn't get a look in, writes Peter Martin.
Analysis
analysis:If Oppenheimer is an hour longer than Barbie, why are tickets to see them the same price?
Movie tickets are nearly always the same price, whether the film is a flop or a sold-out blockbuster. Why? And how much more does a trip to the movies cost than 20 years ago? Peter Martin explains.
Analysis
analysis:Australia is about to set a target that will define people's lives for decades
Australia has never clearly defined what "full employment" means. That's about to change — and a more ambitious definition could help keep 150,000 or more Australians in work, writes Peter Martin.
Analysis
analysis:Why the people behind Robodebt left a key piece of information off the letters
Behavioural economics is a discipline that seems blind to empathy. The care with which Robodebt letters were designed — and the so-called science behind those devastating design decisions — showed what it could do, writes Peter Martin.
Analysis
analysis:Even a week ago we couldn't have predicted this, but things are looking up for the economy
After good news from the US, the Reserve Bank of Australia now has a chance to cement low unemployment while controlling inflation – without more rate rises, writes Peter Martin.
Analysis
analysis:The simple reason why Australian mortgage borrowers are in more pain than those in other countries
Australian home borrowers are experiencing much, much more interest rate pain than borrowers in New Zealand, Canada, the UK or US – for one simple reason, writes Peter Martin.
Analysis
analysis:An expert panel of economists shares its 12-month predictions for Australia
The good news includes a return to real wage growth and a restrained increase in unemployment. The bad news includes even higher home prices and a per-capita recession, writes Peter Martin.
Analysis
analysis:An astounding chart shows how the way Australians pay has completely changed in a generation
Like cheques, cash will probably die gradually, then suddenly. By the time it does, there will be few users left who care, writes Peter Martin.
Analysis
analysis:Don't blame workers for falling productivity – we're not the ones holding it back
Of all the things Australians can do to boost productivity, working harder is one of the least likely to make a difference, writes Peter Martin.
Analysis
analysis:Unemployed Australians finally get a pay rise larger than pensioners — but it's a sign of a broken system
JobSeeker is linked to inflation, the rate of increase in prices, which has been low since the early 1990s. Wages and national income per person have climbed faster, writes Peter Martin.
Analysis
analysis:Here's something we haven't seen before — and it's changed the lives of 100,000 Australians
Record low unemployment means employers may be forced to hire people that in other circumstances they would not. It means those people either develop the right skills, or employers discover they are not so bad after all. It is set to impact Australia's unemployment rate for years to come, writes Peter Martin.
Analysis
analysis:Experts divided on how to stop inflation from rising even higher
Australia's top economists are divided about how to tackle inflation, with some advising interest rate reductions and others arguing inflation above 8 per cent is tolerable. But what else can Australia do to pull inflation into line?
Analysis
analysis:The Reserve Bank's biggest fear is behind the most recent interest rate hike
In the three decades the Reserve Bank has been targeting inflation, it has never been tested by prices rising in unison like this. Is it up to the task, asks Peter Martin.
Analysis
analysis:Labor is set to wind back reforms meant to hold super funds to account. Here's what that will mean
The requirement that super funds act in the best financial interests of their members is up for review, as is the nature of the performance test that weeds out poorly-performing funds, writes Peter Martin.