5 Sep 2023
Building bigger BRICS
Reports of the death of the dominant US dollar have been greatly exaggerated.
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24 Aug 2023
Cash is king, no more
Digital payments have transformed Australia, but global financial infrastructure for a cashless society still has some catching up to do. -
15 Aug 2023
The climate crisis demands sovereign debt justice
Why should low-income countries pay the price for climate change? -
3 Aug 2023
De-dollarisation: shifting power between the US and BRICS
Will a new global reserve currency threaten the greenback's supremacy? The short answer is yes. -
26 Jul 2023
A return to old-school mercantilism?
Suspicion and economic competition are forcing states back in time, with protectionism and self-sufficiency the new norm. -
12 Jul 2023
Scrapping IMF surcharges is key to cutting debt burden on distressed nations
The economic logic of charging beyond lending rates doesn’t add up and also undermines the Fund’s legitimacy. -
30 Jun 2023
Globalisation promised growth. Now emerging economies need a new path
Rising trade barriers and financial stress has upended the idea that a free and open world economy will bring prosperity. -
28 Jun 2023
Replenishing the Green Climate Fund
Delivering on a promise to help developing countries meet climate challenges remains critical. -
16 Jun 2023
Is US industrial policy headed in the wrong direction?
Washington’s geopolitical strategy threatens to entrench economic hierarchies and undermine the global green transition. -
8 Jun 2023
Economic diplomacy: Duelling D-words to delineate China
Australia seems to be treading carefully around the G7’s agreement to de-risk dependence on the region’s biggest economy. -
6 Jun 2023
Two views on the best way forward for the “Washington Consensus”
It is important to tackle problems of growing market power and that unfettered market mechanisms widen inequality. -
12 May 2023
Taming international capital flows
Emerging economies have borne the brunt of “easy money” economics, but past wisdom is catching up. -
10 May 2023
Malaysia’s Anwar seeks Asian Monetary Fund and “dedollarisation”
By reviving an old idea, Malaysia’s PM hopes to be in the driver’s seat for regional economic leadership. -
10 May 2023
Biden’s quiet economic revolution
The guiding hand of the state is back as geopolitics rules. -
9 May 2023
“Play defence” in any collective response to China’s economic coercion
The cost of fighting back is unlikely to be spread evenly across any coalition, which risks undermining the effort. -
3 May 2023
International debt: Time for a global restructuring framework
In domestic bankruptcy, a specialised institution settles creditors. Why can’t this be the case for emerging economies? -
2 May 2023
What price will Laos need to pay to be saved, and will China pay it?
The debt-burdened Southeast Asian nation offers China a chance to recast its reputation. -
27 Apr 2023
Shaky foundations for the New Development Bank
A new president for BRICS groupings finance arm must steer geopolitical storms from outside – as well as within. -
13 Apr 2023
Economic diplomacy: Counting the cost of decoupling
US-China tensions are disrupting economic links for other countries as new forecasts of slow growth make change harder. -
2 Mar 2023
Economic diplomacy: Arming up for war and trade
Sovereign capability is the government’s answer to an old political trade-off in the face of geoeconomic fragmentation. -
16 Feb 2023
Economic diplomacy: Banking on Asia is hard to escape
Australian banks are stepping back from Asia just as the government pushes for business to diversify away from China. -
15 Dec 2022
Economic diplomacy: From pollie crises to polycrisis
There are political bunfights, strategic challenges and wicked problems, but let’s not “overcrisify” the world. -
14 Dec 2022
Why the cryptocurrency ecosystem is a house of cards
The tumultuous picture surrounding cryptocurrencies this year has been sobering – a contagion of negative effects. -
1 Dec 2022
Economic diplomacy: Scoring goals outside the stadium
Shifting geopolitics and economics make picking the diplomatic champion from the Qatar World Cup more challenging. -
17 Nov 2022
Economic diplomacy: Charging up old ties with Jakarta
Australia has stepped up a trade diversification push despite the first moves towards reconciliation with China. -
3 Nov 2022
Economic diplomacy: Searching for APEC
APEC faces some new competition as Australia considers the sovereign risks involved in reducing domestic gas prices. -
20 Oct 2022
Economic diplomacy: The IMF faces a US$ reality check
The Bretton Woods institutions may face existential challenges from the decoupling of the United States and China. -
23 Sep 2022
Six reasons to be cautious about Australia establishing a DFI
As soon as public money is on the table, there will be a line of players looking to “clip the ticket”. -
15 Sep 2022
Digital finance makes international cooperation even more important
In a world without physical cash, differing standards for digital currencies risk creating exclusionary trade blocs. -
5 Sep 2022
Web3 is coming – with national security implications, too
A new internet for the people and by the people is on the horizon. But decentralised power has its own problems. -
11 Aug 2022
Economic diplomacy: No free lunches for national security
New foreign investment rules, nuisance tariffs and supply chains are all under scrutiny by the Productivity Commission. -
26 Jul 2022
“Silver lining”: Covid‑19 accelerates progress on financial inclusion
Access to financial services can be a key to poverty reduction and increased digitisation during lockdowns has helped. -
26 Jul 2022
Under pressure: Chinese international graduates in a new China
Uncertainly about Covid, high unemployment rates and shifting workforce expectations challenge China’s youth in 2022. -
26 Jul 2022
ASEAN and pandemic recovery: Economy before strategic rivalry
Southeast Asia needs international support to rebuild from Covid. But help should not come with strings attached. -
26 Jul 2022
Capital flows to emerging economies
The International Monetary Fund’s “free-market” view is questioned by economists, who argue for policy intervention. -
30 Jun 2022
Economic diplomacy: Names trump numbers in the new BRI debt battle
As G7 leaders talk up infrastructure spending, Australia’s Pacific family members contemplate how much they can take. -
1 Jun 2022
Don’t saddle Pacific Islands with disaster debt
It would be immoral for high-emitting countries to put an extra burden on nations suffering more extreme weather events. -
21 Apr 2022
Economic diplomacy: After Ukraine, the IMF ponders the future
A decoupling world will still need an old-style cooperative rescue service to repair the economic minefields. -
24 Mar 2022
Economic diplomacy: Cryptocurrency (quietly) joins a new world order
From Bitcoin to the greenback, beyond Ukraine a battle is also underway in global finance. -
10 Mar 2022
Economic diplomacy: Building back better with frenemies after Ukraine
Foreign policy concepts are subtly infiltrating Australia’s federal election campaign in the shadow of an invasion. -
4 Mar 2022
Back in the USSR – surprises in the Russia-Ukraine conflict
It’d be funny, if it wasn’t so deadly serious. -
3 Mar 2022
Sanctions bite – but how dangerously?
As long as Russian energy revenues continue to flow, Moscow will retain a critical financial lifeline. -
1 Mar 2022
Will cryptocurrency allow Russia to bust sanctions?
Despite the transparency of blockchain-based finance, Moscow is working the dark reaches of the web to move money. -
24 Feb 2022
Economic diplomacy: Slow dividends for Australia from ASEAN spending
Amid the Ukraine sanctions showdown, an Indian trade deal looms as a pre-election win for the Morrison government. -
10 Feb 2022
Economic diplomacy: Mission critical as Australia’s own BRI gains pace
Australia’s new embrace of South Korea in minerals, defence, and trade is well-timed as the country catches up to Japan. -
10 Feb 2022
US monetary policy: the ripple effect
A new book probes the inner workings – and functional failures – of America’s enigmatic central banking system. -
27 Jan 2022
Will the EU step up to secure rules-based Indo-Pacific trade?
The rivalry with China is systemic and heft is needed to anchor market-orientated trade. -
18 Jan 2022
Bang for buck: Getting the most out of Pacific Islander remittances
Cash sent by family abroad is essential for local economies but doesn’t come cheap. -
14 Jan 2022
Australia should build its green infrastructure presence
The region is taking an increasingly dim view of efforts seeking to protect the fossil fuel trade. -
12 Jan 2022
History lessons from “The Great Crash”?
Optimists always get more airplay than spoilsports predicting an end to the good times. But hindsight tells all.