This Working Paper presents an overview of structural budget balance models and the adjustments most relevant for Australia. Three models (the OECD model, the IMF model and Treasury’s previously published model in the Australian Government’s 2009-10 Budget and McDonald et al (2010)) are...

We investigate whether being female, from a non-English speaking background (NESB) or having a disability affects career advancement in the Australian Public Service. Over the past twenty years, women have become more likely to get promoted at senior ranks than similar men and just as likely at...

The resources boom, globalisation and other global economic forces have raised questions about whether employment and unemployment outcomes in regional Australia have become more unequal. This paper examines how the dispersion of unemployment across regions has changed over time. Our results...

We apply a number of forecasting models to Australian Government Bond yields. All methods rely solely on the history of yields. Consistent with findings from US Treasury data, we show that the simplest forecasting models across all maturities and forecasting horizons are also generally the best:...

We investigate whether being female, from a non-English speaking background (NESB) or having a disability affects career advancement in the Australian Public Service. Over the past twenty years, women have become more likely to get promoted at senior ranks than similar men and just as likely at...

The size of the imbalance in China’s external payments suggests that the RMB is significantly undervalued. This does not appear to have had significant adverse effects on the Chinese economy to date, but the costs of holding down the exchange rate are likely to rise in the future. While the...

The resources boom has prompted much discussion of Australia having become a two-speed economy. There are concerns that the gains from the boom accrue largely to mining-related sectors and the states where these are concentrated, while the rest of the country is being hit by higher interest and...