International students play a significant role in the Australian economy. They contribute to demand through their spending on goods and services and are an important source of labour for some Australian businesses. This article shows that international students tend to add more to demand in the economy than they do to supply in the short...

One of the key labour market indicators that the Reserve Bank of Australia monitors and forecasts is the unemployment rate. This paper finds that information contained in measures of unmet demand, such as job advertisements and vacancies, and consumers’ expectations for unemployment, are useful in informing the RBA’s near-term forecasts for the unemployment rate.

The current stability of Australia's financial system is assessed in this report. It finds both the Australian and global systems have displayed a high level of resilience in the face of recent shocks. However, strengthening preparedness for potential crises and geopolitical risk is increasingly important.

This paper estimates the effect of several business investment tax breaks (ITBs), including tax credits and instant asset write-offs, implemented over the past 15 years. The paper provides three key findings. A key takeaway is that ITBs can be effective tools for stimulating the economy during a downturn.

This paper explores the formation of households’ wage and inflation expectations in order to better understand the role they play in monetary policymaking and the macroeconomy. It finds that households associate high wage growth with good economic outcomes and high inflation with bad ones, suggesting little trade-off between reducing inflation and economic activity.