Pitch Engine
The Property Pack

.

After 44 years of deficits, we've a current account surplus. What went so right?

  • Written by Peter Martin., Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University
After 44 years of deficits, we've a current account surplus. What went so right?Some things went wrong and some things went right. The resulting current account surplus is neither good nor bad.Shutterstock/ABS

Australia has been in a current account deficit – paying more money out to the rest of the world than it took in – for 44 straight years, since September 1975.

Until today. The update from the Bureau of...

Read more: After 44 years of deficits, we've a current account surplus. What went so right?

More Articles ...

  1. Not so bad. Most of us who work long hours like the jobs we are in. Those who don't, change jobs quickly
  2. What it takes to navigate cultural differences in a global business world
  3. How to get people to eat bugs and drink sewage
  4. Father's days: increasing the 'daddy quota' in parental leave makes everyone happier
  5. Vital Signs. Business investment is flatlining, and it isn't clear that suasion or a special allowance will help
  6. It's not just the ABS. It's also the Productivity Commission downplaying the growth in inequality
  7. Militant unionists are striking out: here are 4 things unions can do to stay relevant
  8. Why BP is getting into bed with David Jones. The promising marriage of petrol and gourmet food
  9. Lachlan Murdoch and scores of other business chiefs want to put people before profits? Really?
  10. Shoving a sock in it is not the answer. Have advertisers called time on Alan Jones?
  11. Lunch with bankers. Even they're unimpressed with their new Banking Code of Conduct
  12. Tim Fischer had his blind spots, but he was an unsung champion of an Asian-facing Australia
  13. Four home traps that contribute to the gender pay gap
  14. Vital Signs: economically, Australia is at risk of becoming Germany, and not in a good way
  15. India has it right: nations either aim for the Moon or get left behind in the space economy
  16. NZ workplace study shows more than quarter of employees feel depressed much of the time
  17. What the Bureau of Statistics didn't highlight: our continuing upward redistribution of wealth
  18. Rethink inheritances. These days they no longer help the young, they go to the already middle-aged
  19. For the first time in centuries, we're setting up a generation to be worse off than the one before it
  20. What is an inverted yield curve? Why is it panicking markets, and why is there talk of recession?
  21. Grattan on Friday: How 'guaranteed' is a rise in the superannuation guarantee?
  22. Vital Signs: Amid talk of recessions, our progress on wages and unemployment is almost non-existent
  23. Australia's tax office can use global data leaks to pursue multinationals, High Court rules
  24. Hong Kong fears losing its rule of law; the rest of the world should worry too
  25. Adani beware: coal is on the road to becoming completely uninsurable
  26. How to spot a fake review: you're probably worse at it than you realise
  27. RBA update: Governor Lowe points to even lower rates
  28. Ooshies – a cautionary toy story about cashing in on childhood innocence
  29. Vital Signs. Blame Trump, not China for the looming trade and currency war
  30. Death of the department store: don't just blame the internet, it's to do with a dwindling middle class
  31. The China-Trump trade conflict has spread to Australia. We're now at risk of global currency war
  32. Gas prices are set to stay high. The government's moves, while welcome, won't achieve much
  33. These 'job snob' claims don't match the evidence
  34. The National Breastfeeding Strategy is a start, but if we really valued breast milk we'd put it in the GDP
  35. Australia depends less on Chinese trade than some might think
  36. Vital Signs: the battle for the soul of the US Democrats that's taking place before our eyes
  37. How not to police financial services. Balanced scorecards don't work for bankers
  38. New Zealand poised to introduce clean car standards and incentives to cut emissions
  39. Shocking yet not surprising: wage theft has become a culturally accepted part of business
  40. Beyond meat? The market for meat substitutes is way overdone
  41. There's a reason you're feeling no better off than 10 years ago. Here's what HILDA says about wellbeing
  42. Over 50% of young Australians still live with their parents – and the numbers are climbing faster for women
  43. We can put a leash on Google and Facebook, but there's no saving the traditional news model
  44. What Australia's competition boss has in store for Google and Facebook
  45. Voluntary super: a good way to increase women's dependence on men
  46. The new banking code looks impressive, but what will it achieve?
  47. Are most people on the Newstart unemployment benefit for a short or long time?
  48. There is a problem with retirement incomes, but it isn't the super guarantee
  49. It's a new era for Australia's whistleblowers – in the private sector
  50. Drought and climate change are driving high water prices in the Murray-Darling Basin