Sylvester Stallone
Life Advice from Sylvester Stallone
Five life lessons from Sylvester Stallone's autobiography, The Steps, on resilience, ambition, persistence and the hidden costs of success.
Benchmark Analytics
Independent economic and financial services analysis
Original analysis of new Australian economic and financial-services data.
Latest analysis
Israel
Israel's Arab parties win a record 19 seats: What does this tell us about its democracy?
Arab-led parties won a record 19 Knesset seats in Israel's 2026 election. We explain their histories, differences with Likud and what their electoral success reveals about Israeli political institutions.
China
China's economy is slowing. Why Australia's iron ore exporters should be concerned
China's manufacturing and construction activity contracted in October, with construction new orders falling to 40.0. We explain the PMI figures and the implications for Australian iron ore exports.
Us MIdterm Elections
US politics fundamentally changed
The 2026 US midterm elections have delivered historic Democratic victories in Texas. With major implications for the Electoral College, immigration and government spending, the results raise a fundamental question about the future direction of American politics.
House Prices
Why building a house keeps getting more expensive, even as demand weakens
House-building costs continue to rise despite softer demand. New ABS figures show how skilled labour shortages and competition from infrastructure and data centres affect housing supply.
Benchmark Indicators
Australian economy at a glance
Political Data Alerts
Know what the new data means.
Priority monitoring and rapid analysis of the releases that matter to government relations, corporate affairs and policy teams.
More analysis
Hedging
Australia's $2.25 trillion foreign-currency exposure: A growing risk for superannuation?
Australia's net foreign-currency asset exposure has increased $579 billion since 2022. Growing international investments bring opportunities, but also currency and liquidity risks.
Business Lending
Why is Australian business borrowing growing at 11% despite higher interest rates?
Australia's business borrowing is accelerating despite the Reserve Bank's efforts to slow the economy.
New RBA figures show business credit increased 11.3% over the year to September 2026, compared with 9.4% a year earlier. That is considerably faster than housing credit growth of 7.
Australian Banks
10 Insights from the Westpac Results
Westpac's $6.8 billion profit tells only part of the story. Its 2026 results reveal ten important developments in business credit, household finances, competition, regulation and the future of banking.
Artificial Intelligence
The RBA's extraordinary warning about AI share prices
How much future profit growth is already reflected in soaring US technology share prices?
Speaking on 26 October, Reserve Bank Assistant Governor Brad Jones warned that, until recently, market valuations implied approximately 45% annual earnings growth for the US information technology sector indefinitely, beyond the next three years.
The arithmetic
Competition
The $12 million vegetable cartel: How suppliers fixed prices charged to ALDI
Perfection Fresh has admitted fixing vegetable prices supplied to ALDI on 11 occasions. The ACCC is seeking a $12 million penalty, while proceedings against other suppliers continue.
Health Care Industry
Healthcare is now Australia's biggest industry. Why has the ABS changed how it measures it?
Healthcare and social assistance has become Australia's biggest industry, generating $265 billion annually. New ABS research reveals surprising facts about the market-based economy and productivity.
Covered Bonds
Why the Government wants to let smaller banks issue 50% more covered bonds
The Government wants banks to commit 50% more assets to covered-bond security pools. The reform could lower funding costs for mid-sized banks, but comes with risks for depositors.
RBA
The RBA warns Australia's superannuation safety net is changing
Australia's superannuation funds receive $1–2 billion in net inflows weekly, helping stabilise financial markets. The RBA warns that growing retirement withdrawals could change that.