John Howard had his back against the wall as an awkward byelection came at him in the seat of Aston, in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs. But Howard being Howard, he had a weapon up his sleeve. John and Janette Howard with first home buyer Ivan Kenny-Sumija and his family at their under construction Rowville home during the 2001 Aston byelection campaign.Credit:AAP […]

Despite the rising recession fears, confidence among German consumers strengthened for the sixth consecutive month on improving income expectations, a closely-watched survey by the market research group GfK revealed Wednesday. The consumer confidence index for April climbed to -29.5 from -30.6 in March, the Nuremberg-based GfK said. The reading for March was slightly revised from -30.5. The expected score was […]

Reflecting an uptick in consumer expectations, the Conference Board released a report on Tuesday unexpectedly showing a slight improvement in U.S. consumer confidence in the month of March. The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index inched up to 104.2 in March from an upwardly revised 103.4 in February. The modest increase surprised economists, who had expected the consumer confidence […]

Despite the ongoing pension reform strikes, French manufacturers’ confidence weakened only slightly in March to mark the first fall in four months as their view about past and future production deteriorated, survey data from the statistical office Insee revealed Tuesday. The manufacturing confidence index dropped to 104 in March from 105 in the previous month. The reading was forecast to […]

Germany’s business confidence unexpectedly strengthened in March underpinned by robust improvement in expectations despite turbulence in the global banking sector, a closely watched survey suggested on Monday. The business climate index rose to 93.3 in March from 91.1 in February, data from the Munich-based ifo institute showed. The score improved for the fifth consecutive month. The reading was forecast to […]

This article originally appeared in Refinery29 Australia. Welcome to Money Diaries, where we ask real people how they spend and save their money during a seven-day period – tracking every last dollar. Anyone can write a Money Diary! Want to see yours here? Here’s how. Today: a junior lawyer who makes $69,900 a year and spends some of her money […]

The Productivity Commission’s job is to make us care about the main driver of economic growth: productivity improvement. Its latest advertising campaign certainly makes it sound terrific. But ads can be misleading. And productivity isn’t improving as quickly as it used to. We’re told this is a very bad thing, but I’m not so sure. The commission’s latest report on […]

Retirees who turned 72 in 2022 have just a few more days to make their first mandatory retirement plan withdrawal or required minimum distribution (RMD). The first required minimum distribution deadline for retirees is April 1, and if they miss it, they could face a big tax penalty (known as the excise tax) of as much as 25%. Required Minimum […]

video Housing market to experience ‘really good’ earnings in late 2023: Jerry Howard National Association of Home Builders CEO Jerry Howard surveys the state of the housing market as the U.S. economy continues to grapple with inflation on ‘Varney & Co.’ Sales of new U.S. homes rose for the third straight month in February as buyers rushed to take advantage […]

New Zealand’s consumer confidence improved in the first quarter but remained at a very low level as households are grappled with skyrocketing living costs, higher mortgage rates and a deepening downturn in the property market, a survey conducted by the Westpac bank and the consultancy firm McDermott Miller showed Wednesday. The Westpac McDermott Miller consumer confidence index rose to 77.7 […]