The global economy is definitely looking up in the short term, according to the 730 senior institutional investors who shared their expectations in latest The Economist magazine’s Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) study of investor... read more

ONCE A WORLD BANK poster child and rising tiger of the Asia-Pacific, Vietnam has been economically volatile since it tried to stave off the worst effects of the global financial crisis (GFC) by releasing tranches of cheap credit to state-owned... read more

The accountancy profession in China has a short history of about 30 years and auditing is even younger. The profession’s role in China’s capital market is still evolving and is yet to achieve a status akin to that of the profession in... read more

CPA Australia president John Cahill FCPA and chief executive Alex Malley FCPA launched the book Australia’s Competitiveness: From Lucky Country to Competitive Country at the prestigious National Press Club in Canberra today. The book is... read more

Most companies still take a national or regional view when allocating resources for global growth, says a report from McKinsey Global Institute. It recommends a shift in focus to fast-growing cities. The massive wave of urbanisation and the rapid... read more

It’s Wednesday night in the Indonesian city of Yogyakarta and the Sheraton hotel’s Embassy nightclub is packed. Drinks may cost upwards of A$10, but for the affluent, iPhone-wielding crowd, money is seemingly no object. The... read more

Australian economists have identified that the biggest issue for this year is how the country’s economy transitions from mining investment to other areas of growth, Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s Australia chief economist, Saul... read more

Since the mid-1960s, many world economies – including Australia – have enjoyed long business cycles averaging 8.5 years, according to a new report by market research firm Ibis World. At this rate, based on historical cycles, it’s... read more

Customers were expected to drop nearly A$12bn in spending in the week before Christmas, according to the Australian National Retailers Association (ANRA). And just what are we spending our hard-earned cash on this holiday season? read more

While many businesses are still recovering from the effects of the global financial crisis (GFC), the family business sector managed to come through the crisis relatively unscathed. “The average tenure of a family business CEO is 17... read more

From the rooftops of the elevated Cantagalo favela (shanty town), Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana Beach is a wide arc of golden sand extending toward the horizon. Below the bun-shaped profile of Sugarloaf Mountain, serried ranks of... read more

Research on Australia’s competitiveness by the University of Hong Kong’s Professor Michael Enright has shown that Australia overestimates its economic integration with Asia and needs a wake-up call. Enright, formerly of Harvard... read more

“China’s growing population, changing diets and declining food production mean there are enormous, long-term, sustainable opportunities for Australian food sector companies to help solve China’s food safety and security... read more

WHAT DOES 2013 have in store for the global economy? In terms of growth, equity market stability, fiscal policy, political change and unrest, messages are mixed. For some, increased consumer spending, industrial production and export growth in the... read more

IT’S TIME TO MOVE the relationship between Australia and China to a more strategic level, says China’s Ambassador to Australia, Chen Yuming. He applauds the past 40 years of what he says has been a successful, friendly and cooperative... read more

Earlier this year, when the Australian dollar slipped below parity with the US currency, the hopes of exporters soared. Just months later the Australian dollar was resurgent, a tough reminder that it is likely to remain so for the foreseeable... read more

Increasing integration and boosting economic relations between Australia and New Zealand (NZ) is on the agenda again, after the governments of both countries asked their respective productivity commissions to review the opportunities, costs and... read more

The Eurozone is the world’s largest economy, with 20 per cent of global GDP. Companies around the world have significant exposure to the region through trade, finance and foreign direct investment. However, two years of problems... read more

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released its Consumer Price Index (CPI) today for the June quarter. CPI rose 0.5 per cent in the past quarter, while in the March quarter it rose a mere 0.1 per cent. CPI has risen 1.2 per cent through the... read more

ON 11 MARCH LAST YEAR Japan was rocked by one of the most powerful earthquakes in recorded history. Surveying the destruction wrought by the tremor, the subsequent tsunami and a nuclear meltdown, Prime Minister Naoto Kan declared it the greatest... read more

Australia and Malaysia signed the Malaysia-Australia Free Trade Agreement (MAFTA) in Kuala Lumpur on 22 May. MAFTA, which must now be ratified by both countries, could go into effect as early as 1 January 2013. “I can only describe the... read more

As expected, the Australian Government has mapped out its plan for a A$1.5 billion surplus in 2012/13. However, all is not done. There is still much to do. Success for the government on delivering its forecast will be largely dependent on... read more

One thing is certain about this Federal Budget: the Australian Government will deliver a surplus for 2012-13, by hook or by crook. Whether it will deliver any real economic benefits is debatable. So why is the government delivering a surplus?... read more

The party may be nearing an end for commodity exporters, with a weak global economic outlook heralding not only slower price growth this decade but a possible decline in 2012-13. Commodity prices have risen dramatically in the past decade, those... read more

The number of small businesses going bankrupt in Australia jumped by 48 per cent last year compared with 2010, while the number of small business start-ups fell by 95 per cent over the same period, according to analysis by Dun & Bradstreet... read more