Debt will grow, for government, business and individuals alike, with interest rates to stay low – but all under control.

The detail in the present truce in the US-China trade war carries some bad news for Australia.

Both countries have good reasons to cool off the two-year trade war.

Everything leaks in Washington, except the 150-page summary of the trade talks – and that’s a good sign of seriousness.

With the US election looming, the window for an agreement is closing – yet the two sides are closer than often assumed.

A deal will imply that economic separation – or “decoupling” ­– of the two giant economies has not been pursued.

The US is in trade rows with all of its major trading partners at once.

Foreign direct investment in Australia has boomed despite warnings of a sharp loss of international competitiveness.

The problem for the global economy is not what the Trump administration has done so far. It is what it may contemplate doing next.

In the economic realm, China is not only rapidly becoming a superior power, but also one with the same partners as the US.

Muslims are certainly a target for Senator Hanson, but I’ve little doubt their integration into Australian society is proceeding in much the same way as past waves of migration.

Ambitious reform plans go to the core of the regime's power. Little wonder the pace is slowing.

The RBA leadership is clearly thinking about the possibility that the relationship between inflation and output growth may have altered in an enduring way.

My guess is the RBA is already thinking about a program of rate increases that will continue for several years.

The issues Trump and Xi do not discuss may be as telling as those they do.

At some point the Trump Administration will have to confront the fact that the US economy is in better shape than Trump depicted during the campaign.

This is the second in a two-part series examining Saudi Arabia's ambitious plan to transform its economy. Part 1 looked at the reach of the Vision 2030 plan and labour force implications; part 2 examines which industry bets are most likely to pay off. Vision 2030's central and stunning call is to

Scott Morrison, widely expected to be appointed Australia's new treasurer early next week, can't change the world. Or at least not over the next year or so. But he can reinterpret it, and that's sometimes as much as a treasurer can do. He should and probably will promptly cancel whatever overseas