iPartners inFocus – Glass half full: How ‘Lucky Country’ will weather cost-of-living crisis

Australians are unhappy. And we don’t have to look too far to see why. We are dealing with the ongoing cost-of-living crisis. Overlaying that, we have a housing affordability crisis and a rental crisis. Low construction activity means we have a housing supply crisis and higher mortgage rates means we have a household debt crisis. Rising constructions costs contributed to insolvency and corporate failures.

Housing policy changes have pushed house prices lower, also depressing consumer confidence. And worries about the housing have-and-have-nots is a key input into a perceived crisis of inter-generational equity. The political backdrop is fractured and trust in government has fallen.

Overseas, we have trade wars, real wars, geopolitical shocks, oil shocks, a structural slowdown in China and a seemingly never-ending stream of natural disasters. Australian unhappiness is worthy of a gold medal on a global comparison. And close to a personal best from a domestic perspective.

However, it isn’t all doom and gloom. Far from it. In his latest inFocus report, economist Michael Blythe, argues that the unrelenting focus on these negatives means that many of the positives are concealed or ignored. And it is a worthwhile exercise to count Australia’s economic blessings!

Read the full report here: iPartners inFocus – Glass Half Full