The Invisible Hand

We have some big news, and congratulations are definitely in order for Domenique, who is expecting her first child. She’ll be taking a little step back from the podcast for a while, but will be back later in the year.  Today’s show is about the RBA’s February rate hike, shifting global trade dynamics, and the growing debate over affordability.  We kick off with What’s in the News focusing on the R...

Looking back on 2025, it’s tempting to think it was just another noisy year that blurred into the background. But once you slow down and actually line up the events, a very different picture emerges. Conflict intensified, political power shifted, markets absorbed shocks that once would have caused panic, and several long-running assumptions about global leadership were quietly challenged. This epi...

Inflation has turned upward again, and this month’s news brings a shift that economists and households alike will feel. In What’s in the News , we start with the first official monthly CPI release from the ABS, which shows headline inflation rising to 3.8 percent. We walk through what’s driving the move including housing costs, food prices, and the sharp jump in electricity bills. We also look at...

This week, as the dust settles on another quarter of global economic uncertainty, we’re trying to find pockets of optimism. We actually found one right here at home. Domenique kicks us off with a surprising announcement. She's launched a new dip company with her partner in New South Wales! We take that local entrepreneurship and immediately zoom out to the world of finance, where gold prices a...

Australia’s economy is growing, but the gains aren’t keeping pace with the past. Domenique and Paul open with a sharp focus on stalled productivity growth and why it matters. Along with how it shapes living standards, and why it feels like today’s prosperity is being borrowed from tomorrow. From there, what’s in the news takes over. We discuss housing prices climbing for the sixth straight month w...

Domenique and Paul dig into the economic pressures shaping the world right now, kicking off with What’s in the News . They break down the Fed’s decision to hold interest rates at 4.5%, despite internal dissent and political pressure. With U.S. GDP bouncing back to 3% in Q2 and inflation holding at 2.7%, they look at how front-loaded imports to beat tariffs distorted the numbers—and why Jerome Powe...

What happens when political forecasts miss the mark, global rules evolve, and economic models don’t quite capture reality? In this episode, we dive into the major political and economic stories shaping Australia’s role on the world stage. Co-hosts Domenique Sherab and Paul Scanlon take you through a three-part format, delivering insightful analysis and grounded perspectives on the key forces drivi...

In episode 15, Domenique and Paul try to avoid talking about Trump's tariffs but end up doing it alot. In between, they discuss housing affordability in Australia and the major parties policy proposals to address this before the upcoming Australian election; and whether the Euro could ever become the global reserve currency. 

In this episode, Domenique and Paul throw out the plan for the episode to discuss the biggest economic news story of the day: the fall out from Trump's new tariff regime on the world.

In this episode, Domenique and Paul discuss Trump's tariffs and Chinese consumption, dive deep into the findings of the Knight Frank Wealth Report and consider the big economic risks for 2025. 

In the 12th episode, Domenique and Paul discuss the latest Australian inflation print and economic decisions coming from the new Trump administration. In the second section, we discuss Deepseek and how it is disrupting markets and whether this will have long term global and Australian economic impacts. In our final segment, we discuss the current financial malaise in China and some local factors c...

In the first episode for 2025, Domenique puts Paul back in the hot seat while he sets his predictions for the year ahead: from GDP and inflation, to whether Trump will go ahead with his trade war. 

In the final episode for 2024, Domenique and Paul discuss the RBA's latest decision to hold the cash rate in the face of weak wages and GDP growth and review Paul's economic predictions for the year to see how he fared. 

In episode 9 Domenique and Paul throw out the usual structure of the podcast to discuss the momentous US election and the economic policy implications this may have for the US and the world.

In this episode, we discuss the latest economic data coming out of the Australian and Chinese economies, the upcoming US presidential election and, for our final segment, return to Paul's predictions for 2024 to see how he is tracking. 

In episode 7, we run through some key data points that have come out over the last quarter, from GDP, inflation, wages growth to understand what these mean for the Australian economy. In our final segment, we discuss three emerging industries in China and discuss whether they can help solve the structural problems the country faces. 

In our final episode for 2023, we talk predictions: will the cash rate go up, inflation down? Will the price of oil slump? Can China get out of its current economic malaise to bolster global growth? Tune in for the predictions to these and many more. 

In episode 5 of the Invisible Hand, we discuss the most recent rate rise by the RBA, some new data releases coming out of Australia and the US, and Paul thinks about some thorny questions in the discussion about structural issues confronting the Chinese economy. 

On this week of the Invisible Hand, we talk about the many variables that go into making decisions at the RBA, we take a look at the Australian economy and how the property market in China is faring and what impacts we can expect on the Australian economy. 

This week in The Invisible Hand, Domenique is joined by Jamie Bang, while Paul is on paternity leave. In the episode we discuss housing undersupply in Australia, whether the RBA can still travel along the narrow path out of inflation and finally how both Jamie and I met Paul. 

For our second episode we discuss the reduction in inflation in Australia and whether the RBA will be able to walk the 'narrow path' for another economic miracle, the downgrading of the US long-term credit rating and we return to consider the deflationary pressures plaguing Australia's biggest trading partner.

For our inaugural episode of the Invisible Hand, we discuss inflation, the current state of the property market and the role of dwindling primary exports in the Australian economy.