Stephen Kirchner

The recent weakness is US investment should remind Australian policymakers they cannot take our appeal to global investors for granted.

Foreign investment uncertainty nearly doubled for the four quarters of 2020 compared to the average for 2019. The government must articulate its reasons for rejecting foreign acquisitions.

The permanent loss of population from border closures is not just a technical assumption, it is a policy choice. The government should fund a scaled-up managed isolation and quarantine capacity to ease the current rationing of international arrivals.

The government should aim to develop and publish clear and consistent principles for the application of the new national security test — something that has traditionally been lacking in Australia’s regulation of foreign investment.

Many of the myths about quantitative easing in the US have migrated to Australia and are now being heard from Australian politicians. The comments reflect several misconceptions about QE.

Regardless of who wins the election, the incoming government should avoid repeating the mistake of allowing the Reserve Bank to formulate a monetary policy statement in a way that downgrades the inflation target.