It is Monday the 4^th of August 2025. Global share markets are under pressure after US President Donald Trump announced a raft of tariffs on friend and foe alike, as his deadline for trade deals passed. Australia has done relatively well, attracting a ten per cent tariff. Some regions and countries ended up with lower tariffs than first announced on Liberation Day. Others ended up with higher tariffs.

Listen to today's episode 🎧 

News in brief

The Allan Labor government in Victoria wants to legislate to ensure employees in the state get to work from home two days a week. Announced at the Labor Party state conference over the weekend, the decision is controversial. Unions like it. Businesses don’t.

The Productivity Commission has suggested a cut to the company tax rate by up to 10 percentage points for businesses with revenue under $1bn while adding a new 5 per cent net cashflow tax for all companies that leaves some exposed to higher taxes.

National dwelling values rose by 0.6 per cent in July with every capital city recording an increase. Darwin led the way with a solid 2.2 per cent rise followed by Perth at nearly 1 per cent. The weakest rises came in Hobart, Melbourne and the ACT.

Weaker-than-expected US jobs data raised concerns about the health of the world’s largest economy. The July figures were lower than expected and the May and June figures were revised down. In response, US President Donald Trump sacked the Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner.

Fear-o-meter

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan wants to legislate work-from-home for two days a work, infuriating some business groups. Here's her argument.

"Working from home works for families and it’s good for the economy.

It’s popular. Flexible working arrangements are utilised by workers and businesses alike, with more than a third of Australian workers...regularly working from home.

It saves families money. It saves Australians on average $110 a week or $5,308 every year...

"It cuts congestion. Victorians are now spending less time commuting, saving more than three hours in their week on average...

"It gets more people working. Work from home supports women with children, carers and people with a disability to work... 

"It’s good for business. Those who work from home are working nearly 20 per cent more hours than those who are working in the office full time."

Fear & Greed Q+A today

On the week ahead for the economy, including the significance of the upcoming international trade figures:

 

"Why is the Australian economy still not getting that traction that we'd want it to? The value of exports has fallen 15pc in the last two years. Volumes are actually holding up okay, so the tonnages of stuff that the big exporters are selling to China and resources and these sorts of things are okay, but the price has fallen.

 

Instead of getting over 50 billion per month in export receipts, cash, it's down to about 42, 43 billion per month and that's putting a big hole in bottom line national income and that's sort of why perhaps the economy is a little bit weaker than we thought. So I'm going to be looking at these trade numbers to see where there's any rebound in exports."

Greed-o-meter

National dwelling values rose by 0.6pc in July, according to Cotality's Home Value Index. That's six straight months of gains, aligning with the first interest rate cut in February.

Source: Cotality

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