To view the full article from the Australian Taxation Office click here: 2010.08.30 Key Superannuation rates and thresholds.

The ATO has put together a summary outlining the key rates and thresholds that apply in relation to contributions and benefits, emploment termination payments, superannuation guarantees and co-contributions, as well as some other superannuation rates and thresholds. [more...]

To view the full article from the Australian Tax Office click here: 2010.08.23 Guide to self-managed superannuation funds

Like other superannuation funds, self-managed super funds (SMSFs) are a way of saving for your retirement. The ATO, as the regulatory body for SMSFs, has released some useful guides to help trustees of SMSFs gain a better understanding of their super funds. [more...]

To view the full article from Professor Stiglitz click here: 2010.08.16 Professor Stiglitz: Relearning the lessons of financial and economic governance post GFC

Nobel laureate, Joseph Stiglitz, is bleak in his prognosis for the world’s largest economy. At a dinner co-hosted by CEDA in Sydney on August 5, the acclaimed international economist warned that the US was facing multiple challenges in the years ahead, beyond the immediate crisis in the financial sector. As the Obama Administration oversees a tentative recovery, Professor Stliglitz warned the US faced a “new normal” of higher unemployment, sluggish aggregate demand and significantly lower growth in tax revenues. He believes another round of stimulus spending is essential.

Of wider fears that volatile global capital markets will eventually spurn a US unable to bring under control its spiralling government deficits and public debt, Professor Stiglitz cautioned that the more pressing concern was the fate of Europe, where the average public debt-to-GDP ratio exceeded 60 per cent: “I don’t think Greece is going to be the country that will bring down the euro. Greece is so small. If it is to happen, it will be one of the bigger countries… that will really be the test.”

In delivering the Sir Douglas Copland memorial address, Professor Stiglitz provided a comprehensive analysis of the global financial crisis and its ongoing implications. The Copland Memorial Address is in honour of CEDA’s founder, Sir Douglas Copland, and was reinstated to commemorate CEDA’s 50th anniversary, and to recognise Copland’s significant contributions to Australian economic life. Attended by more than 300 prominent leaders of business and academia, the CEDA dinner was co-hosted by the NSW branch of the Economic Society of Australia.[more...]

To view the full Statement of Monetary Policy from the Reserve Bank click here: 2010.0.12 Reserve Bank – Statement on Monetary Policy August 2010

The global economy has continued to recover, with growth over the past year generally exceeding earlier expectations. There are, however, signs that global growth is now moderating from its above-trend pace over the past year, and the extent of the recovery varies significantly across regions. It has been strongest in Asia, with a number of countries in the region again approaching capacity constraints. In contrast, growth in the major North Atlantic economies has been more subdued, with these economies likely to continue operating with high levels of excess capacity for some years to come.[more...]

Download a pdf version of this offer: 2010.07.19 Healthscope cash offer

Healthscope announces today that it has entered into a Scheme Implementation Agreement
(“SIA”) with funds advised by The Carlyle Group and TPG Capital (the “Consortium”) under
which it is proposed the Consortium will acquire all of the ordinary shares in Healthscope
under a Scheme of Arrangement (“Scheme”).

Download a pdf version of this newsletter: 2010.07.19 SMSF News 13

The government has announced that the current 50% reduction in minimum payments for superannuation pensions will continue in the 2010-11 financial year. The concession will apply to account-based, allocated and market linked pensions. The minimum amounts payable depend on the age of the pension recipient.

Most global equity markets have now recovered the pullback of mid January to mid February to end the March quarter higher. Fears stemming from sovereign debt issues and Chinese authorities slowing growth have largely been put aside as markets focussed on other factors. We would expect a sustained, but uneven, global recovery in 2010 and beyond with Asia and Australia leading and Europe lagging. Increasingly, a number of central banks have started exiting their earlier policy support measures and are now starting to look to raise their official interest rates. In China, higher reserve provisions have not sufficiently curbed credit growth and higher interest rates and an appreciation of the Yuan will probably be required to prevent a further overheating in its economy.[more...]

The Federal Government announced on 30 June an extension to pension withdrawal relief — introduced in the wake of the global financial crisis — for another year. [more...]

Most global equity markets have now recovered the pullback of mid January to mid February to end the March quarter higher. Fears stemming from sovereign debt issues and Chinese authorities slowing growth have largely been put aside as markets focussed on other factors. We would expect a sustained, but uneven, global recovery in 2010 and beyond with Asia and Australia leading and Europe lagging. Increasingly, a number of central banks have started exiting their earlier policy support measures and are now starting to look to raise their official interest rates. In China, higher reserve provisions have not sufficiently curbed credit growth and higher interest rates and an appreciation of the Yuan will probably be required to prevent a further overheating in its economy. [more...]

This 2010 edition of CEDA’s economic and political overview (EPO) introduces CEDA’s 50th year. Looking back, CEDA was an organisation groundbreaking for its day with a mission to undertake ‘objective economic research on national growth’. The EPO publication and the accompanying conferences in all capital cities have a thirty year history – comprising a remarkable catalogue of Australia’s economic and political development.
Like its predecessors, this edition gives context and perspective to economic and political events of the previous year and prepares us for events and challenges over the coming year.
In 2009, the world suffered the tail end of a financial crisis without precedent and the deepest economic downturn since the Great Depression. Yet the Australian economy showed a remarkable resilience compared to most, with positive GDP growth of about 1 per cent in 2009, compared to a global fall of 1.3%. A favourable starting fiscal position with no debt, stimulus spending, rapid recovery in China and solid prudential oversight of the financial sector allowed Australia to withstand the crisis and emerge in remarkably good shape.[more...]