DESPITE WHAT THE ‘DATA’ SAYS, THE ECONOMY ISN’T PERFORMING WELL. TOO MANY PEOPLE ARE BEING LEFT BEHIND. 

Despite what the “data” says, Australia’s economy isn’t working for everyone. In this piece, Thomas Walker and the Think Forward contributors argue that headline indicators like GDP growth, low unemployment and easing inflation disguise a growing K-shaped economy, where asset-owning, older Australians surge ahead while younger and lower-wealth households fall behind. They unpack how rising inequality, housing and student debt, and blunt policy tools like interest rate hikes are eroding economic mobility and make the case for reforms that tax wealth more fairly and invest in younger generations to build a stronger, more inclusive economy.