The US economy was front and centre of yesterday’s debate between presidential candidates Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.

Trump’s proposals to hike tariffs on Chinese imports as well as apply them to other countries’ goods will backfire against American producers, and lead to a rise in inflation and hurt American consumers.

That’s according to Hayley Channer, the director of the United States Studies Centre Economic Security Program.

Ms Channer discusses the candidates’ economic agendas and the impact they would have on Australia’s economy:

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Former Reserve Bank governor Bernie Fraser has called for the current RBA board to start cutting interest rates.

On RN Breakfast, Mr Fraser said he agreed with Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ assessment that the central bank’s aggressive interest rate hikes over the past couple of years is “smashing the economy”.

“I happen to share that view. I think this is a misjudgment, a miscalculation on the part of the present board.

“It’s an overemphasis on inflation to the exclusion of these other things that need to be taken into account.

“Talking tough on inflation and threatening to keep interest rates high, and even put them up higher, will overall do nothing at all to wind in inflation.

“What it will do, though, is worsen the problem for those people who are already suffering, and those that would be further caught up in any worsening of the likely slowing down in the economy and in unemployment and so on.

“So I think it’s time for the bank to take have regard to all its objectives that are specified in its charter, and get on its bike and start winding interest rates down to avoid these threatening problems on recession and unemployment, and greater vulnerability for the poorest sectors of our community.”

Nine Entertainment has announced that Mike Sneesby will step down as chief executive, leaving the media company at the end of the month.

The CFO Matt Stanton will act in the role from October 1 while the company searches for a new boss.

In a note to the ASX, Mr Sneesby and the Board said they considered it was the “right time for transition of leadership”.

“On behalf of the Board, I thank Mike for his significant contribution to Nine over more than a decade,” Nine chair Catherine West said.

She said Mr Stanton is well-placed to lead the business “while a search for a new CEO is underway”.

The announcement comes months after Nine Entertainment announced it would lay off up to 200 employees.

The Productivity Commission chair Danielle Wood has mounted a defence of economists and their role in public policy while conceding they have made mistakes.

Dr Wood’s speech comes amid a heated debate over the impact and effectiveness of the Reserve Bank’s monetary policy.

Business reporter Gareth Hutchens has done a nice job of breaking it down simply for us:

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In case you need a refresher on what happened on markets yesterday, here’s Alan Kohler’s finance report:

With Australia’s economy growing at its slowest pace in decades (excluding the COVID pandemic) and expectations interest rates could soon start to fall, analysts are warning there is too much “exuberance” on the share market.

In what was an ominous start to corporate reporting season last month, the Australian share market shed more than $100 billion during a massive global sell-off that was sparked by concerns about a potential US recession.

But after that temporary blip, the ASX 200 rebounded, and is back near record highs.

Is the market over-valued, and which stocks / sectors are likely to do well in the year ahead?

You can find out right here, by watching my story:

For years, the maker of iPhones got a sweetheart tax arrangement from Ireland to pay less than 1 per cent tax on its billions of dollars in profits across the world.

But this week, the EU’s highest court ruled an appeal of a 2016 decision should be set aside, meaning Apple now owes the Irish government €13 billion ($21.5 billion) in tax, plus interest.

Ireland had joined Apple in arguing against the bill being enforced, but it now stands to invest the money into a sovereign wealth fund.

How did this play out, and could the same thing happen in Australia? Esther Linder explains:

The federal government will introduce a bill on Thursday that would grant Australia’s media watchdog greater powers to pressure tech companies to crack down on misinformation and disinformation on their platforms.

Under the changes, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) would have additional information-gathering, record-keeping, code registration and standard-making powers that would allow them to ensure social media platforms are meeting their obligations.

If the platforms do not comply, they could be slapped with a range of penalties, including a maximum fine of 5 per cent of their global revenue.

For more, here’s the story by Insiders host David Speers and political reporter Maani Truu:

A Canadian convenience store giant, Couche-Tard, is pushing ahead with attempts to take over 7-Eleven and form the world’s largest convenience store network.

But the move faces resistance from officials and customers, who want the brand to remain in Japanese hands.

Here’s the story by Angus Mackintosh:

Good morning! I’ll be here to guide you through the latest finance and economic news.

The Australian share market is set to open higher, following big gains across Wall Street’s technology stocks — and slightly worse-than-expected US inflation figures.

Shares of Nvidia surged 8% after its chief executive Jensen Huang saying the company is struggling to keep up with demand for its artificial intelligence chips.

This pushed the S&P 500 and Nasdaq up 1.1% and 2.2% respectively, while the Dow Jones index rose by a modest 0.3%.

It comes as the US Labor Department reported its core consumer price index (CPI) — which excludes volatile food and energy costs rose 0.3%. (It was slightly higher than market’s expectations of a 0.2% increase).

This suggests inflation in the US is ‘stickier’ than expected, and falling more gradually than most people would like.

The significance of these figures is that it looks very unlikely the US Federal Reserve will announce a significant interest rate cut at its meeting next week.

The odds of a standard rate cut (25 basis points) has increased to 85%, while the probability of a super-sized cut (50 basis points) has dropped to 15%, according to CME Group’s FedWatch tool.

The Australian dollar is trading at 66.7 US cents, following a slight gain of 0.3%.