Summary: Interview with Tom Tobin from Tobin Brothers Interview with RMIT economist Sinclair Davidson Leon and Garry discuss issues including: The International Monetary Fund releasing €1.72 billion ($A2.48 billion) in aid for Greece after completing a review of the country's performance under the international rescue program. China's central bank injecting 17 billion yuan ($A3.06 billion) into the domestic banking system after a liquidity squeeze rocked financial markets in the world's second-largest economy last month. United States home prices jumping12.2 per cent in May compared with a year ago, the biggest annual gain since March 2006. Higher home prices help the economy by encouraging more sellers to put their homes on the market, boosting supply and sustaining the housing recovery. In Australia, building approvals tumble by almost 7 per cent in June, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics The Grattan Institute saying that successive federal governments may have squandered more than nine out of every 10 dollars delivered by the terms-of-trade boom over the past decade, deepening the nation’s budget vulnerability. It says that successive Labor and Coalition governments failed to use the windfall from surging commodity prices to keep the budget in surplus. It found that the terms of trade delivered a windfall of $190 billion over the 10 years to 2012-13 but $182 billion of that was spent on tax cuts and increased concessions on superannuation. The mining downturn continues with a Deloitte Access Economics report warning that the mining investment boom is winding down sharply, with the next few months set to be a turning point for the Australian economy, The latest Mining Business Outlook Report from Newport Consulting finding that Australian miners have awoken to the reality that the mining boom is over and are preparing to move on, but Australian policymakers have been slow to create post-mining boom policies to help ease the transition UBS finds that the continued fall of commodity prices and concerns over China's economic growth have installed the mining sector as the greatest bad-debt threats to banks. OZ Minerals Ltd flagging a significant hit to its first-half profit due to falls in copper and gold prices and Moody's cuts Newcrest Mining Ltd's credit rating to Baa3 and declares its outlook as negative, after the gold miner last month announced a shock $6 billion in asset writedowns. In corporate news, Woolworths Ltd records a strong lift in full-year sales, buoyed by the strength of its Australian food and liquor businesses. Coles and Woolworths face a long court battle with the ACCC over their $200 million a year of petrol subsidies, which the regulator believes may be a form of predatory pricing or abuse of market power. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission says supermarkets offering petrol discounts are likely to have a negative effect on competition in the petrol industry and may breach competition laws. And the Nine Entertainment Co hopes to raise up to $1.2 billion through its initial public offering (IPO), and is nearing a deal with banks.
