30 March 2024
1300 794 893

Craig James

Craig James is CommSec’s Chief Economist.

On leaving school Craig James joined the (then) Rural Bank, whilst undertaking university studies. He received his Bachelor of Commerce (Economics) at University of NSW in 1984 and then a Master of Commerce (Economics) at the same university in 1988.

He remained at the Rural Bank, which became the State Bank over time and then Colonial, working in branches, Corporate, Planning and Economic Research.

He became chief economist of Colonial Group in September 1987, before becoming chief economist at CommSec in August 2000 with the Commonwealth takeover of Colonial.

In 2002 Craig had a sea-change, joining the Australian Financial Review. He had always wanted to pursue a role in journalism and enjoyed the role as an economic commentator and analysts, finding that he could pursue a journalistic-type role as well as doing more electronic media work at CommSec and rejoined the group in 2003.

On taking the reigns of chief economist at Colonial, Craig endeavoured to style their research in a “user-friendly” way – something that set their research apart and still does today. The approach has been successful in their media work and in promoting Colonial, and then CommSec, to the general public. CommSec is the most quoted economic group in the mainstream media.

CommSec economic reports are a bit different in that they devise tools such as the ‘Mums and Dads’ share index and the iPod index, and undertake research on the weather and demographic changes to show how they affect the economy.

Craig currently does around 2-3 regular TV crosses a day, ad hoc radio and newspaper interviews and writes regular commentaries as well as presenting to staff, clients and external organisations.

Outside work, Craig's main interests are athletics (cross country in winter), weight training, reading widely across a range of newspapers, magazines and electronic media, and trying to keep up with the children.

24 August 2020
Good morning, Australia

Catch up on the latest market and economic news from Australia and around the world.

21 August 2020
Australia: Spotlight on business investment data

In the coming week, June quarter data on construction activity and business investment will be adversely impacted by the virus lockdown over April and May. But weekly card spending, consumer confidence, jobs and wages figures will provide a timelier update on the health of the economy.

17 August 2020
Good morning, Australia

Catch up on the latest market and economic news from Australia and around the world.

14 August 2020
Australia: The consumer is in the spotlight

In the coming week, there are a number of the relatively ‘new’ indicators from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) including preliminary retail trade for July on Friday.

10 August 2020
Good morning, Australia

Catch up on the latest market and economic news from Australia and around the world.

7 August 2020
Australia: Jobs, wages & confidence data dominate

In the coming week, there are a number of key economic indicators and events to focus on. The July jobs data, business and consumer confidence and company earnings results are the highlights.

31 July 2020
Australia: Reserve Bank dominates proceedings

A bevy of economic and financial events ushers in the month of August with the Reserve Bank firmly in the spotlight.

27 July 2020
Good morning, Australia

Find out what's happening in Australia and overseas with the latest money and economic news.

24 July 2020
Australia: Inflation in focus

Inflation data dominates in the coming week. At present the quarterly data on price changes doesn’t rank highly for investors with the pandemic impacting on wage growth and consumer demand.

20 July 2020
Good morning, Australia

Catch up on the latest market and economic news from Australia and around the world.

17 July 2020
Australia: Budget update and Reserve Bank Governor speech

In the coming week, a speech by the Reserve Bank Governor and the July Economic & Fiscal Update are the highlights. The other stand-outs are preliminary data on retail trade and international trade in goods

13 July 2020
Good morning, Australia

Catch up on the latest market and economic news from Australia and around the world.

Get the latest financial, business, and political expert commentary delivered to your inbox.

When you sign up, we will never give away or sell or barter or trade your email address.

And you can unsubscribe at any time!
Subscribe
1300 794 893
© 2006-2021 Switzer. All Rights Reserved. Australian Financial Services Licence Number 286531. 
shopping-cartphoneenvelopedollargraduation-cap linkedin facebook pinterest youtube rss twitter instagram facebook-blank rss-blank linkedin-blank pinterest youtube twitter instagram