Three things to watch out for this week

Inflation rates around the developed world have been subdued for years now, and Australia is no exception. Low oil prices, weak wage growth, retail competition and stretched household budgets tell a lot of the story.

Although controlled consumer price growth is a good thing, once the trend becomes disinflationary central banks start to worry about a deflationary spiral, whereby consumers hold off in the hope of further price falls and business delays investment. In Europe and Japan, this fear has driven official interest rates to zero or below.