Hi all, A quick note to offer guidance on the new website. As well as the layout changes that make it easier to access content for new readers, it comes with a dramatically improved sign-up and resubscription process, greatly enhanced speed, and a much better mobile experience (since 95% of traffic is now phone!). The
In this MacroBusiness podcast, Gunnamatta, banking insider Deep T, and Leith van Onselen unpack the latest productivity summit, Australia’s broken economic model, Australia’s energy policy failures, and other issues. Highlights: 0:00 Introduction 1:26 Why Australia’s productivity stinks 10:27 The economic Ponzi scheme 21:29 The economy is designed to fail 26:13 Australia should be the richest nation
International Reading: The RAND Corporation estimates that rich parasites have stolen $79 Trillion from workers and the public since 1975 – Rand Trump Attacks ‘American Disgrace’ Jerome Powell: ‘One of the Dumbest, and Most Destructive, People in Government’ – Mediate Social Security is on track to deplete its trust funds by 2034, one year sooner
AUD/USD EUR/USD USD/JPY GBP/USD Gold WTI Brent Australia 200 US S&P 500 UK 100 Japan 225 …..and furthermore….. East listening
Cotality’s latest dwelling value results for New Zealand revealed that home values fell by 1.6% in the year to May to be 16.3% lower than their peak. As illustrated in the following chart from Cotality, home values have fallen heavily across all major markets. Separate data from the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ),
Let’s do some more worrying, shall we. The Australian. The waning possibility of Anthony Albanese landing a face-to-face meeting with Donald Trump in coming weeks has sparked alarm from the Coalition and defence experts, who have raised concern about the two leaders not meeting before Washington’s controversial AUKUS review concludes and instead leaving the outcome
The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia’s (ASFA) latest modelling suggests that a couple who own their home now requires annual income of $73,875 to live comfortably in retirement. The figure for a single person who owns their home is $52,383. The analysis also shows that the cost of a comfortable retirement increased by 1.6% in
The Market Ear with the charts. AI or die Goldman’s AI winners basket hit a fresh all-time high, while AI-risk names dropped again. Source: GS/Bloomberg The pulse on tech Mag7 names now make up ~15% of US net exposure (up from ~11% in April), but still well below the ~21% peak in mid-2024. The L/S
Thursday’s Q4 2024 population data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) revealed that “natural increase” (i.e., the number of births minus deaths) fell to only 105,200 in 2024, close to the lowest level on record. There were 292,500 births in 2024, offset by 187,300 deaths, the latter of which have risen following the Covid-19
Even the cartel-loving AFR can’t come to grips with selling Santos to the UAE. The strategic rationale for the bid probably revolves around LNG and the bidder’s eagerness to capitalise on the expansive portfolio of projects Santos is developing not only in Australia but also South-East Asia and Alaska. ADNOC has a minimal track record
Over the past week, we have seen multiple articles like the following from The West Australian complaining about the decline in housing affordability, which has left residents struggling to pay mortgages or rent. These articles are based on the latest Housing Affordability Report from the Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre, which blames a ‘lack of supply’
Westpac with the note. The Westpac-DataX Card Tracker Index* has firmed over the last two weeks after a very volatile period through Mar, Apr and May. The latest weekly read of 140 is up 2.3pts from the end of May, the last two weeks recording the strongest average read outside of the post-holiday rebound in
The monthly growth in Seek advertised salaries has shown hints of stabilisation but is still trending lower. I expect the fade to continue as the immigration-led labour market expansion economic model does its thing. I do not expect we’ll get back to last cycle’s lows because the Labor government is forcing more wage rises via
DXY is holding on. AUD is breaking down somewhat. Lead boots are getting heavier. The Trump fool has unleashed oil. Metals no bueno. Miners far to fall yet. EM meh. Junk still OK. US markets were closed but the European tell is heading south fast. War is not complex. Credit Agricole. Investors remain on tenterhooks
Another night dominated by central bank decisions contrasted with indecisions around the Israeli war on Iran with the Swiss bank cutting rates to zero while the BOE held fire, just after the Fed a few days ago, while the Trump regime again goes to the TACO truck when talking about non-existent negotiations with the Iranian
In September 2024, the Housing Industry Association (HIA) labelling the federal government’s failure to control immigration a “systemic policy failure” that “compounds the challenge of delivering sufficient housing”. “The underestimation of population growth is a systemic policy failure that compounds the challenge of delivering sufficient housing”, HIA chief economist Tim Reardon said. On Thursday, the
The Rudd/Gillard Labor government made the disastrous decision in the early 2010s to authorise LNG exports from Gladstone, Queensland, without forcing gas producers to first serve the domestic market. As a result of this policy blunder, East Coast Australia became the only gas exporting jurisdiction in the world without a domestic gas reservation policy. We
The Israel-Iran war continues to dominate risk markets as the TACO-in-Chief threatens to join in with bunker busters over the weekend to eliminate the Iranian nuclear facilities. The USD is gaining strength against most of the undollars with the Australian dollar losing ground on a relatively weak unemployment today, heading back below the 65 cent
Liberal MP Garth Hamilton has called for sweeping changes to the tax system, arguing that it needs to be inclusive and support modern families. His suggestions for reform include introducing lifetime deductions on tax rates for mothers, in recognition of the fact that they often have lower salaries when they return to the workforce. Hamilton
ANZ with report. Australia’s annual greenhouse gas emissions declined 1.2% in the year ending March 2025, according to the National Greenhouse Gas Inventory. This follows a flat annual result over the year to December 2024. Excluding the land use, land use change and forestry4 (LULUCF) sector, annual emissions fell 1.0% in the year to March
The blueprint for how to fix Australia’s tax system was spelled out 15 years ago by the Henry Tax Review. Unfortunately, both sides of government ignored its recommendations. Fast forward to today, and the federal budget is facing a decade of budget deficits amid the unwinding of commodity prices, the ageing population, and increasing spending
The cartel is back, baby. And so are ludicrous electricity prices. Bowen is the great fiddler. The Australian. The Albanese government’s planned overhaul of household electricity price caps could put small energy retailers surviving on razor-thin profit margins out of business. Federal Energy Minister Chris Bowen confirmed the government would review the Default Market Offer
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has released the May labour force report, which reported a steady unemployment rate of 4.1% despite the loss of 2,500 jobs. The unemployment remained steady due to the 0.1% fall in the labour force participation rate. However, despite the loss of jobs, monthly hours worked jumped by 1.3% in
The Market Ear on a rapidly exhausting market. Shorts stopped out Recent equity strength has been fueled by underweight positioning and a brutal short squeeze. But signs of relief are emerging — UBS reports the strongest hedge fund deleveraging since March, with sharp short covering. Nasdaq short interest is now in the 25th percentile, showing just
Labor’s Powering Australia Plan claimed that it would cut NEM wholesale power rates by $11 per MWh (from $62 to $51) by 2025. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese praised RepuTex Energy’s analysis as “the most comprehensive modelling ever done for any policy by any opposition in Australia’s history since Federation”. Albanese also regularly claimed that Labor
DXY went nowhere. AUD recovered some. Lead boots are going sideways. Oil short? Metals bifurcating. Biug miner bear one for the ages. EM meh. Junk hasn’t budged. Long end sort of OK. Stocks nothing burger. Here are the Fed headlines. *FED HOLDS BENCHMARK RATE IN 4.25%-4.5% TARGET RANGE *FOMC MEDIAN FORECAST STILL SHOWS 50 BPS
