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
International Reading: Trump’s economic approval rating takes a nosedive with a 62% disapproval rate – The Mirror Billionaire’s 6am email that wiped out 10,000 jobs as AI layoffs spiral – Daily Mail Trump Deals Massive Blow to Economy With New Small Business Loan Rule – New Republic Most Americans Just 3 Months Away From Financial
I should have known. This is performative democracy. Not democracy. The American Madman has declared nearly Mission Accomplished President Donald Trump said the war in Iran is “very close” to completion, even as he said the US plans to launch fresh attacks on the country within the next two to three weeks. Trump in a rare prime-time
Home prices in Australia have never been this high. The latest home price data from PropTrack shows that at the end of March 2026, the nation’s median home price had risen by 63% since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) also valued the average dwelling at
The $50 billion National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) has become a perpetual motion machine that is driving ‘jobs and growth’ across the economy while acting as a lead weight on the federal budget. As illustrated in the following chart from CBA, the NDIS has delivered an unprecedented boom in healthcare and social assistance jobs, which,
Yesterday and today, we had the spectacle of serial Anglosphere leaders delivering national addresses one after the other. It looked rather like press offices had pressed the “say something” emergency button. Some are now arguing that the bufoon Albo has done more harm than good. Even though the majority of Australians presently place the blame
Since One Nation began its meteoric rise in the polls late last year, some have remarked that this rise was not underpinned by a genuine willingness to vote for One Nation when confronted with the choice at the ballot box. The argument was made that it was instead a form of protest against the established
Gas idiocy is back. It never left. The gas export cartel on the East Coast is still behaving, keeping the local market well-supplied at around $10Gj. The big fight continues. The Middle East war has pushed global gas prices higher, putting Australian exporters in line for windfall profits and sparking calls from the Greens, unions,
The Australian Bureau of Statistics’ (ABS) most recent dwelling completions data revealed that over the first 15 months of the National Housing Accord, 81,000 (27%) fewer homes were constructed than needed to meet the government’s target of building 1.2 million homes over five years, starting July 1, 2024: New South Wales’ and Queensland’s housing shortfalls
Charts from TME. The SPX breakdown has crashed upward again. NDX likewise. CTAs are flushed. Bond volatility is still a threat. Oil is looking encouraging. SKEW is not. Can the bounce persist? There’s room galore for the first time in ages, if you like old themes. Cheapest in forever. NVDA is much cheaper than CBA!
Macquarie University’s vice chancellor and former Treasury secretary Martin Parkinson will reportedly use a National Press Club speech to call for economic reform to avert stagflation. According to the Australian Financial Review, Parkinson will advocate for reforms to the skilled migration system to boost the working-age population and the economy’s growth potential. “We need to
The ferrous complex is still agitating around oil, but the jaws are pretty wide, even accounting for increased shipping costs. The China PMIs were not very encouraging. Although they bounced. The PMIs were led by insurance, telecommunications, radio, television, and satellite transmission, railway transportation, and financial services sectors, which were all above 55. In contrast,
Iran’s letter to the American people has trumped Trump, again. To the people of the United States of America, and to all those who, amid a flood of distortions and manufactured narratives, continue to seek the truth and aspire to a better life: Iran—by this very name, character, and identity—is one of the oldest continuous
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released data this week on population growth in the capital cities for the 2024-25 financial year. The headline results are summarised below by the ABS, with Melbourne leading the nation’s population growth (105,030), followed by Sydney (75,230), Brisbane (58,223), and Perth (58,088): However, the drivers of population growth across
God only knows this is a fool’s errand, but here goes my best guess at what the mad POTUS will say tonight in his national address Mission Accomplished. He, Donald Trump has made Americans safer by destroying Iran. The nuclear threat is gone. America will withdraw in 2-3 weeks. He, Donald Trump, has some mopping
Former NSW Premier Mike Baird has penned an article in The Australian arguing that Australia is no longer a low-debt country and state and territory governments now account for about half of the nation’s total public debt. Between 2007 and 2023, Baird argues that Australia recorded the fastest growth in public debt (as a share
Wage theft continues to run rampant across Australia: A nationwide audit has uncovered more than $300,000 in wages owed to migrant workers in regional hospitality venues, as experts warn underpayment and exploitation remains a “pervasive” issue across Australia. More than half of the cafes, pubs and restaurants inspected were caught underpaying or exploiting migrant workers in what
The threat of rising interest rates, low yields, and the expected unwinding of property tax concessions has led to a sharp decline in investor demand for housing. On Tuesday, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) released credit aggregates data for February, showing that housing credit in Australia grew by 0.58% in February, down from the
Australia faces an energy-scarce future, despite being the world’s largest coal exporter, the second-largest natural gas exporter, and holding 30% of the world’s uranium. To meet the federal government’s 82% renewable energy target (RET), the majority of Australia’s current coal fleet must be retired and replaced with approximately 6–7 GW of new large-scale renewable generation
Markets are partying on some crazy headlines. President Trump told aides he’s willing to end the U.S. military campaign against Iran even if the Strait of Hormuz remains largely closed, administration officials said, likely extending Tehran’s firm grip on the waterway and leaving a complex operation to reopen it for a later date. More. Iran’s
In the history of Australian politics, there is a relatively small number of phrases that are burned into the nation’s collective consciousness, whether for better or for worse. Phrases like “It’s time”, “The recession we had to have” or a more recent challenge that really came into its own during the pandemic, “That’s a state
The evidence is rapidly accumulating that the Australian economy is entering depressflation. A junior West Australian iron ore miner was forced to scale back non-essential activities to keep its operations running after coming within days of running out of fuel. Fenix Resources, which operates three mines in the state’s Mid West, hauls its iron ore
The American Empire is dying before our very eyes. This is no longer a long-term Thucydides Trap decline. This is an accelerated collapse in which all American allies will reassess their position simultaneously. There were three main pieces to the American empire. The first and foremost was NATO. Post-WWII, NATO was the glue that bound
Australian consumer sentiment is imploding, with the ANZ-Roy Morgan weekly consumer confidence report plunging to a fresh 53-year low. All subindices deteriorated last week, with household confidence in their current and future finances at their lowest level since the subindices were first available in 1985. Following two back-to-back interest rate hikes, mortgage holders are the
Cotality’s March housing report has been released, showing that Australia’s rental crisis is deteriorating at an accelerating pace amid strengthening demand. Monthly advertised rental growth has held steady at 0.7% over the past two months, taking quarterly growth to 2.1%, the largest increase since May 2024. Over the year to March 2026, advertised rents rose
No. But the WSJ piece is the best option I’ve read since it started. President Trump told aides he’s willing to end the U.S. military campaign against Iran even if the Strait of Hormuz remains largely closed, administration officials said, likely extending Tehran’s firm grip on the waterway and leaving a complex operation to reopen
