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
Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen told ABC’s 7.30 Report on Monday night that “I never quite bought all the hype on green hydrogen”, despite wasting billions of taxpayer dollars on it. Video by Osher Feldman Bowen’s claim is hilarious given that the Albanese government’s $23 billion Future Made in Australia (FMIA) scheme has set
Good news, but the consequences are unknown. The US Supreme Court refused to clear the Postal Service to enforce new restrictions on mail-in ballots for the congressional midterm elections, rebuffing the Trump administration’s request to intervene after several states launched early voting. The justices’ decision on Monday came after North Carolina and Alabama began mailing thousands of ballots to voters and
The ANU Migration Hub’s Alan Gamlen is one of the nation’s key purveyors of immigration propaganda. While admitting that temporary visa numbers are too high, Gamlen has lambasted One Nation’s planned cuts to temporary visa numbers back to 2017 levels, which would deliver several years of negative net overseas migration (NOM), claiming that it would wreck
New yuan loans for August were out Monday and slowed sharply. Bank loans of RMB 300bn missed the Bloomberg consensus of RMB 404bn. Total social financing was RMB 1660bn, versus Bloomberg’s consensus of RMB 2122 billion. TSF stock growth (or Broad Credit, as I call it) was 7.2% year over year in August compared to
In 2023, federal Infrastructure Minister Catherine King rejected Qatar Airways’ bid to add 21 weekly flights to Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane. The decision only became public in late July 2023, after airlines and industry groups began questioning why the application had stalled. King signed the rejection on 10 July 2023 but did not announce it
Chinese output data came out yesterday. Industrial production allegedly grew by 5.2%. Turning to steel, output was down 3.7% year-to-date. Pig iron is down 3.1% year-to-date. EAF is once again heading for extinction. Real estate is falling relentlessly. Starts are kaput. Floor area under construction still has far to fall. Prices are still falling, with
War headlines today. Oil flows via Yanbu pipeline are expected to restart within days, according to US Energy Secretary Chris Wright. Yeah, but what volume? Not enough. Saudis cancel September-loading crude cargoes to Europe. Following an attack in the Strait of Hormuz, Oman’s navy rescues 23 seamen. Attacks on tankers appear to be moving into
Following the release of the latest ABS Labour Account data earlier this month, Treasurer Jim Chalmers took to social media to laud the result, stating that: This much is true: when job growth is broken down by sector, the private sector is responsible for the overwhelming majority. However, the reality is unfortunately quite different from
Victorian Premier Ben Carroll is failing to cut through with voters, as new polling shows state debt is now one of the top concerns heading into the next election. Victorian voters are increasingly anxious about state debt, the cost of the Suburban Rail Loop, and rising interest rates — and this anxiety is dragging down Premier
Javier Blas, energy and commodities columnist at Bloomberg, posted the following chart on X (Twitter) showing how the International Energy Agency (IEA) has consistently underestimated global coal demand, which is running around 1 billion tonnes higher (~9%) than the agency had expected only five years ago: “The forecasting error equals to the anual demand of
Cotality’s daily dwelling values index shows that dwelling values have declined by 5.3% from their 10 April peak across the five major capitals, led by Sydney (-7.7%) and Melbourne (-6.9%): New analysis from Cotality shows that one in two homes purchased in Sydney and Melbourne in the past 12 months now sell for less than their
If you are like me, you’ve been obsessed with questions of Artificial Intelligence (AI) epistemology for some time. This is vital to understanding the economic peril/promise the technology holds. I long ago concluded that AI is like some kind of super bogan: an information management system that makes crude errors, but less so than its
A nation that can’t make steel isn’t a nation. To wit. Hundreds of workers will lose their jobs due to a decision to shut down the blast furnace at South Australia’s Whyalla steelworks. The key piece of infrastructure, which helps convert iron ore into steel, has been deemed beyond repair. The parasitic Labor government has
In the 1990s and early 2000s, Victoria’s roads were considered the best among the eastern states, which made sense given its higher population density, as it has the nation’s second-largest population occupying a relatively small landmass. I lived in Canberra from 2003 to 2006, working at the Australian Treasury. We drove between Canberra and Melbourne
DXY got a little safe-haven bid. AUD was pounded lower despite North Asian support. The twins of doom are doing the opposite. I wouldn’t buy either yet. Copper cracked. Big miners are about to enjoy double trouble as copper and iron ore both fall. EM stocks gapped into madness. As junk turned into a screaming
War headlines today. IRGC: super carrier ablaze in Hormuz after hitting a mine in Omani channel. Pakistan: US seeks agreement with Iran. Saudi seeks more oil flow through Hormuz. It cancelled Iran’s meeting with Gulf states. Houthis seize more Bab al-Mandeb islands and bomb Saudi Arabia’s King Khalid Air Base. What is actually true, I
In recent days, the situation for the Yemeni government and its Saudi Arabian allies has deteriorated dramatically. It has reportedly lost several strategically vital islands, including the Hanish islands, located approximately 160km north of the entrance to the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the island of Mayyun (also known as Perim), which sits at the narrowest point
One Nation has released its immigration policy, which appears mostly sound. One Nation has promised to reset the stock of temporary visas to 2017 levels, which would see net overseas migration (NOM) turn negative for a period of three years: These cuts to the temporary visa intake would be achieved by lowering the stock of
NSW has $100 billion in data centre projects under consideration and is grappling with how to ensure enough energy supply while meeting its 2030 and 2035 emission reduction targets. The baseline forecast from AEMO’s latest Integrated System Plan (ISP) forecasts around 1.7GW of peak demand from data centres by 2035 across NSW and the ACT,
Defenders of mass migration often argue that Australia’s ‘skilled’ immigration system boosts the nation’s productivity because migrants are more skilled than locals and earn higher incomes. However, when you examine the macroeconomic data, you quickly discover that Australia’s labour productivity growth has collapsed alongside the strong rise in immigration, which contradicts their claims. ‘Big Australia’
TME smooths ruffled feathers. Where is the FOMO? For markets sitting not far from the highs, the flow picture is surprisingly cautious. Risk demand is back to neutral, equity sentiment has turned negative, US fund inflows have collapsed, ETF flows are weak and hedge funds are running unusually low exposure. In other words, there isn’t
Australia needs a fresh start for its immigration programs. Back when Australia recruited immigrants mainly from developed countries, the emphasis was on attracting the best people to come live in Australia. A few lemons might slip through, but that was a price worth paying. Australia was the supplicant in the immigration market. Now that Australia
The US CPI was higher than expected on Friday night. It exhibited four problems. First, and most obviously, headline CPI was juiced by oil and products. Second, the effect already appears to be trickling down into core goods, which include food and El Niño ahead. Third, core services bounced, perhaps in response to the same
Last week, we witnessed an all-out attack on democracy from the federal government and the bureaucracy. We learned that the secretaries’ board, which comprises all federal department heads, is pushing for new rules to stop the sharing of public testimony on social media because it could expose officials to ridicule, hostility, or abuse. The board’s
The iron crash is here as the bizarre rally in steel prices falters. It’s a wonder it has taken this long as steel production collapses. Steel inventories are still high. As steel demand is also sinking, along with exports. Prices tumbled last week It is much worse when you factor in shipping costs. FOB prices
