Blogotariat

Oz Blog News Commentary
MacroBusiness Monday, February 10, 2025 - 00:05 Source

Australia’s manufacturing sector has shrunk to just over 5% of GDP, the lowest share in the OECD. Late last month, federal Minister for Industry and Science Ed Husic spruiked Labor’s Future Made In Australia policy to boost local manufacturing. “In Labor’s first term in office, the policies have come thick and fast: the $15 billion

The post Australia has no manufacturing future appeared first on MacroBusiness.

Read more Views: 12
Renew Economy Sunday, February 9, 2025 - 21:15 Source
Read more Views: 24
John Quiggin Sunday, February 9, 2025 - 18:39 Source

My latest from The Guardian

=With the resumption of parliament this week, and an election only months away, we have seen even more of the usual point-scoring about the cost of living, tax breaks for long lunches and budget deficits. But since the return of Donald Trump to the White House, the assumptions on which Australian economic policy have always been based are obsolete.

Read more Views: 25
Your Democracy Sunday, February 9, 2025 - 09:07 Source

In recent decades, the West has witnessed a growing trend among increasingly hubristic US leaders to proclaim the United States as “indispensable.” This rhetoric reflects a mindset often seen in declining empires: the belief that their peak is yet to come, despite mounting evidence of decay.

 

America and the forgotten memento mori (remember you are mortal)    By Les MacDonald

Read more Views: 34
Your Democracy Sunday, February 9, 2025 - 08:27 Source

...These ideologies – and they include catastrophic climate change, diversity politics, #MeToo feminism and transgender rights, as well as critical race theory – are, in fact, deeply conservative, especially in their economic and political effects.

Graham Hryce — Australian journalist and former media lawyer…

 

Read more Views: 31
Your Democracy Sunday, February 9, 2025 - 06:46 Source

Read more Views: 26
Your Democracy Saturday, February 8, 2025 - 20:50 Source

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) is riddled with almost unprecedented levels of corruption, and should be shut down, President Donald Trump has said.

In one of the first executive orders after his inauguration, Trump suspended all US foreign aid, pending a three-month review, amid a wider push to cut government spending.

Read more Views: 50
The Tally Room Saturday, February 8, 2025 - 18:00 Source

6:00 – Polls have just closed for the two Victorian state by-elections in Prahran and Werribee. I’ll be following the results here tonight.

Read more Views: 62
MacroBusiness Saturday, February 8, 2025 - 08:35 Source

DXY is back on more tariff talk. AUD was soft. Lead boots are weighing. Gold is a machine. Copper bubble! Miners lagging. EM maybe. Junk in the trunk. Yields up. Stocks down. AUD CFTC still very short in futures but long in options. Futures rule. US jobs were reasonable enough—142k and 4% UE. Wages are

The post Australian dollar bears still in the gun appeared first on MacroBusiness.

Read more Views: 48
New Politics Saturday, February 8, 2025 - 08:00 Source

Read more Views: 62
Your Democracy Saturday, February 8, 2025 - 07:56 Source

US President Donald Trump has promised to sign an executive order against paper straws next week. The move would reverse former President Joe Biden’s plan to phase out single-use plastic products in government buildings by 2027.

Trump made the announcement on Friday on his social media platform, Truth Social.

“I will be signing an Executive Order next week ending the ridiculous Biden push for Paper Straws, which don’t work. BACK TO PLASTIC!”

Read more Views: 27
Your Democracy Saturday, February 8, 2025 - 07:41 Source

A rare legal effort to secure rights for atheists and nonbelievers was quashed last month by Indonesia's Constitutional Court, which ruled that a citizen must profess a faith, even a minority one, on official documents, and that marriage must conform to religion.  

 

Read more Views: 25
Your Democracy Saturday, February 8, 2025 - 06:47 Source

The BRICS nations will not be able to find a replacement for the US dollar even if they try, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has claimed.

The comment comes as members of the economic group, including Russia, China, and India increasingly shift to mutual trade settlements in their national currencies.

 

No alternative to dollar – US treasury secretary

 

Read more Views: 27
Your Democracy Saturday, February 8, 2025 - 06:21 Source

Read more Views: 27
MacroBusiness Saturday, February 8, 2025 - 00:05 Source

International Reading: Elon Musk Now Legally Banned from US Treasury Systems – MSM ‘Big money fraud’: Musk team reportedly gains access to Medicaid and Medicare computers – Raw Story Millions of federal workers face deadline today over whether to resign – CBS News Trump tariffs ‘made something snap in us’ – many Canadians see US

The post Weekend Reading and Media Appearances appeared first on MacroBusiness.

Read more Views: 40
Your Democracy Friday, February 7, 2025 - 21:52 Source

Bent like a crooked hook, my old body falls apart

The grocery bags are scratching the ground

Arms weakened by muscle-mass loss abound

Lady walking ahead has a bargearse fart

From too tight pants that value a butt-crack

Short legged with tattoos ending higher forever

A pigeon walks like a distinguished drunken hack

Comes man in black — lorikeet on shoulder

A bird that constantly speaks its mind

Read more Views: 44
Your Democracy Friday, February 7, 2025 - 20:46 Source

JOHANNESBURG - Tensions between South Africa and the United States continue to escalate following US Secretary of State Marco Rubio's recent announcement to skip the upcoming Group of 20 (G20) Foreign Ministers' Meeting later this month.

 

Tensions rise between South Africa, US as Rubio plans to skip G20 FM meeting

By Xinhua

 

Read more Views: 37
MacroBusiness Friday, February 7, 2025 - 16:30 Source

Asian share markets are somewhat mixed with only Chinese shares really advancing as local markets dip into the red for the week on the back of a much stronger Australian dollar while Japanese shares are suffering despite some good domestic economic prints. Oil markets are slowly decelerating from their recent falls with Brent crude still

The post Macro Afternoon appeared first on MacroBusiness.

Read more Views: 56
Renew Economy Friday, February 7, 2025 - 15:26 Source
Read more Views: 55
Renew Economy Friday, February 7, 2025 - 14:55 Source
Read more Views: 25
Renew Economy Friday, February 7, 2025 - 14:43 Source

Read more Views: 30
MacroBusiness Friday, February 7, 2025 - 14:00 Source

I reported on Thursday how 48,000 New Zealand citizens left the country in the year to November 2024. Statistics New Zealand noted a provisional annual net migration loss of 30,100 people to Australia. The loss of Kiwis to Australia reflects, at least in part, the diverging labour market outcomes. Australia’s unemployment rate was only 3.9% in

The post Record number of Kiwis escaped to Australia appeared first on MacroBusiness.

Read more Views: 31
Renew Economy Friday, February 7, 2025 - 13:50 Source
Read more Views: 33
MacroBusiness Friday, February 7, 2025 - 13:30 Source

I never bet on employment reports. It is too flaky. But here’s Goldman’s take on the NFP. We estimate nonfarm payrolls rose by 190k in January, above consensus of +170k … We assume that the Los Angeles wildfires and colder-than-usual weather will each subtract 20k from January job growth. … We estimate that the unemployment

The post US jobs preview appeared first on MacroBusiness.

Read more Views: 31
MacroBusiness Friday, February 7, 2025 - 13:00 Source

Man, if you believe this, then I have a bridge I will sell you. Woodside Energy chief executive Meg O’Neill says it will be a major government policy failure if Australia cannot deliver cheap and reliable energy, while attacking environment activists for prioritising political agendas over the national interest. The comments mark a major intervention

The post Woodside demands raw prawns power Australia appeared first on MacroBusiness.

Read more Views: 28
Renew Economy Friday, February 7, 2025 - 12:34 Source
Read more Views: 27
Renew Economy Friday, February 7, 2025 - 12:33 Source
Read more Views: 30
MacroBusiness Friday, February 7, 2025 - 12:30 Source

Victoria is the most indebted state in Australia and has the lowest credit rating. Victoria’s debt is projected to soar in the years ahead, likely resulting in further credit rating downgrades. When this happens, interest payments will soar, driving up costs for Victorians and resulting in higher taxes and less money for infrastructure and services.

The post Victorian budget sinks into funding black hole appeared first on MacroBusiness.

Read more Views: 28
Renew Economy Friday, February 7, 2025 - 12:18 Source
Read more Views: 19
MacroBusiness Friday, February 7, 2025 - 12:00 Source

There’s just nothing good about it. Literally nothing. Everybody has lost money. IEEFA with the report.  Queensland marked 10 years as an LNG exporter in January 2025, and has emerged as a key supplier of LNG, primarily to China. Besides boosting Australia’s energy trade with Asia’s largest economy, the industry has left a legacy of higher

The post Everybody has lost money on East Coast gas appeared first on MacroBusiness.

Read more Views: 31

Pages