In November, it was reported that the Albanese government wrote to the states demanding they rein in spending on hospitals. According to ABC News, the letter stated: “For states and territories to realise a Commonwealth contribution of 42.5% of public hospital costs by 2030-31, under the capped glide path model, it will be necessary for
Five years ago, during the first Trump presidency, I wrote a controversial post titled Could Trump be Right About Ethical Investing?. At the time, Trump was attacking “activist” pension funds. My argument was that while I disagreed with his stance on climate change, he had a valid point about agency: Why should a fund manager
Drive.com.au published interesting data showing the decline in battery electric vehicle (BEV) sales in Australia despite massive subsidies from governments. Over the first 11 months of this year, only 8.5% of vehicles sold were BEVs, down from 9.5% over the same period in 2024: Internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles accounted for 70.7% of vehicle sales
Over the last two and a half years, the Albanese government has embarked on a campaign that one former RBA economist characterises as artificially manipulating the headline Consumer Price Index through electricity subsidies. This has significantly suppressed the rate of headline inflation relative to where it would otherwise have been. Former Reserve Bank economist John
Last week, we learned that the US unemployment rate rose to a four-year high of 4.6% in November, beating analysts’ expectations of 4.5%. The result marked the fifth consecutive monthly increase in unemployment, which reached its highest level since 2021. Average monthly job creation since March declined to 35,000, down from 71,000 a year earlier.
Wall Street and other risk markets continue to drift into holiday mode as a Santa rally gets underway in precious metals while the USD continues to face endemic pressure. Yen continued to pullback after a big move on Friday while the Australian dollar finally made its way back above the 67 cent level following the
Multiple Victorian government releases have explicitly described the Suburban Rail Loop (SRL) as “Australia’s largest housing and transport project”, because the rail line is expected to result in a massive housing‑led urban redevelopment program. The Victorian Government states that the SRL will “build 70,000 homes around six new stations” in the SRL East corridor. Additional
From the Market Ear: The vol smash All volatilities have been reset lately, but NASDAQ volatility remains way above year lows, VIX is close to year lows and Russell volatility, RVX, is practically at year lows. Seen VVIX? VIX is down, but VVIX has crashed lately. Soggy VIX The front VIX future keeps lagging its
The Australian has published fascinating data showing the extraordinary rise in home values this century. As illustrated below, house prices have soared by between 227% (Darwin) and 570% (Adelaide) over the past 25 years: Unit prices have experienced similarly explosive growth, rising by between 163% (Darwin) and 600% (Adelaide) over 25 years: Cotality’s latest housing
Asian share markets are generally still doing well as we head into the low volume Christmas period with local shares the standout on a somewhat dovish outlook from the RBA minutes released today. This has seen the Australian dollar continue its bounceback on a slightly weaker USD above the 66 cent level. Oil markets remain