Goldman with the note. Government Shutdown: Much Closer to the End Than to the Beginning2 The partial shutdown of the federal government looks likely to last longer than any prior shutdown, mainly because there is little political pressure to end it. A greater share of the public holds Republicans and President Trump responsible for the
Alan Kohler is one of the few ABC journalists willing to openly and honestly discuss Australia’s immigration system, which is the fundamental driver of the nation’s world-beating population growth. The following video presentation by Kohler explained how the surge in international students in Australia is one of the key drivers of the nation’s high immigration-driven
I spend a lot of time asking one simple question: Can earnings keep doing the heavy lifting? Valuations are stretched at the top end of the market, and the AI investment cycle is still in full flight. Yet, for all the worry, the income statement remains surprisingly resilient. So far, the reporting season has two
Budget watcher Chris Richardson says that public service wage pressures are exceeding budget forecasts. “It would appear the wage pressure is beating the budget forecast and that was always the likely outcome”, he said. Richardson’s comments follow an AFR analysis of 16 financial reports by federal agencies, which revealed that 14 had unbudgeted increases in
Australia’s official unemployment rate was 4.5% in September, the highest reading since November 2021 and significantly above the Reserve Bank’s forecast contained in its August Statement of Monetary Policy. I have argued repeatedly that Australia’s labour market has been artificially propped up by the unprecedented boom in non-market sector jobs, funded by the taxpayer. Australia’s
RBA futures still see one more interest rate cut, but it’s six months away Meanwhile, Bloxo leads off the rate hike hysteria. Third-quarter inflation surprised sharply to the upside, and when a big surprise like this comes along, there are typically two possible responses. One is to dismiss the data as statistical noise that will
The ferrous jaws must shut. And we have the perfect monster to do it. And it’s a moment that has the iron ore market holding its collective breath. The size and richness of the deposit means the start up at Simandou threatens to further tilt the power dynamics in a market already facing an uncertain demand future,
Yet again Wall Street only rallied overnight due to tech giants as the AI bubble keeps the mirage of everything afloat. The USD is holding firm against all the majors although is making new ground against Kiwi and the Canadian Loonie while the Australian dollar is just holding on above the 65 cent level. Remember
Last month, Build Skills Australia released a report warning that there are not enough tradespeople to meet Labor’s target of building 240,000 homes per year, which was tracking 65,970 (27%) behind in 2024-25. According to Build Skills Australia, the building rate per new resident has plummeted, despite the fact that the number of homes built
With the release of the latest ABS household spending data, it was revealed that in inflation-adjusted terms, households had only grown their spending by 0.2% in the September quarter. This result was down significantly from the 0.9% achieved in the June quarter and the weakest result since September last year. In per capita terms once