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MacroBusiness Tuesday, January 20, 2026 - 00:05 Source

According to Cotality, Australia’s dwelling value-to-income ratio was tracking at a record high of 8.2 in the September quarter of 2025. Despite three 25-bp interest rate decreases from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), the percentage of median family income required to service a new mortgage on a median-priced home was still historically high, at

The post Australian house prices accelerate into new year appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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Renew Economy Monday, January 19, 2026 - 20:28 Source

Ireland's oldest wind farm decommissioned to make way for expansion of adjoining project that will feature 18 turbines - each bigger than the entire project they replace.

The post Ireland’s oldest wind farm closes down to make way for one of Europe’s largest projects appeared first on Renew Economy.

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Renew Economy Monday, January 19, 2026 - 20:14 Source

Goyder South wind farmCEFC provides another $70 million to help $100 billion state-run investment fund drive more emission cuts in portfolio companies.

The post CEFC commits $70 million to energy and transport projects backed by state owned fund investment fund appeared first on Renew Economy.

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Renew Economy Monday, January 19, 2026 - 18:10 Source

CS Energy has blamed human error on an internal IT network for the sudden outage that caused the trip of the two units at the Callide C coal generator last Thursday.

The post Human error on internal IT network blamed for latest Callide coal outage appeared first on Renew Economy.

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Your Democracy Monday, January 19, 2026 - 16:57 Source

Chancellor Friedrich Merz has launched a fresh critique of German work ethic, questioning why employees take an average of “almost three weeks” of sick leave annually instead of working harder to boost the country’s dwindling economy.

Campaigning in Baden-Württemberg last week, Merz took aim at the system of telephone sick notes, introduced during the coronavirus pandemic, wondering “does it still make sense today?”

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MacroBusiness Monday, January 19, 2026 - 16:00 Source

Wall Street futures fell sharply alongside the USD (and Bitcoin) while gold and undollars rose on the weekend tariff orders from the Trump regime, with the Europeans playing hardball. Asian share markets are all in the red given the risk off mood with the latest Chinese economic figures (and more importantly – population figures –

The post Macro Afternoon appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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Renew Economy Monday, January 19, 2026 - 15:22 Source

The world's first giga-scale battery project was installed in 2021. This year, there will be 120 of them.

The post More than 120 giga-scale battery projects planned around world in 2026, as costs continue to fall appeared first on Renew Economy.

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Your Democracy Monday, January 19, 2026 - 15:04 Source

 

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Renew Economy Monday, January 19, 2026 - 14:54 Source

CallideCCoal-plant-CS-Energy.jpgQueensland's troubled coal plant suffers new outages, just two months after huge maintenance spend, leading to evacuation and new questions about LNG energy plan.

The post Queensland’s fossil-first energy plan under attack with new outages and evacuation at troubled coal plant appeared first on Renew Economy.

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Renew Economy Monday, January 19, 2026 - 14:38 Source

Tararua turbine fire. MercuryA turbine fire at ageing wind farm causes five-hour shutdown as owner mulls options for repowering the facility.

The post Turbine fire at ageing wind farm causes five hour shutdown over weekend appeared first on Renew Economy.

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Renew Economy Monday, January 19, 2026 - 13:59 Source

MFS, 1Komma5º Croydon fireFirefighters investigate cause of blaze in Adelaide, which has caused major damage to energy company 1Komma5º's solar panel and battery warehouse.

The post Fire in solar panel and home battery warehouse in Adelaide under investigation appeared first on Renew Economy.

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Renew Economy Monday, January 19, 2026 - 13:50 Source

Collie Battery Energy Storage System western australia synergyAlthough batteries still account for a modest share of total capacity, they are exerting a disproportionate influence in Australia's main grids.

The post The rise of battery storage, and why the grid is rapidly passing gas! appeared first on Renew Economy.

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MacroBusiness Monday, January 19, 2026 - 13:00 Source

TME with the details. That was the soft launch They told us AI was a chatbot. A productivity toy. A nicer autocomplete. That was the soft launch. In its latest Tech Predictions, CB Insights argues that AI’s next phase is no longer digital, but physical. Models are moving into machines, vehicles, warehouses, and defense systems,

The post Here comes Asimov AI appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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MacroBusiness Monday, January 19, 2026 - 12:30 Source

The first of two current shipments from Simndou has arrived in China. There are no reports of further January shipments. Operations are limited by the return of 18 locomotives to China, which were supposed instead to be made by Wabtec (Westinghouse) or in the US. Another 37 locomotives are scheduled for delivery by March, and

The post Pilbara killer iron ore arrives in China appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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MacroBusiness Monday, January 19, 2026 - 12:00 Source

With the release of the latest gross operating company profit data from the ABS, it was revealed that they were flat in nominal terms for the quarter, despite analysts expecting a 1.5% quarter-over-quarter rise. This result leaves the nation’s gross operating company profits in an undesirable position when it comes to contributing to GDP, up

The post Big Australia strategy backfires badly appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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MacroBusiness Monday, January 19, 2026 - 11:30 Source

BofA’s master strategist is bullish on China. The Price is Right:“new world order = new world bull” as Trump drives global fiscal excess; stay long international stocks (Chart 3) as US exceptionalism positions rotate to global rebalancing (note $1.6tn US equity inflow in 2020s vs. just $0.4tn to global funds–Chart 4); China our favorite long

The post Michael Hartnett gets lost in China appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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Your Democracy Monday, January 19, 2026 - 11:28 Source

You can always tell how murderous the U.S. empire is being from day to day from the expression on warmongering senator Lindsey Graham’s face, and right now he looks like he just found his mother dead in the bathtub.

 

Caitlin Johnstone: Just Read Lindsey Graham’s Face

Lindsey Graham’s long face is encouraging. Maybe war with Iran really has been put off for the time being.

 

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MacroBusiness Monday, January 19, 2026 - 11:00 Source

Since the Albanese government came to power in May 2022, the size of day-to-day government spending relative to GDP has gotten larger and larger, to the point where only the absolute height of the Covid panic saw government playing a greater role in the economy. Concerns about this meteoric rise have often been dismissed and

The post Welcome to Australian austerity appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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Your Democracy Monday, January 19, 2026 - 10:45 Source

“The United States of America is running Venezuela. By definition that’s true,” Donald Trump’s deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller, said in a notable CNN interview last week.

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MacroBusiness Monday, January 19, 2026 - 10:00 Source

It’s baaaaack, and it’s not much improved. The government is edging closer to passing most of its hate speech laws, with the Coalition open to striking a deal that would bolster safeguards to address fears about an overreach of new powers to criminalise hate groups. …the Coalition wants to impose safeguards around a power that

The post Albo’s hate bill returns appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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MacroBusiness Monday, January 19, 2026 - 10:00 Source

With the release of the latest Commonwealth Bank Household Spending data, it was revealed that for yet another year most households saw their spending go backwards once adjusted for inflation. In headline terms, the result was relatively robust at first glance: growth of 0.7% for the month of December and 6.3% for the 2025 calendar

The post Most Australians went backwards in 2025 appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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Your Democracy Monday, January 19, 2026 - 09:56 Source

IN PHYSICS EVERY ACTION HAS A REACTION…

Isaac Newton's Second Law of Motion describes what happens when an external force acts upon a massive body at rest or in uniform linear motion. What happens to the body from which that external force is being applied? That situation is described by Newton's Third Law of Motion. It states, "For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction." 

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John Quiggin Monday, January 19, 2026 - 09:49 Source

As part of my critique of pro-natalism, I’m looking at the philosophical foundations of the idea. Most of the explicit discussion takes place within the framework of consequentialism (the idea that the best actions or policies are those with the best consequences) and particularly of utilitarianism, broadly defined to say that the best consequences are those which maximise some aggregate function of individual happiness or wellbeing.

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John Quiggin Monday, January 19, 2026 - 09:37 Source

Another Monday Message Board. Post comments on any topic. Civil discussion and no coarse language please. Side discussions and idees fixes to the sandpits, please.

I’m now using Substack as a blogging platform, and for my monthly email newsletter. For the moment, I’ll post both at this blog and on Substack. You can also follow me on Mastodon here.

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MacroBusiness Monday, January 19, 2026 - 09:30 Source

Apparently, the obvious cannot penetrate Canberra’s immigration addiction. An exclusive Newspoll conducted for The Australian between Monday and Thursday last week revealed One Nation’s primary vote has risen seven points to 22 per cent over the past two months, with the Coalition dropping three points to a record low of 21 per cent and Labor falling

The post One Nation surge death knell of immigration economy appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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MacroBusiness Monday, January 19, 2026 - 09:17 Source

This sentence is the understatement of the century. Donald Trump always puts himself at center stage when he travels abroad, but the US president made sure his foray to Davos this week will be particularly dramatic. He set up his visit to the World Economic Forum in Switzerland by shaking the foundations of both the EU

The post Australian dollar thumped as US tariffies Europe appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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MacroBusiness Monday, January 19, 2026 - 09:00 Source

Well its going to be another interesting trading week to say the least with a flat session on Wall Street ahead of their long weekend holiday, while the rest of the world has to again adjust to a new world order where Europe and the US could be going to war. It will be a

The post Macro Morning appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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Your Democracy Monday, January 19, 2026 - 06:55 Source

CSIRO chief Doug Hilton announced he’s sacking 350 scientists, but the $965K pa head of the science body now refuses to have his own ‘sacking science’ publicly reviewed. Transparency Warrior Rex Patrick reports.

Back in April 2024, in the context of a newly announce ‘Made in Australia’ policy, MWM wrote about our flat-lined manufacturing as a percentage of GDP (5%) and our plummeting economic complexity world ranking (105th).

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MacroBusiness Monday, January 19, 2026 - 01:14 Source

The ferrous jaws got too wide and are now choking on a lack of oxygen. I wouldn’t get too excited about recent rebar strength.  It will be snuffed out the moment EAF mills turn back on and not have any effect on iron ore. Scuttlebutt is useful. Total stocks of imported iron ore across China’s

The post Iron ore comet screams towards earth appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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MacroBusiness Monday, January 19, 2026 - 00:05 Source

Bridging visas were the single largest contribution to the spike of temporary migrants after the Covid-19 pandemic, increasing by 201,300 between Q3 2019 and Q3 2025: Bridging visas are generally issued by the Department of Home Affairs for two reasons: When the Department of Home Affairs is unable to execute an onshore visa application before

The post Australia backtracks on Indian student visas appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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