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Oz Blog News Commentary
MacroBusiness Monday, December 8, 2025 - 11:00 Source

Modelling by Infrastructure Australia in 2017 predicted that household water bills would quadruple over 50 years due to population growth and climate change, rising from $1,226 in 2017 to $6,000 in 2067 in real dollars. A 2021 analysis by the Productivity Commission (PC) also warned that the expected 11 million increase in Australia’s metropolitan populations

The post Sydneysiders face water shock appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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xkcd.com Monday, December 8, 2025 - 11:00 Source

Our models fall apart where the three theories overlap; we're unable to predict what happens when a nanometer-sized squirrel eats a grapefruit with the mass of the sun.

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Your Democracy Monday, December 8, 2025 - 10:54 Source
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MacroBusiness Monday, December 8, 2025 - 10:30 Source

Following the release of the Q3 ABS Household Spending data, which revealed a growth of just 0.2% in inflation-adjusted terms for the quarter, concerns began to mount that the third-quarter GDP figure could be weak. After being supported by solid quarterly growth in aggregate household spending in the prior three quarters, this concern was well

The post AI data centres rescue the Aussie economy appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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MacroBusiness Monday, December 8, 2025 - 10:00 Source

Australia is a global outlier on immigration, no matter how much the government, the media, and others try to argue otherwise. Australia’s population growth is extreme relative to other developed nations. In the first 25 years of this century, Australia added 45% more people, easily eclipsing other advanced nations. This extreme population growth was delivered

The post Australia is the immigration outlier appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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MacroBusiness Monday, December 8, 2025 - 09:30 Source

The Reserve Bank of Australia meets this week and then has a long holiday until February 2026, with expectations of a hold locked in almost completely, which has sent the Pacific Peso higher in recent weeks: After finding a base around the 65 handle, with a brief dip below on some wonky US reports, and

The post Australian dollar flying higher into RBA sights appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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MacroBusiness Monday, December 8, 2025 - 09:00 Source

Friday night saw modest gains across both sides of the Atlantic as Wall Street awaits this week’s FOMC meeting and the long expected rate cut from the Fed. Bond markets continue to sell off slightly while the USD was relatively steady but dropped to a two week low even as Euro pulled back slightly as

The post Macro Morning appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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The Tally Room Monday, December 8, 2025 - 08:45 Source

Ben was joined this week by Osmond Chiu, Per Capita research fellow and contributor editor for the Labor Left magazine Challenge, to discuss the factions of the Australian Labor Party.

Read Osmond’s 2020 piece in Jacobin on the history of Labor’s factions.

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Your Democracy Monday, December 8, 2025 - 08:33 Source

The EU has once again strayed beyond acceptable boundaries, slapping Elon Musk’s social media platform X with harsh penalties for being in violation of new draconian EU digital laws that many say are code for censorship.

 

Elon Musk wants to abolish the EU. He has a pointThe “bureaucratic monster” that has just fined X €120 million is wrapping its tentacles around free speech

BY Robert Bridge

 

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MacroBusiness Monday, December 8, 2025 - 08:00 Source

The nation’s auction market is ending 2025 with a whimper. The monthly average final auction clearance rate across the combined capital cities declined to 64% in November, down from the recent peak of 70% in September. Sydney and Melbourne have driven this decline in auction clearances. Sydney’s final auction clearance rate fell to 63% in

The post Housing demand stalls as RBA eradicates FOMO appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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Your Democracy Monday, December 8, 2025 - 07:44 Source

Australia’s new Defence Delivery Agency may finally expose an uncomfortable truth – that Australia already has formidable deterrent capabilities through the Royal Australian Air Force and emerging drone systems, making the AUKUS submarine commitment both risky and unnecessary.

 

Robert Macklin

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Renew Economy Monday, December 8, 2025 - 07:03 Source
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MacroBusiness Monday, December 8, 2025 - 07:00 Source

From the Market Ear: Got commodities? “Trump runs it hot, oil bounces post Russia-Ukraine fix, China keeps yuan cheap, soon all the commodity charts will look like gold…” (BofA) Energy XLE has been stuck inside the same range since March 2022. Things could get very squeezy should we take out current range highs. The 30

The post Markets heat up (almost) everywhere appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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Your Democracy Monday, December 8, 2025 - 06:55 Source

 

Merz hails Germany's friendship with Israel on first visit

Merz in Israel: Working toward goal of 'new Middle East'Kieran Burke | Karl Sexton | Emmy Sasipornkarn | Timothy Jones dpa, AFP, Reuters, AP, epd, KNAThe German chancellor said "lasting peace is possible" in Gaza and that the possible establishment of a Palestinian state, alongside Israel, offered the best prospect for future peace. DW has more.

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Your Democracy Monday, December 8, 2025 - 05:45 Source

China now dominates in every technology that defines the modern world.

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MacroBusiness Monday, December 8, 2025 - 00:05 Source

Former Treasurer Peter Costello has told an e61 Institute event in Sydney that the federal government should consider reintroducing the baby bonus. Costello’s 2002 budget introduced it, giving parents $3,000, but it was wound back about a decade ago. Australia’s fertility rate is now at a near-record low of 1.48 births per woman, with the

The post Cheaper housing is the antidote for falling fertility appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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George Monbiot Sunday, December 7, 2025 - 23:08 Source

A eureka moment in the pub could help transform our understanding of the ground beneath our feet.

By George Monbiot, published in the Guardian 5th December 2025

It felt like walking up a mountain during a temperature inversion. You struggle through fog so dense you can scarcely see where you’re going. Suddenly, you break through the top of the cloud, and the world is laid out before you. It was that rare and remarkable thing: a eureka moment.

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Renew Economy Sunday, December 7, 2025 - 21:24 Source
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MacroBusiness Sunday, December 7, 2025 - 10:00 Source

By Trent Saunders, Senior Economist at CBA The Q3 25 GDP figures pointed to an economy on a much more solid footing when compared to the last few years. GDP improved to be 2.1% higher over the year, up from a low of 0.8%/yr in Q3 24. The October Monthly Household Spending Indicator (MHSI) rose

The post The economic week ahead appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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Your Democracy Sunday, December 7, 2025 - 08:58 Source

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Renew Economy Sunday, December 7, 2025 - 07:51 Source
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Your Democracy Sunday, December 7, 2025 - 06:55 Source

Delivered as remarks to Brown University’s Watson School during its “China Chat” series, Chas Freeman reflects on China’s return to global prominence and the United States’ accelerating retreat from the international order it once led – and asks what coexistence looks like as power shifts in the 21st century.

 

Chas Freeman

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Digitopoly Sunday, December 7, 2025 - 05:29 Source

From a firm’s perspective, the emergence of a new technology wave is a new opportunity to generate a financial return. The question is precisely how. That topic remains as salient today, in the era of artificial intelligence, as it was when firms first encountered smartphones, the commercial internet, and personal computers.

Before we fully embrace this new era, let me suggest that we review lessons from the most recent era of technology adoption. In particular, let’s focus on consumer computer technologies (CCTs) – the mix of the mobile ecosystem and the widely used internet, enhanced by Web 2.0.

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Your Democracy Sunday, December 7, 2025 - 03:33 Source

RT’s editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan has been included in the Financial Times’ list of the world’s most influential people for 2025, after years of “propaganda” slurs and criticism by the British outlet.

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Your Democracy Sunday, December 7, 2025 - 03:22 Source

 

“just peace” between Russia and Ukraine is only possible if the sides agree to halt the fighting along the current front lines and then move on to talks, Ukraine’s top military commander, Aleksandr Syrsky, has said. Moscow has argued that a pause would only benefit Kiev and allow it to regroup its battered army.

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Your Democracy Sunday, December 7, 2025 - 02:47 Source

It is one thing to produce a written national security strategy, but the real test is whether or not US President Donald Trump is serious about implementing it. The key takeaways are the rhetorical deescalation with China and putting the onus on Europe to keep Ukraine alive.

 

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Your Democracy Saturday, December 6, 2025 - 16:39 Source

Ireland, Spain, the Netherlands and Slovenia will boycott the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest, after it was decided Israel could compete. 

They were among a number of countries who had called for Israel to be excluded over the war in Gaza and accusations of unfair voting practices.

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MacroBusiness Saturday, December 6, 2025 - 15:59 Source

Cotality’s September housing affordability report showed that Sydney’s housing market was easily the most expensive in the nation, with a dwelling price-to-income ratio of 10.0. The percentage of median household income needed to service a mortgage on the median-priced Sydney home was also tracking at a historically high 54.5% in the September quarter, making Sydney

The post Gravity catches up with Sydney house prices appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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Your Democracy Saturday, December 6, 2025 - 15:33 Source

The International Olympic Committee on Friday announced that athletes from Russia will once more be allowed to compete at the 2026 Winter Olympics under a neutral banner if they meet strict conditions.

"The Executive Board will take the exact same approach that was done in Paris," said IOC president Kirsty Coventry, referring to last year's Olympics where Russian athletes could only take part under a neutral flag and in individual events.

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Your Democracy Saturday, December 6, 2025 - 15:08 Source

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