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xkcd.com Wednesday, October 8, 2025 - 11:00 Source

I understand it's hard to do more than 300 feet on these 90-second rush jobs, but with a smaller ramp I'm worried the gee forces will be too high for me to do any tricks.

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Your Democracy Wednesday, October 8, 2025 - 10:38 Source

Any EU move to use frozen Russian state assets to support Ukraine must comply with international law, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said on Monday, adding that the institution was following the process closely.

The comment comes as EU nations’ leaders are discussing a plan to provide Kiev with a €140 billion ($164 billion) loan backed by Russia’s immobilized central bank assets.

 

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MacroBusiness Wednesday, October 8, 2025 - 10:30 Source

The Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority (APRA) has consistently flagged high loan-to-valuation ratio (LVR) mortgage lending as a risk area. For example, in December 2014, the Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority (APRA) released guidance stating that “ADIs should not undertake large volumes of, or increase their share of, higher-risk lending. This included lending at very high LVRs”:

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MacroBusiness Wednesday, October 8, 2025 - 10:00 Source

In the popular imagination, Australia is often viewed as a sophisticated 21st-century economy, comparable to any number of advanced developed economies. Yet when one examines the balance of the nation’s exports, it’s largely about resources, as the chart below of quarterly export volumes from CBA illustrates. And this is assuming one takes the nation’s education

The post Australia’s battered regions get a raw deal appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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MacroBusiness Wednesday, October 8, 2025 - 09:00 Source

From the Market Ear: Losing momentum? How bullish is bullish? SPX is basically trading at the same levels we traded at two weeks ago. Let’s see how this plays out, but SPX is losing momentum. Highs aren’t pushing higher as they should. First support is the trend line, followed by the 21 day at 6700

The post Bulls keep charging as momentum fades appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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MacroBusiness Wednesday, October 8, 2025 - 08:00 Source

Former Prime Minister and architect of the Snowy Hydro 2.0 pumped hydro scheme, Malcolm Turnbull, has hit back at critics following a 900% blowout in the mega project’s costs. The government-owned Snowy Hydro confirmed on Friday that the project’s costs would easily exceed its $12 billion budget, which was already six times higher than the

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Your Democracy Wednesday, October 8, 2025 - 06:55 Source

Rising inequality and declining living standards have posed a threat to democracy in several democracies, but so far not in Australia. However, the increasing inequality of wealth, driven by housing becoming unaffordable without rich parents, is a threat.

 

Michael Keating

Inequality and the future of democracy

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Renew Economy Wednesday, October 8, 2025 - 06:38 Source
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Your Democracy Wednesday, October 8, 2025 - 05:55 Source

President Donald Trump has hinted that US forces could soon move from sea to land operations in Venezuela, expanding what he called “a war on terrorist drug cartels.”Speaking at a Navy anniversary ceremony in Norfolk, Virginia, Trump said American forces had struck another vessel off Venezuela’s coast allegedly carrying narcotics.

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George Monbiot Wednesday, October 8, 2025 - 01:08 Source

Austerity costs us a fortune.

By George Monbiot, published in the Guardian 4th October 2025

I was lucky. Last week, I was cycling downhill at night when I hit a pothole. The front wheel folded into an infinity symbol. I went over the handlebars and, with no time to put my hands out, landed on my face. My helmet and glasses took most of the impact. I emerged, remarkably, with just a few cuts and bruises.

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MacroBusiness Wednesday, October 8, 2025 - 00:05 Source

Cotality’s daily dwelling values index shows that capital city value growth is tracking at around the fastest pace in two years. This follows a commensurate rise in auction clearance rates, which are also tracking at around a two-year high. Westpac’s latest consumer sentiment survey showed that house price expectations hit a fresh 15-year high in

The post Aussie house price expectations strongest in 15 years appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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Renew Economy Tuesday, October 7, 2025 - 21:59 Source
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MacroBusiness Tuesday, October 7, 2025 - 16:34 Source

Old Queenscliff Pier, Victoria     AUD/USD EUR/USD USD/JPY GBP/USD Gold WTI Brent Australia 200 US S&P 500 UK 100 Japan 225   Vids    

The post Macro Afternoon: 7 October 2025 appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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Your Democracy Tuesday, October 7, 2025 - 15:46 Source

Britain is “furious” over its failure to bring about the “strategic defeat” of Russia and is preparing a new “provocation” in response to battlefield gains in the Ukraine conflict, Moscow's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) has warned.

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Renew Economy Tuesday, October 7, 2025 - 15:11 Source
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Renew Economy Tuesday, October 7, 2025 - 15:07 Source
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Renew Economy Tuesday, October 7, 2025 - 15:04 Source
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Renew Economy Tuesday, October 7, 2025 - 14:15 Source

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MacroBusiness Tuesday, October 7, 2025 - 14:00 Source

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand has slashed the official cash rate by 2.50% from its July 2024 top of 5.50%: As illustrated below by Justin Fabo from Antipodean Macro, the sharp cut in the cash rate has reduced mortgage rates for new loans back to around pre-pandemic levels: Such a large decline in mortgage

The post New Zealand’s house price crash continues appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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MacroBusiness Tuesday, October 7, 2025 - 13:00 Source

When the Crime Statistics Agency recently released Victoria’s crime statistics for 2024-25, it revealed that the state saw a record high number of criminal incidents, with over 483,000 incidents over the course of the financial year. But going through the numbers, one stat really jumped out at readers: Victoria Police reported that just 5,400 repeat

The post Victoria’s worst criminals reoffend every 2.7 minutes appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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MacroBusiness Tuesday, October 7, 2025 - 12:10 Source

After a months-long rebound, Westpac’s monthly consumer sentiment index crashed back to a 6-month low in September as hopes of deep interest rate cuts faded. Westpac’s Head of Australian Macro-Forecasting, Matthew Hassan, explains the results below. Key Points: Westpac Consumer Sentiment Index declines 3.5% to 92.1 in October. Optimism about outlook for family finances fades.

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MacroBusiness Tuesday, October 7, 2025 - 12:00 Source

Energy is the bedrock of a modern economy. Without affordable and reliable energy, an economy will experience cost inflation across the supply chain. The energy-intensive manufacturing sector will also shrink as it can no longer break a profit and compete against cheaper imports. Australia’s economy has experienced soaring energy costs—both electricity and gas prices—which are

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MacroBusiness Tuesday, October 7, 2025 - 11:30 Source

I consider the video-sharing platform YouTube to be one of the most useful and powerful educational tools available. Every day, I utilise YouTube to learn about topics or to troubleshoot problems. My teenage daughter regularly uses YouTube ‘How-to’ videos to learn about arts and crafts, solve math problems, fix computer issues, learn about history, do video

The post YouTube fights back against Aussie eKaren appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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Renew Economy Tuesday, October 7, 2025 - 11:30 Source
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Renew Economy Tuesday, October 7, 2025 - 11:03 Source
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Your Democracy Tuesday, October 7, 2025 - 11:03 Source

The Israeli authorities have confirmed deporting activist Greta Thunberg. She and hundreds of others were detained last week after attempting to reach Gaza aboard an aid flotilla.

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MacroBusiness Tuesday, October 7, 2025 - 11:00 Source

Last week, shadow home affairs minister Andrew Hastie resigned from the Coalition’s frontbench following frustration that he would have no input into the party’s immigration policy. Hastie argues that “uncontrolled migration” has been a major contributor to the decline in housing affordability in Australia, alongside infrastructure congestion and other issues. However, shadow housing and productivity

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Your Democracy Tuesday, October 7, 2025 - 10:53 Source

The US President Donald Trump has said he had already made a decision on supplying long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine. He however refused to reveal what the exact decision is.

“I’ve sort of made a decision on that. I would have to ask the question where are they sending them,” he told journalists at the White House on Monday.

“I’m not looking to see escalation,”Trump stressed.

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Renew Economy Tuesday, October 7, 2025 - 10:48 Source
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MacroBusiness Tuesday, October 7, 2025 - 10:30 Source

Looking at any number of indicators of health for households within the Australian economy, the news is hardly stellar. Real wages are at levels last seen in late 2011 and if the RBA’s projected rate of growth out into the future is realised, the pre-Covid peak will be reached in the mid-2030s. Meanwhile, growth in

The post Australia’s broken economy leaves us divided appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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