There is an immigration cult in Canberra. It has nothing to do with national interest and everything to do with self-interest. Because population growth adds to GDP, pollies don’t need to pursue reform to drive growth. And it lifts their property portfolios. Too easy! They can just lie that the economy is growing for you,
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The Reserve Bank of New Zealand has reduced the official cash rate (OCR) by 3.25% since mid-2024, which has driven a sharp decline in mortgage rates to around pre-pandemic levels and a significant improvement in mortgage affordability: Normally, such a sharp reduction in mortgage rates would deliver a strong rebound in home values. However, no
My friend and colleague, LVO, has done an excellent job of outlining how China and India have been commissioning large amounts of coal power. What he has not done, however, is examine the underpinnings of multilateral agreements to cut emissions over time. International agreements on carbon emissions acknowledge the historical right of poorer countries to
Earlier this month, I reported on China’s insatiable appetite for coal-powered electricity. China is by far the world’s largest carbon emitter, which has been driven by its insatiable appetite for coal: China has a significant number of new coal mines in development: More than 50 large coal units—individual boiler and turbine sets with generating capacity
Commentators like Greg Jericho from The Australia Institute argue that the Howard Government’s decision to halve the rate of capital gains tax (CGT) in 1999 was the primary driver of Australia’s house price boom and affordability crisis: While there are good reasons to reduce the CGT discount on equity and budget sustainability grounds (explained here),
Société Générale uses options markets to read psychological pivots for precious metals. Gold:Fast up, fast down.As we wrote last week, we remain bullish on gold as we believe the fundamental rationale for precious upside remains despite one area of uncertainty being removed–namely lower Fed institutional chaos. We always believe a correction can be very healthy.
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First stage of Australia’s second-biggest battery starts commercial operations in the Sunshine State
The first stage of one of the biggest batteries under development in Australia has started commercial operations, on track to becoming a 780 megawatt, more than 3 gigawatt-hour behemoth.
The post First stage of Australia’s second-biggest battery starts commercial operations in the Sunshine State appeared first on Renew Economy.
We have repeatedly warned that Victoria is headed toward financial ruin. Victoria has the highest per capita debt and the lowest credit rating among the states. In November, the Victorian Auditor-General warned that debt, deficits, and infrastructure cost blowouts pose long-term dangers to the state’s financial viability. Victoria’s liabilities currently surpass $150 billion, with debt
Bondi was horrific, but it was not this. Naveed Akram has appeared in court for the first time since allegedly committing Australia’s worst terror attack. “Australia’s worst terror attack” was the Bali bombings, which took 88 Australian lives and 202 lives altogether. It clearly targeted Australians. This is deliberate misinformation. It’s wrong, politicised, and disrespectful
Following the leadership spill that saw then Opposition Leader Sussan Ley lose the leadership of the Liberal Party and, by extension, the Coalition, there were swift allegations that it was driven by sexism, that it took 80 years for the Liberal Party to have its first leader and that her time came to a rather
The post Quantifying Sussan Ley’s utter failure appeared first on MacroBusiness.
Don’t believe what you see and hear. It’s not true! This week on The West Report, Angus Taylor takes the Liberal leadership just in time to knock police violence and the Herzog visit off the front pages.
China is closed for CNY for a week. SGX is closed for two days. Steel profits have improved, and we will probably see a decent rebound in output post-holiday. However, I expect this will only serve to drive steel prices lower amid stalling (and contracting) steel export growth plus weak domestic demand. On the supply
The post Even more iron ore appeared first on MacroBusiness.
Someone wondered aloud on a social media platform the other day, “Where is Pete Hegseth these days?”
What a good question. Let’s consider it. Figuring out where Pete Hegseth is keeping himself will tell us something important about the Trump regime and how it operates — or, better put, who actually operates it in the Trump White House’s name.
As the SA Premier basks in the campaign glory of a $3.9 billion downpayment on shipyard for nuclear subs, the Federal Government is kicking the nuclear waste can down the road. Rex Patrick reports.
To a current US cabinet secretary from a former one.