Blogotariat

Australia and New Zealand are experiencing protracted recessions. However, New Zealand’s recession is far deeper than Australia’s, as illustrated below by Justin Fabo from Antipodean Macro. New Zealand’s unemployment rate is also significantly higher than Australia’s. The differing outcomes between the two nations are explained by the exceptional growth in the non-market (government-funded) sector in

The past several years have seen Australia’s rental market plunge into crisis following the importation of nearly one million net overseas migrants in only two years. This deluge of migrants hit a supply-constrained market, worsening the housing shortage. The impact on the rental market has been brutal. As illustrated below by Justin Fabo from Antipodean

The post Australia’s rental crisis rolls into 2025 appeared first on MacroBusiness.

The final trading week is still looking a lot like Christmas with Wall Street continuing its Friday night bounceback on Friday while European stocks slid back as markets start to quieten down over the Xmas break. The latest US consumer confidence figures weren’t impressive but King Dollar fought back against the relatively mild fightback from

The post Macro Morning appeared first on MacroBusiness.

Peter Dutton’s nuclear energy announcement has been totally nuked, so to speak, but Michael Pascoe argues it is nonetheless working just fine.

If a major Australian political party has had a core policy more quickly and comprehensively debunked, destroyed and generally defenestrated than the LNP’s nuclear power play, I can’t remember it. But that’s irrelevant to Peter Dutton and Atomic Ted O’Brien.

Only a few years ago, most of Western Europe seemed like a fortress of stability in international politics. With robust economies, solid social systems, and the grand edifice of “European integration,” it gave an impression of permanence, impervious even to major geopolitical upheavals. Now, however, it has become an inexhaustible source of peculiar headlines and confusion.

Recall that the Orwellian Centre for Population has projected that Australia’s population would balloon by 4.1 million residents over the next 10 years—most of whom will live in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Perth. This population expansion will see Sydney’s and Melbourne’s populations swell to around 6.5 million. Brisbane (3.3 million) and Perth (2.9 million) will

The post Australian home builders crippled by costs appeared first on MacroBusiness.

I heard this morning that Andrew Reilly has died. He was only here a couple of days ago, making me smile with his usual deft wit.

Some of you knew Andrew better than I did, and some not at all apart from his comments here and at the Boob.

Either way, he is a great loss to us all.

But mostly of course to those who knew and loved him best.

Plan International Australia Media Release December 26 marks 20 years since the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, which claimed the lives of 230,000 people and [...]

Oxfam Australia Media Release Barefoot children forced to search through rubbish for food scraps across Gaza. Of the meagre 34 trucks of food and water [...]

Transmission remains the fundamental building block to decarbonising the grid. But the LNP is making it difficult to do on time and within costs.

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.

Australia’s baby boomers have easily the highest rate of home ownership, which stands at around 80%. Most baby boomers also own their homes outright. For younger Australians, who have seen their homeownership rates collapse, the situation is completely different. Those that do enter the housing market have been left paying jumbo-sized mortgages as they forever

The post Baby boomers want house prices to rise appeared first on MacroBusiness.

CHRISTMAS COMES ONCE A YEAR AND IS A WESTERN WORLD INVENTION DATING BACK UPTO 1700 YEARS... THE BIRTH OF CHRIST AND ITS RELIGIOUS DERIVATIVE BEYOND EASTER WAS A FALLACY DESIGNED TO MAKE SURE PEOPLE BELIEVED AND "FOLLOWED THE RULES"... WE (GUS AND HIS DEVILS) HAVE ALREADY EXPLAINED ON THIS SITE, HOW THE TEXT OF CHRISTIANITY WERE INVENTED BACK THEN TO SUIT A POLITICAL CLIMATE.