Blogotariat

By Leith van Onselen The Government-run Financial Helpline on track to receive record number of cases this year, with older Australians who can’t meet mortgage or rent payments over-represented, and counsellors starting to field calls from people struggling to switch to principal and interest mortgage payments. From The ABC: “The phones just never stop now,”

The post National Debt Helpline buckles under record call load appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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Karen Moley puts lippy on the banking pig today: …there’s no doubt that the Hayne royal commission – which has forced the banks to crack down on some of their lax lending standards and to forsake some of the suspect fees they’ve been happily pocketing for years – has played some role in this sell-off

The post Why are Aussie banks getting smashed? appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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By Leith van Onselen The AFR View has launched a shameless, evidence-free, attack on Labor’s reluctance towards so-called ‘Free Trade Agreements’ (FTAs): Labor has caved in to the worst anti-trade instincts of the trade union movement and the party’s left… a raft of promises unveiled by shadow trade minister Jason Clare that would make future

The post AFR editorial launches shocking FTA spruik appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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Australia’s leading sustainability organisation, the Alternative Technology Association, has changed its name to Renew.

The post Leading sustainability organisation undergoes renewal appeared first on RenewEconomy.

FTAlphaville says it is: The whole point of Tether, the “stablecoin” suspected of having been used to manipulate the prices of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, is that it is a digital version of the dollar. The idea is that Tether is easier to move around than real dollars, and it can be used instead of the greenback on

The post Is a bitcoin bank run underway? appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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Via Bloomie: President Donald Trump said he’s immediately sending Secretary of State Michael Pompeo to Saudi Arabia to meet with King Salman bin Abdulaziz and suggested that “rogue killers” might be behind the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey. Trump commented on Monday after he said the king, in a 20-minute phone call, offered

The post Jacksonian Trump whacks Saudi with lettuce leaf appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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By Leith van Onselen After the Grattan Institute recently rubbished the Victorian Government’s announced plans for a $50 billion gigantic rail tunnel loop, claiming the project has been announced without Infrastructure Victoria’s expert advice and without conducting a business case, more transport ‘experts’ have cast doubt on the plan: Transport experts have questioned why it

The post Experts rubbish Vic Labor’s $50b rail megaponzi appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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Via Bloomie: Ulf Lindahl, chief executive officer of AG Bisset Associates, predicts the dollar will plunge about 40 per cent against the euro by 2024. The currency manager’s reasoning is straightforward-since the 1970s, the dollar has been repeating a 15-year cycle of losses and gains, and the pattern is replaying now. To some, Lindahl’s call

The post Of course the US dollar is going to tumble appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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It’s both riveting and horrible watching the major bank’s abort the next round of regulatory reform before it is even born, from The Australian: The word on the street is that Jacinta Ellis, a 12-year APRA veteran and a senior manager in the legal group, has defected to National Australia Bank, taking up a regulatory affairs

The post Ken Henry’s NAB deepens the APRA swamp appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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By Leith van Onselen ABC 7.30 Report last night aired part one of its three-part population special, which included me as the economist. While I will reserve judgement until the final two-parts have been aired, my initial gut reaction is disappointing. The main problem I see with it so far is the ABC has inferred

The post ABC 7.30 Report population special (Part 1) appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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By Chris Becker Equity markets are still feeling the pressure with US stocks slipping following what looked like a positive session and rebound in Europe. The USD remains under a cloud as well with the antipodean currencies lifting in the wake of a lower than expected advanced retail sales print. Treasuries were largely unchanged and

The post Macro Morning appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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From CoreLogic comes weekly indices that look ugly for property. Unsold listings are piling up: Leading mortgages are falling down: And auction clearance patterns remain poor with Sydney’s mortgage belt pain intensifying while Melbourne just falls everywhere: There is nothing but more pain here.

The post Unsold properties pile up appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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From Bill Evans, the most honest of the of the major bank economists by some distance:

The post Bill Evans: House price leading indicators worse than GFC appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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