Blogotariat

Contractor named for solar project in Victoria that had been delayed but will now go ahead with a big battery.

For years I have warned that taxing cigarettes as heavily as Australia does would result in three unintended consequences. It would create a large black market for smokes. Tobacco smuggling will increase, providing a source of revenue for criminal organisations, jeopardising law and order. New health dangers will emerge as vaping’s popularity grows in place

Some days I wonder what is going through ALP dills heads. Anthony Albanese has flagged the prospect of Australia sending peace-keeping troops to Ukraine, declaring he is “open” to considering any requests for help. Meanwhile, at home. The Premier of Western Australia has called for a bigger naval presence along the coastline as three Chinese

The post Albo to protect Ukraine as China nukes Perth appeared first on MacroBusiness.

Ben is joined by John Carey to discuss how you design an electoral system for a new democracy – what factors are most important to producing a healthy and sustainable democracy, and how might those requirements change over time?

Last year, the electric vehicle (EV) ‘revolution’ hit a wall. Sales of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) stalled in 2024, whereas sales of hybrid vehicles continued to boom. According to the Australian Automobiles Association’s Electric Vehicle Index, only 91,293 BEVs were sold last year, an increase of only 4.7% on the  87,217 BEVs sold in 2023.

The post Electric vehicle industry panics as subsidies unwind appeared first on MacroBusiness.

Oversold. Definitely. The Market Ear. Huge SPX is trading below range lows as of writing. Note we are below the 200 day moving average (SPX continuous futures), and the 50 day is about to cross the 100 day (inverse cross compared to December 2023). These are longer term moving averages, but we wouldn’t be surprised

The post Battered stocks what Trump wants appeared first on MacroBusiness.

DXY is falling. EUR rising. AUD follows the latter. Held back by CNY. Surely time’s up for oil. Commods meh. Miners meh. EM meh. If spread widen, look out below. Yields held on. Stocks fluctuated. The market is well short AUD again. Options are not the main driver of value, but they are an indicator.

The post Australian dollar joins European Union appeared first on MacroBusiness.

It’s almost as if they think nobody is watching. Cramming more classrooms into existing schools would be necessary to save Victoria’s cash-strapped government billions of dollars on building critical new campuses, according to the state’s peak infrastructure body. Infrastructure Victoria says the state will need to build another 60 government schools in the decade to

The post Crush loaded Victoria turns to slum schools appeared first on MacroBusiness.

Labor's offshore wind plans are under fire from all corners of the conservative political and media landscape, as Peter Dutton succeeds in sowing FUD.

The first stage of what will be Australia's biggest battery has entered the grid management system and is ready to start testing and commissioning.

Asian share markets are reeling again as King Trump goes full swagger with his tariff threats, shooting the US consumer in both feet with confirmed tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China. The retaliations have been swift, so we’re off to a trade war! This has seen confidence evaporate in the USD just as we ramp

The post Macro Afternoon appeared first on MacroBusiness.

Draft strategy says batteries of all sizes - and deep storage - are critical to Victoria's future energy infrastructure. And it calls for all replacement appliances to be electric.

Wages should be firm according to the latest Indeed job ad index. ANZ-Indeed Australian Job Ads declined 1.4% m/m in February, but this follows an upwardly revised 1.3% m/m rise in January. In trend terms, the series was down 0.3% m/m. ANZ-Indeed Australian Job Ads is down 9.2% annually. The series is just 0.9% higher

The post Inflation gauge collapses below lunatic RBA target appeared first on MacroBusiness.