Australia’s transition to renewable energy will be extremely expensive, raising power bills. The reasons are simple. Renewable energy sources are weather-dependent, resulting in intermittent power and low capacity factors. As a result, renewables require backup hydrocarbon generation and lots of expensive storage. They also require far greater network infrastructure to connect the distributed web of
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul tore into Vice President JD Vance's defense of the U.S. military's strike on an alleged drug vessel leaving Venezuela.
And he cited a long-loved literary classic to prove his point.
France faces a day of disruption Wednesday as the "Block Everything" protests, called by a loose left-wing coalition, threaten to obstruct transport and other services. The protests come as Sébastien Lecornu is set to take the reins as France’s new prime minister amid a gridlocked National Assembly. Follow our live coverage of the day's events as they unfold.
Having recently written a long piece about the origin of what was termed neoliberal economics and how it inevitably led to a disgraceful, vacuous, malignant narcissist like Trump being elected to the US presidency1, I decided to have a crack at looking at the effects it has had on the UK and the US populace. This is Part 1 and deals with income inequality, wage stagnation, job insecurity and declining union influence.
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand has slashed the official cash rate by 2.5% since July 2024. As illustrated below by Justin Fabo from Antipodean Macro, the decline in New Zealand’s official cash rate has sent mortgage rates sharply lower: Historically, falling interest rates have been associated with rising home prices, as increased mortgage serviceability
Victoria’s finances are dire. The state has the nation’s lowest credit rating and the highest per capita debt. The major rating agencies have warned that unless Victoria gets its debt under control, it will face more ratings downgrades. Interest repayments on the state’s debt, already forecast to reach $10.6 billion annually by FY 2029, would
Ferrous madness continues as steel margins collapse. Scuttlbutt is nonsense. Miner Rio Tinto could be forced to build refiners for the Simandou ore in Guinea, Australia’s Financial Review reported on Sunday. The Simandou iron ore project, with an annual production capacity of 120 million metric tons, is expected first ore shipment in November, and put
Japan wants security of supply. Australia risks failing to capitalise on the unpredictability of US energy exports under President Trump because of uncertainty on the rules for its east coast gas market and the world’s toughest emissions limits for LNG, the head of a Tokyo-based energy think-tank has warned. Tatsuya Terazawa, chairman and chief executive
Australian dwelling values hit a new record high in August. The national final auction clearance rate also averaged 69% in August, the strongest result since February 2024. The bounce in dwelling values and auction clearance rates follows three 25 bp rate cuts delivered by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) since February, taking the official