As Australia’s mediocre media cheers another entirely predictable “shock” better than expected budget balance, a glance beyond our nose tells us that something much messier is squeezing down the pipe at speed. First, the good news. Westpac. While expenses are lower than profiled, higher than expected tax revenue drove much of the significant improvement in
Australia needs to lift its defence spending so it can be a better ally while pushing back against military actions from China, former prime minister Tony Abbott has urged while expressing hope the economic giant may become the world’s most benign superpower.
In recent weeks the issue of AI has been on the Albanese government’s agenda, as the run-up to the government’s “roundtable” on productivity continues. Treasurer Jim Chalmers has thrown his weight behind soft-touch regulation of AI, emphasising that the government’s priority is how it can be used to boost productivity rather than establishing guardrails for
There’s a nice little head and shoulders bottom on iron ore futures that I hope runs for a bit on the broadening melt-up. If we get anywhere near $100, it will be the short of a lifetime. CISA output has well and truly rolled for the year. The base case is for a steep downside
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In an article last Monday for the ABC, Patricia Karvelas made the case that demographic shifts in the nation’s electorate would assist Labor in its efforts to tackle the issue of tax reform. “Labor’s timidity may finally be evaporating. The demographic shifts among Australia’s voting base also help Labor. With Gen Y and Z now
The Market Ear with the charts. What a week! “Markets are built to recover, we as humans are built to not trust it” What a week with NDX up 4%, SPX/RTY +3% while US 10YR eased 10bp. This thanks to a rapidly improving macro backdrop, an increased enthusiasm around AI and light positioning. Any way
The post Stocks only go up appeared first on MacroBusiness.
Stock markets on Friday night pushed to new highs or tried to return to them on both sides of the Atlantic but risk was hit by another Trump temper tantrum as he failed again to actually negotiating a trade deal, this time with the Canadians, still unable to look up the word “concession” in the
The post Macro Morning appeared first on MacroBusiness.
I’ve held off posting this in the hope of coming up with some kind of positive response, but I haven’t got one.
When I wrote back in November 2024 that Trump’s dictatorship was a fait accompi there was still plenty of room for people to disagree. But (with the exception of an announced state of emergency) it’s turned out far worse than I thought possible.
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.
The [UK] government’s plan to ban Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation is a hugely significant step in the steady erosion of civil liberties.
This decline began under Tony Blair’s premiership, was advanced by the last Tory government and is now pursued enthusiastically by Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer.
As the nations bicker, squabble and fight among themselves, their ultimate disintegration becomes more certain and more imminent with each passing day.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, one of the lead sponsors of the sanctions bill, stated earlier that the legislation would impose "bone-breaking sanctions" on Russia and its customers.
Actions have causes. That is a fundamental point of philosophy, of life, of reality, of an understanding of the way the world is. Russia’s actions in Ukraine have causes which necessitated those actions. Unbiased observers know what those causes are and why Russia’s special military operation was a necessary consequence.
Fascism: Our Common Enemy