In the world of modern Australian politics, the once great debate of ideas between the likes of Chifley and Menzies is but a memory, replaced by a battle of small-target opposition versus small-target government. In some ways, there is a good reason for this: it works at the ballot box. At the 2013 election, then
RBA governor Michelle Bullock did a fireside chat last night, which was pretty dull but it did have a few moments of interest. Bullock made it pretty clear that the board is unlikely to cut rates next week, putting the recent unemployment surge down to one month of data. Of course, it is a clear
Wall Street rallied again overnight on the prospect of a potential US-China trade deal while also supported by the Fed punch bowl where everyone expects one rate cut this week. The USD pulled back against some of the majors, stabilising against the burgeoning Canadian Loonie while Euro drifted higher, as the Australian dollar stood out
DXY is still refusing to fall. AUD doesn’t mind as a US/China trade deal ignites all the things. CNY to the moon! Woe is gold. Oil not shooting the lights out. AI metals to the moon. AI RIO to the moon. EM to the moon. Junk gives the green light. Yields soft. Fed to cut
Abul Rizvi’s forecast that Australia’s net overseas migration (NOM) will track around 300,000 under current immigration policies, 15% higher than the Treasury’s forecast, confirms that the rental crisis will persist. It is important to put Rizvi’s 300,000 NOM forecast into a historical perspective. In the first 60 years following World War II, Australia’s NOM averaged
Everything is awesome on an alleged deal between the Trump and Xi regimes over trade, but the lack of solid news isn’t holding markets back with Asian shares all green while futures for Wall Street are looking sky high. Friday night’s US CPI print is keeping the USD somewhat down against the majors as expectation
Preliminary data from Cotality shows that Sydney’s residential auction clearance rate fell to 68.2% in the week to Saturday, which was the lowest since the week ending 8 June and was the first time the preliminary clearance rate has been below the 70% mark in 21 weeks. A total of 959 auctions were held in
Albo is the jetsetting, international yes man. No matter how contradictory, how damaging to the national interest, or how crazy in the context of Cold War 2.0, Albo will say yes, and yes again! Fly to India and sign away the Australian labour market to Indian scam college degrees? Yes! Fly to China and crawl
For more than a decade, the Productivity Commission (PC) debunked the myth that immigration can overcome population ageing. For example: PC (2005): “Despite popular thinking to the contrary, immigration policy is also not a feasible countermeasure [to an ageing population]. It affects population numbers more than the age structure”. PC (2010): “Realistic changes in migration
Trump’s oil sanctions appear to be having some impact. Russian President Vladimir Putin remained defiant on Thursday (Friday AEDT) after US President Donald Trump hit Russia’s two biggest oil companies with sanctions to pressure the Kremlin leader to end the war in Ukraine, a move that sent global oil prices sharply higher. The US sanctions prompted Chinese