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Weekend Reading and media appearances

March 8, 2025 - 00:05 -- Admin

International Reading: Elon Musk says the Post Office and Amtrak should be privatized – Business Insider Trump lifting US sanctions on Russia — a ‘huge win’ for Putin, ‘chaos’ for global economy – Kyiv Independent GOP Lawmakers Unveil Bill To ‘End The Fed’ – Daily Caller ‘Doge’s actual impact is less than $10bn’ – FT

Is the bear done yet?

March 7, 2025 - 13:00 -- Admin

An excellent summary of the factors at work in the equity market from Zero Hedge. “Headline fatigue is hammering markets,” according to one well-positioned trader who noted that US equities traded definitively lower today despite Trump delaying tariffs on Mexico and Canada today (an incremental positive for sure)… This is the market’s worst three-week spell since

Australia’s private sector remains stuck in recession

March 7, 2025 - 13:00 -- Admin

Wednesday’s Q4 national accounts showed that Australia’s economy finally emerged from its prolonged per capita recession, recording the first increase (+0.1%) in GDP per capita in 21 months. In its media release following the result, the Australian Industry Group (AIG) cautioned that the “improvement in GDP masks continuing private sector weakness”. “Today’s national accounts data

CBA bubble bursting?

March 7, 2025 - 11:30 -- Admin

As it should. Bloomberg. While bleak quarterly results from Australian peers last month helped trim its valuation, Commonwealth Bank remains one of the most expensive bank shares globally. The stock trades at 25 times forward earnings, almost double JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s multiple. “The banks’ latest results were not good enough to meet lofty expectations

Migration boom delivers ageing timebomb

March 7, 2025 - 11:00 -- Admin

Last week, I critiqued an interview with former immigration department bureaucrat turned influencer, Abul Rizvi, on Joseph Walker’s podcast. In the interview, Rizvi explicitly admitted that slowing population ageing comprised about “80%” of the motivation for massively increasing Australia’s intake of migrants in the early 2000s. Until spending about a week reading up on Aus

Productivity collapses on Australia’s economy

March 7, 2025 - 10:30 -- Admin

The continuing decline in Australia’s productivity was one of the most important data points from the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ (ABS) Q4 national accounts released this week. Labour productivity (GDP per hour worked) fell by 0.1%, which follows declines of 0.7% and 0.5% in the previous two quarters, respectively. This lowered Australia’s labour productivity to

Australia’s housing shortage worsens

March 7, 2025 - 10:00 -- Admin

Thursday’s dwelling approvals data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) suggested that the nation’s housing shortage continues to worsen. In January, only 15,142 homes were approved for construction, nearly 25% below the Albanese government’s housing target, requiring 20,000 homes to be built monthly for five consecutive years. In the 12 months to January, 174,942

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