Alan Kohler penned another article decrying Australia’s housing crisis, which he argues is driven by “lip service, hypocrisy, and an investment culture”. Kohler notes that the Albanese government’s target of building 1.2 million homes over five years is a “lost cause”. “The number of housing approvals has declined, not increased!”. “Since mid-2024, when the five
Asian share markets are somewhat positive despite another spray of tariff demands from the Orange Mussolini with Chinese shares brushing off the reciprocal reactions as the trade war heats up domestically, affecting Australian exports. Luckily the local economy is broad, diverse and robust to deal with cuts to primary exports…..Anyway, the USD gapped higher against
It’s a very big debate for asset allocators by very big people that I respect on both sides. In the boom camp is Steve Blitz at TSLombard. January employment data and the revisions have a simple message – the economy has been picking up steam since mid-24, a charge now fueled by a 100BP cut
The 2025 Eldelman Trust Barometer has been released. It is the firm’s 25th annual globally deployed online survey of the general population, seeking to understand why people hold the views they do. This year’s survey showed a significant decline in trust in Australia in business, government, and the media. As illustrated below, Australians’ overall Trust Index
The unthinking tank of corruption, The Grattan Institute, has coughed up another beauty today. A growing number of Australian retirees risk falling into homelessness because they can’t afford to pay rent, said a new report aimed at lawmakers preparing to fight an election on housing and cost-of-living. The rising cost of rent, falling rates of
The iron ore jaws resemble a yawning hippo now. Steel production is still terrible, though LNY distortions are an issue. Notably so in demand. Property sales appear to have re-cratered. Iron ore appears to be levitating on seasonal tailwinds alone.
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According to Mark The Graph on Twitter (X), Australia’s betting markets have lurched strongly in favour of a Coalition win at the upcoming federal election. As of Saturday, before the latest Victorian by-election results, the betting market had Labor on $2.62 and the Coalition on $1.50. The probability of a Coalition election win had also
I feel nauseated every time I smell cigarette smoke. My mother was a heavy smoker, and the persistent odour of smoke is one of my most unpleasant childhood memories. Mum stopped smoking 13 years ago, but the resulting emphysema has drastically reduced her quality of life. Despite this, I was never in favour of taxing
Westpac joins the doves. December quarter CPI surprises to the downside In our CPI Preview, we noted that the risk to our December quarter CPI and Trimmed Mean estimates were to the downside. That risk ended up materialising, with the CPI increasing just 0.2%qtr/2.4%yr (Westpac f/c: 0.3%qtr/2.5%yr) while the Trimmed Mean rose 0.5%qtr/3.2%yr (Westpac f/c:
China is out of deflation! This is voucherflation as Beijing did giveaways in travel and white goods. Food helped. The PPI is wall-to-wall weakness. Inflation numbers were also boosted by the earlier LNY and will be given back in February. Deflation in China is forever now.