Blogotariat

Oz Blog News Commentary
Your Democracy Sunday, August 17, 2025 - 05:55 Source

English farmers used controlled burns of gorse 300 years ago. Too hot and dry even for cacti. Urbanisation induces genetic evolution in birds. China powering ahead with the roll out of wind and solar.

 

Peter Sainsbury

Environment: 18th century vicar describes controlled burning in English countryside

 

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Your Democracy Sunday, August 17, 2025 - 04:44 Source

The war in Ukraine will continue and Vladimir Putin has outmanoeuvred yet another US president.

These are the realities arising from the much-heralded meeting here in Alaska between Donald Trump and the Russian leader.

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Your Democracy Saturday, August 16, 2025 - 17:53 Source

Putin shares the view that allowing voters to send in ballots by mail undermines the validity of elections, Trump has told a US private TV broadcaster.

"Vladimir Putin, smart guy, said you can't have an honest election with mail-in voting," Trump told Fox News Channel's "Hannity" after the two leaders met in Alaska. "He said there's not a country in the world that uses it now."

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Your Democracy Saturday, August 16, 2025 - 15:15 Source

The killing of Al Jazeera journalist Anas al-Sharif is shocking but that it is a culmination of planned mass assassination of journalists by the Israeli Government is an outrage.

 

Jeremy Webb

Where is the outrage? Israel's systematic mass assassination of journalists

 

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Renew Economy Saturday, August 16, 2025 - 09:26 Source
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Your Democracy Saturday, August 16, 2025 - 08:18 Source

Richard Werner discussed three different views of banking during his appearance on the Tucker Carlson show:

  1. The financial intermediation theory;
  2. The fractional reserve theory (which includes the “money multiplier”);
  3. The credit creation theory

 

Read more Views: 108
Your Democracy Saturday, August 16, 2025 - 08:09 Source

DEAL-MAKING COULD BE THE MOST IMPORTANT CHARACTERISTIC OF HOMO SAPIENS — MORE THAN INVENTING THE WHEEL OR WHATEVER. WHEN GORBACHEV DECIDED TO "MAKE THE USSR GIVE UP THE COLD WAR", INSTEAD OF A SITUATION WHERE WE KILL YOU IF YOU TRY TO KILL US, THE DEAL BECAME LOPSIDED: THE WINNER OF THE COLD WAR WAS NOT GOING TO BE "NICE"... IT'S THE BASEST HUMAN NATURE: WE WIN THE RIGHT TO RAPE YOU... AND THE WEST TRIED TO DO THIS TO RUSSIA UNTIL PUTIN CAME ALONG....

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Your Democracy Saturday, August 16, 2025 - 06:19 Source

In 1867, the Russian empire sold Alaska to the US for $7.2 million. Perhaps the location of the upcoming summit between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin is a nod and a wink to such a great deal? Maybe Putin will like Alaska so much he will have seller’s remorse? 

 

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Your Democracy Saturday, August 16, 2025 - 05:49 Source

Talks at the Russia-US summit in Alaska have formally begun, following the arrival of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his American counterpart, Donald Trump, in Anchorage.

The negotiations at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson on Friday, will focus on finding a settlement to the Ukraine conflict. According to Moscow, global “peace and security” as well as “further development of bilateral cooperation” in the economy and trade will also be on the agenda.

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MacroBusiness Saturday, August 16, 2025 - 00:05 Source

International Reading: Mark Cuban says companies should be taxed more for buying back their own shares – Business Insider The Trump family has raked in $3.4 billion over his two presidencies, new report says – The Independent Goldman stands by call that consumers will bear the brunt of tariffs after Trump blasts bank’s economist –

The post Weekend reading and MB media appearances appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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Your Democracy Friday, August 15, 2025 - 17:38 Source

Moscow is ready to present a clear stance at the upcoming summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart, Donald Trump, which will mainly focus on the Ukraine conflict, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said.

In an interview with the Russia 24 broadcaster released on Friday, Lavrov – who has reportedly already arrived in Anchorage, Alaska, where the talks are set to take place – declined to speculate on potential results of the summit. 

Read more Views: 110
MacroBusiness Friday, August 15, 2025 - 16:00 Source

Asian share markets were dominated by Chinese data today with weakness across their domestic economy while Japanese GDP data came in slightly better than expected. Most markets are up as a result as Chinese traders expect more stimulus while the BOJ seems to be faring okay with its inflationary targets not pulling back growth. The

The post Macro Afternoon appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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Renew Economy Friday, August 15, 2025 - 15:48 Source
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Renew Economy Friday, August 15, 2025 - 15:29 Source
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Renew Economy Friday, August 15, 2025 - 15:22 Source
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Renew Economy Friday, August 15, 2025 - 15:18 Source
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Renew Economy Friday, August 15, 2025 - 14:35 Source
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Renew Economy Friday, August 15, 2025 - 14:32 Source
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John Quiggin Friday, August 15, 2025 - 14:22 Source
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Renew Economy Friday, August 15, 2025 - 14:13 Source
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MacroBusiness Friday, August 15, 2025 - 14:00 Source

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand has slashed the official cash rate (OCR) by 2.25%, with further rate cuts expected. As illustrated below by Justin Fabo from Antipodean Macro, the reduction in the OCR has driven down the cost of new mortgages, which should have lifted housing demand and stimulated home prices. However, home values

The post New Zealand house prices plummet appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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John Quiggin Friday, August 15, 2025 - 14:00 Source

My latest in The Conversation

\A new road charge is looming for electric vehicle drivers, amid reports Treasurer Jim Chalmers is accelerating the policy as part of a broader tax-reform push.

Read more Views: 206
MacroBusiness Friday, August 15, 2025 - 13:00 Source

Since the COVID-19 lockdowns started in Australia in March 2020, the nation’s capital city home prices have risen at vastly different rates. As illustrated below using PropTrack data, dwelling values in Brisbane, Perth, and Adelaide have soared at similar rates, increasing by around 90% since March 2020 across the three markets. Sydney dwelling values have

The post Why Australian house prices are two-speed appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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MacroBusiness Friday, August 15, 2025 - 12:30 Source

The Market Ear on bubble trouble. Pushing it SPX trying to break above the Bollinger band. Not a reason to sell itself, as markets can stay in the upper Bollinger band for longer than most think possible, but still worth watching. Source: Bloomberg/GS Concentration “Growing index concentration and narrowing market breadth has increased downside risk

The post Bubble trouble appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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MacroBusiness Friday, August 15, 2025 - 12:00 Source

Record public spending has recently powered the Australian economy. At the same time, Australian households have exhibited recessionary behaviour, with real per capita household consumption tracking negative for seven consecutive quarters on an annual basis, down 2.4% from its peak. The decline in household spending, which usually accounts for about 60% of GDP growth, is

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MacroBusiness Friday, August 15, 2025 - 11:30 Source

DXY is up again. AUD down. CNY fine. Gold whacked. Metals OK. Miners are going lower. EM rolled. Junk is fine. Yields up a bit. Stocks flat. The US PPI was pretty hot today. Even worse, it’s mostly services. Add ongoing pressure from goods via tariffs. With wage growth going strong as Trump slashes immigration

The post Australian dollar pounded by US price shock appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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MacroBusiness Friday, August 15, 2025 - 11:00 Source

In the history of the industrialised world, there have been many technological innovations that have transformed the way we collectively live our lives. The steam locomotive and the radio are two of the many inventions that have changed history, but not all of them have been as profitable as one might think for their inventors.

The post AI – Revolutionary but not overly profitable? appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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MacroBusiness Friday, August 15, 2025 - 10:30 Source

The ferrous complex was smacked yesterday. ANZ has done a good job of calling the top. The iron ore market continues to shrug off ongoing weakness in China’s property sector. The prospect of further rationalisation of its steel industry could add further support to prices. …A pullback in steel output in recent months has improved

The post Iron ore bashed lower appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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MacroBusiness Friday, August 15, 2025 - 10:00 Source

Australian real wages recorded a record 7.3% decline between mid-2020 and the September quarter of 2023. They have since recorded a modest 1.3% rebound, meaning that real wages remained 6.0% below their peak as of mid-2025. The August Statement of Monetary Policy (SoMP) from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) forecast that real wages would

The post Real wages may take another decade to recover appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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xkcd.com Friday, August 15, 2025 - 10:00 Source

The academic archaeology establishment is suppressing my breakthroughs because of the disruption it would bring to their prepared-core flake-based toolmaking industry.

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