Blogotariat

There are two main reasons why the federal government supports running a high immigration program. First, immigration benefits overall economic growth, as measured by headline GDP. Running a high immigration policy allows the federal government to pretend to be a competent economic manager, even when per capita GDP growth is poor and individual living standards

So says Societe General. The AU unemployment rate jumped to 4.46% in September, above any of the Bloomberg survey forecasts. An upward revision to August leaves the average 3Q rate in line with the RBA’s latest SoMP view of 4.3%. However, the uptick skews risk higher for 4Q. Markets have been wrong-footed by single prints

The post RBA to make “insurance cut” appeared first on MacroBusiness.

In the first of a new series tackling clean energy BS, Tristan Edis asks why National Party politicians are so keen to paint renewables as the enemy of the farmer while cheering on fossil fuels?

While the level of migration remains a hotly contested issue, from the nation’s halls of power to backyard BBQ debates, for the longest time, migration conceptually was considered a positive by a majority of the public. But recently, the public’s attitude on the issue has begun to shift significantly. According to polling from Essential from

The post Albo has destroyed the consensus on migration appeared first on MacroBusiness.

I love QLD. It is the last state of Australia. But, like Australia, it can be really, really stupid. Queensland has put its southern neighbours on notice and drawn a red line through a gas reservation proposal under consideration. As federal Labor deliberates whether to restrict east coast gas exports to prevent a forecast domestic

The post QLD commits gas suicide appeared first on MacroBusiness.

Former senior immigration department bureaucrat Abul Rizvi posted an article in Independent Australia where he explained how the Albanese government secretly increased the permanent migrant intake well above the official published level. Rizvi showed how Labor “has significantly increased the size of permanent migration compared to the situation pre-pandemic (see Table 3)”. A time series

In 2013, the Grattan Institute, under the energy policy leadership of former Origin Energy executive Tony Wood, lobbied hard against an East Coast domestic gas reservation policy: Grattan also lobbied for Western Australia to remove its gas reservation policy: The federal government listened to Grattan as well as other lobbyists and failed to implement an

The post Never trust the Grattan Institute on energy policy appeared first on MacroBusiness.

Victoria disease is the phenomenon of a permanent Labor government leading to a mass-immigration-led economy without the aforethought of appropriate supply-side expansion to accommodate it. This economic model crush-loads public services amid fiscal wreckage, crowds out private sector growth, triggers housing perma-crisis, falling living standards and disenfranchised violence. Symptoms are everywhere. Private security guards patrolling

In the workshops of the Ruhr, where the fire of blast furnaces was once considered Europe’s eternal companion, today reigns a cold more expensive than any raw material. An economic pause has descended in icy silence. A tombstone rests on the grave of industrial greatness, signed by Europe’s own leaders.

Europe’s Economic Winter Transfers the Workshop of the World to Asia’s New Furnaces

The Gaza, the one that existed on the morning of October 7 is gone, decimated by months of saturation bombing, shelling, bulldozing and controlled demolitions. All that was familiar when I worked in Gaza has vanished, transformed into an apocalyptic landscape of shattered concrete and rubble. 

Requiem for Gaza

By Chris Hedges

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.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has urged European leaders to hatch a peace plan for Ukraine “along the lines”of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza scheme, Axios has reported, citing sources.

I know a few people in Europe who deliberately ignore the events that are shaping the future. They also ignore the historical origins of these events… For these lucky people, the future is inked in what we decide to do and to be, without the “big picture”. Be nice to other people, do not rock the boat and enjoy the sun while on holiday. It works.

The small group of friends in which we can share meals and wine is enough to take us to the end of our happy life.