Blogotariat

Victoria’s 90-kilometre Suburban Rail Loop (SRL) is shaping into Australia’s most wasteful infrastructure project. Former Premier Daniel Andrews announced the SRL just before the 2018 state election. Andrews stated that the SRL’s three stages would cost $50 billion. However, the project’s construction and operating costs are now expected to exceed $200 billion. The SRL was

US stock markets pulled back alongside the USD as all risk markets start to tighten and clench at the prospect of a drawn out US election that “starts” tonight and may not have a happy ending. Wall Street slipped alongside European stocks while the USD at first fell back further from its weekend gap action

The post Macro Morning appeared first on MacroBusiness.

By Maria Millers With the Spring Racing Carnival in full swing this week horses are the stars. These magnificent, powerful creatures have captivated people’s imaginations for centuries, from myths and legends they have left a significant mark in various contexts: warfare to literature culture and sport. So when these animals show up in our dreams,…

Monash University From the deep-fake ‘endorsement’ by Taylor Swift of Republican candidate Donald Trump to the allegation that Haitian migrants are consuming family pets, US voters have been inundated with mis- and disinformation in the lead up to the 60th US Presidential Election on Tuesday 5 November. Behavioural science can explain the complex process of…

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that retail spending increased by just 0.1% nationwide in September, well below market expectations of 0.3% growth. AMP economist My Bui notes that while population growth is a crucial driver of retail sales growth, spending per capita remains negative. “This is the longest and deepest retail per-capita

CBC News published a fantastic report explaining how Canada’s explosive immigration-driven population growth crush-loaded housing, services, and infrastructure, wrecking productivity and living standards. The following chart from CBC News shows that Canada’s population growth since the pandemic ended was “off-the-charts”, growing by a record 1.2 million people last year: Virtually all of the growth in

There’s a strong gerontocratic tinge to US politics of late  — the youngest of Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, Bernie Sanders, Donald Trump, Elizabeth Warren and Mitch McConnel is Chuck at 73. 

Many a theory has been propounded to explain this phenomenon, but a simple one shall be put to the test in a couple of days: Trump is the last of the political candidates borne of the media monoculture and so Trump will win the election comfortably. 

What is the Media Monoculture and What Does is Have to Do with a Gerontocracy?

Elon Musk threatens to do to democracy what he did to Twitter.

By George Monbiot, published in the Guardian, 2nd November 2024  

This is what happens when successive US governments fail to tackle inequality. While millions of people live in poverty, a handful grow unimaginably rich. Wealth begets wealth, and they acquire political power to match. It was inevitable that one of them – now the richest man on Earth – would launch what looks like a bid for world domination.

Ausgrid want to put two large batteries in Sydney and Newcastle, as part of the company's first foray into big installations.

Rosemary Grundy is on a mission to demonstrate that going renewable and electric is not only good for the climate, but makes financial sense.

Snowy Hydro annual earnings double, helped by its ability to cash in on extreme pricing events such as those triggered by grid outages, and from higher power bills to consumers.

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s aggressive monetary policy, which lifted the official cash rate to a peak of 5.50%, successfully unwound the nation’s pandemic house price gains. New Zealand experienced one of the world’s largest house price booms over the pandemic. However, in real inflation-adjusted terms, values have returned to their pre-pandemic level. As