Blogotariat

Safety regulator closes small Victoria solar farm after inverter fire while it investigates cause and until high grass at the site can be cut back.

Europe can finance Ukraine alone, using frozen Russian funds. This initiative was put forward by Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk against the backdrop of negotiations between Russia and the United States without Europe’s participation. He called on EU countries to take concrete actions to support the Kiev regime.

Late last week, I was interviewed by Tom Elliott from Radio 3AW Melbourne regarding the dire financial situation facing the state. Tom wanted to know what was driving Victoria’s ballooning debt. And, more importantly, the measures the state government could take to resolve the situation. Below is a summary of the themes discussed in the

The post Victoria’s debt disaster has no easy solutions appeared first on MacroBusiness.

Westpac’s credit card tracker for the two weeks prior to the rate cut. The Westpac-DataX Card Tracker Index* barely budged over the past fortnight, with the latest print coming in at 136.6, up a mere 0.1pts. After a rollercoaster few months, spending patterns appear to be normalising somewhat. So far, February’s reads have been on

The post Consumer recovery falters appeared first on MacroBusiness.

Construction begins on a big battery project next to the largest solar farm in Australia.

As we know, the RBA is paid to lie about the immigration-led, labour market expansion economic model because if it didn’t, the model would collapse at the ballot box. It is always amusing, in the usual dark way, to watch as one of the world’s most corrupt central banks dances around the truth. I noted

The post Why is the “great resignation” over? appeared first on MacroBusiness.

The upcoming Western Australian state election will feature quite a change to WA elections, with the upper house being elected at large as a single 37-seat election.

This has prompted a lot of uncertainty about what might play out. But actually there is quite a lot we can know about what is likely to happen. In particular, how well the various parts of the state will be represented in the new upper house.

I do love a Michale Hartnett sweeping generalisation but this one got my goat. The Price is Right: China house prices on rise, up in 24 of 70 big cities in Jan (Chart 5); if China retail sales accelerate>6%YoY =global investors go long China (not just BATX 2 stocks). Here is the latest Chinese housing

The post No Michael, Chinese property is not recovering appeared first on MacroBusiness.

Germany must gain real independence from the US, Friedrich Merz, the projected winner of Sunday’s parliamentary elections, has said.

According to German media, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), are projected to receive 28.5% of the vote, which means that Merz will likely become the next chancellor.

On the surface, Australia’s job market looks incredibly strong. According to the latest labour market survey from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), the economy recorded 3.5% annual job growth in January. Australia’s official unemployment rate (4.1%) is also amongst the lowest in the advanced world, alongside the United States. The latest Statement of Monetary

The post Australia’s strong job market is a mirage appeared first on MacroBusiness.

COVID-19 vaccines have been instrumental in reducing the impact of the pandemic, preventing severe illness and death, and they appear to protect against long COVID. However, some individuals have reported chronic symptoms that developed soon after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine. This little-understood, persistent condition, referred to as post-vaccination syndrome (PVS), remains unrecognized by medical authorities, and little is known about its biological underpinnings.

Resolve with the fear. Voters have lifted Opposition Leader Peter Dutton to a significant new lead in the race for power at the federal election, backing him as a strong leader while slashing their core support for Labor to a new low of 25 per cent. The shift has taken the Coalition to a lead

The post Albo polling enters free fall appeared first on MacroBusiness.

The Coalition has vowed to match Labor's pledge to boost Medicare funding by $8.5 billion "dollar-for-dollar", as the government moved to set up a federal election contest fought on access to health care.