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Your Democracy Sunday, January 5, 2025 - 06:27 Source

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Your Democracy Saturday, January 4, 2025 - 18:09 Source

Only in the world of political make-believe we inhabit in the West would the Wall Street Journal’s account of Biden’s years-long cognitive decline, and its concealment by his officials, count as a scoop.

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Your Democracy Saturday, January 4, 2025 - 14:46 Source

The Manhattan judge who presided over former and future President Donald Trump’s hush money trial has denied the motion to dismiss the case and set the sentencing date for January 10, just ten days before his inauguration for a second term.

Judge Juan Merchan stated in his ruling on Friday that Trump can appear in person or virtually for the sentencing and indicated that the President-elect will receive an unconditional discharge, avoiding jail time.

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Your Democracy Saturday, January 4, 2025 - 07:50 Source

China scholar Mark Wang still remembers a time in the 2000s when Australia’s China studies was vibrant and in a leading position in the world.

 

Academics say China studies sector in ‘crisis’ amid a funding shortage and ‘climate of fear’    By Jenny Cai

 

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Your Democracy Saturday, January 4, 2025 - 06:29 Source

Those currently celebrating the US and Israel’s decisive military victories against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, the collapse of the Assad regime in Syria and possibly the defeat of Ansar Allah in Yemen may soon discover the pyrrhic nature of “reshaping the Middle East” in the interests of Western civilization.

 

The dangers of ‘victory’    By Scott Burchill

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Your Democracy Saturday, January 4, 2025 - 06:18 Source

Biden blocks $14.9 billion US-Japan steel deal over national security concernsAMERICASUS President Joe Biden on Friday blocked the sale of US Steel to Japan's Nippon Steel, citing concerns that the deal could threaten national security and industrial supply chains. The companies said that the move was a "clear violation of due process and the law" in a joint statement.

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Your Democracy Saturday, January 4, 2025 - 05:31 Source

 

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MacroBusiness Saturday, January 4, 2025 - 00:10 Source

Melbourne’s housing market has experienced a prolonged downturn. According to CoreLogic, Melbourne home values have declined by 6.4% since March 2022. Melbourne home values have also only risen by 8.4% since the onset of the COVID pandemic in March 2020, versus a 33.6% increase across the combined capital cities. Separate data from PropTrack shows that

The post Melbourne to become cheapest housing market appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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MacroBusiness Saturday, January 4, 2025 - 00:05 Source

International Reading: Kevin O’Leary blasts health insurance execs for hiring security guards instead of listening to Americans’ ‘frustration’ – Yahoo Apple agrees to pay $95 million to settle lawsuit alleging Siri eavesdrops—some customers eligible for pay – Fortune Mortgage demand dives nearly 22% to end 2024 – CNBC Famously Generous Company Gifts Employees Nearly 2

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

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MacroBusiness Friday, January 3, 2025 - 17:00 Source

China is again in the forefront of news in the last trading session of the first week of the trading year with speculation of an imminent rate cut by the PBOC plus more “support” from state planner. Aka turning Japanese. The USD remains firm against the undollars with Euro treading water above the 1.02 handle

The post Macro Afternoon appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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Renew Economy Friday, January 3, 2025 - 15:18 Source
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MacroBusiness Friday, January 3, 2025 - 13:00 Source

In a joint statement issued in November, Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Finance Minister Katy Gallagher announced that the Future Fund, which is one-third the size of the Australian economy, will be directed to invest in housing, security, and the green energy transition “where possible, appropriate, and consistent with strong returns”. This is the first time

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MacroBusiness Friday, January 3, 2025 - 12:30 Source

The Coalition plans to significantly reduce Australia’s permanent migrant intake if it wins the upcoming federal election. However, former immigration department bureaucrat and influencer, Abul Rizvi, contends that the Coalition would need to cap the number of partner visas in order to achieve its targets for reducing net overseas migration. The backlog of applications for

The post Axe parent visas and expand partner visas appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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MacroBusiness Friday, January 3, 2025 - 12:00 Source

Join us in this week’s podcast as Nucleus Wealth’s Chief Investment Officer, Damien Klassen, look through the performance of stocks over 2024, what worked, what didn’t and the lessons for 2025 Can’t make it to the live series? Catch up on the content via Podcasts or our recorded Videos. Damien Klassen is Chief Investment Officer at the Macrobusiness Fund,

The post MB Fund Podcast: What Worked In 2024 appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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MacroBusiness Friday, January 3, 2025 - 11:30 Source

Against expert advice, Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan chose to sign the contracts to build the first leg of the $200-plus billion Suburban Rail Loop (SRL) project. These experts warned that the SRL would be a $200-plus billion waste of money and wanted it axed. The enormous cost of the SRL will plunge Victoria deeper into

The post Melbourne’s west shows folly of Suburban Rail Loop appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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MacroBusiness Friday, January 3, 2025 - 11:00 Source

Metropole’s Dorian Traill claims that Australia is facing a “critical shortage of property investors” that is “further fueling the nation’s escalating rental crisis”. Traill’s claim is based off new research from the Property Investment Professionals of Australia (PIPA) and the Property Investors Council of Australia (PICA), which shows that a growing number of investors are

The post Australia needs fewer property investors appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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xkcd.com Friday, January 3, 2025 - 11:00 Source

You may notice the first half of these instructions are similar to the instructions for a working nuclear fusion device. After the first few dozen steps, be sure to press down firmly and fold quickly to overcome fusion pressure.

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MacroBusiness Friday, January 3, 2025 - 10:30 Source

India has led the surge in Australian temporary migration since the pandemic began. There were 300,000 Indians holding temporary visas in the September quarter (excluding visitors), up from 200,000 in September 2019. Included in this 300,000 figure were 115,000 Indians on student visas and 80,000 Indians on graduate visas. More than a decade ago, Australia

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Cheeseburger Gothic Friday, January 3, 2025 - 10:01 Source

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MacroBusiness Friday, January 3, 2025 - 10:00 Source

Immigration into New Zealand has fallen sharply, driven by increasing numbers of Kiwis fleeing to other countries (including Australia). As illustrated below by independent economist Tony Alexander, annual net migration fell to 38,800 in October from 42,700 in September and a record 136,000 a year ago. The large change in the past year reflects gross

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MacroBusiness Friday, January 3, 2025 - 09:00 Source

The new trading year has begun with staid results on Wall Street overnight as the latest initial jobless claims and global manufacturing PMI prints came in slightly lower than expected. European markets lifted solidly however on the back of a much lower Euro as the USD continues to dominate all undollar assets, save gold. Chinese

The post Macro Morning appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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MacroBusiness Friday, January 3, 2025 - 08:00 Source

Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers hit back at former Prime Minister John Howard and Treasurer Peter Costello, who criticised the Albanese government’s financial management. Treasurer Chalmers claimed on Twitter (X) that Labor had delivered a $200 billion improvement in the budget since it came to office, thereby delivering $70 billion in interest payments. The reality is

The post Jim Chalmers spins budget fairy tales appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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Your Democracy Friday, January 3, 2025 - 07:55 Source

Twin violent incidents rocked the US on New Year's Day, with an ex-US Army vet plowing a pickup into a crowd in New Orleans and going down guns blazing in a firefight with police, and an active-duty Green Beret blowing up in a Tesla Cybertruck outside a Trump hotel in Las Vegas. Sputnik asked renowned former CIA analyst Larry Johnson to weigh in.

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Your Democracy Friday, January 3, 2025 - 07:15 Source

Blue chip business lobby the Australia Israel Chamber of Commerce is associated with funding illegal settlements in Israel and sponsorships by notorious Elbit Systems whose weapons are deployed in war crimes. Yaakov Aharon reports.

Israel’s “innovation ecosystem will be supercharged” by the war, Dave Sharma said. Indeed, the bloody rubble of Gaza has been a human testing ground for drones and all manner of new military technologies.

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MacroBusiness Friday, January 3, 2025 - 07:00 Source

Last weekend, I was interviewed by Radio 2GB/4BC on Australia’s housing crisis. As readers know, the Albanese government has set a target of building 1.2 million homes over five years. This target requires 20,000 homes to be built per month, 60,000 homes per quarter, or 240,000 homes a year. The record 12 month for housing construction

The post Why Australia’s housing crisis won’t end appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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MacroBusiness Friday, January 3, 2025 - 00:05 Source

The median forecast of 36 economists polled by The Australian Financial Review is that the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) will begin reducing the cash rate at its board meeting on 19-20 May. This is several days after the last possible date for a federal election. Financial markets are a little more optimistic, tipping rate

The post Labor prays for RBA rate cuts appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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MacroBusiness Thursday, January 2, 2025 - 16:30 Source

Chinese stock markets have had their worst start to a trading year in nearly a decade due to a relatively poor performing Caixin manufacturing PMI print. The satellite Australian bourses didn’t care as New Year hangover hasn’t kicked in yet while the Australian dollar looks fierce mild just above the 62 handle. Oil futures are

The post Macro Afternoon appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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MacroBusiness Thursday, January 2, 2025 - 14:05 Source

Twitter (X) user AusPolCommenter claims that the Albanese government is a “good government” because it “took 66 promises to the 2022 election. To date, they’ve delivered 27 and are in progress on 29 more. That’s 84.8% and shows it’s a government that does what it says on the tin”. In my opinion, this is a

The post Is the Albanese government a “good government”? appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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MacroBusiness Thursday, January 2, 2025 - 11:30 Source

In 2018, Western Australia’s per capita share of goods and services tax (GST) was increased from $0.34 in the dollar to $0.47. The increase earned a strong rebuke from then Treasurer Ben Wyatt, who labelled the increase “another slap in the face to the good people of Western Australia”, which for “the sixth year in

The post WA GST controversy masks bigger issues appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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MacroBusiness Thursday, January 2, 2025 - 11:00 Source

Australia’s manufacturing sector has been in terminal decline for 40 years, with the sector’s share of GDP declining by nearly two-thirds since the late 1970s. As a result, Australia now has the lowest manufacturing share in the OECD. The net zero heroes will probably be happy with this outcome given that the manufacturing sector’s share

The post Australia’s manufacturing sector bogged deep in recession appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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