The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released its cost-of-living indices for the September quarter. The data showed the nation’s cost-of-living crisis has hit employee households the hardest. As illustrated in the following chart from the ABS, the cost-of-living for households headed by an employee rose by 4.7% in the year to September 2024, well above
This has reached the point of absurdity: Australia’s ambassador to the United States, Kevin Rudd, has scrubbed comments critical of incoming president Donald Trump from his online record, as the Albanese government rushes to avoid offending the nation’s most important security partner. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has insisted that Rudd will remain as Australia’s top
It was a bad week for the Albanese government, which is facing an uphill re-election battle. First, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) hosed any hopes of interest rate cuts in the near term because “underlying inflation remains too high”. Second, the United States election delivered a stomping victory for Donald Trump. And with it,
Stele is going nowhere. Iron ore doesn’t care. Because stimmies! Steel exports went boom in Ocotber. Maybe some Trump frontloading. Iron ore imports were firm. CISA output finished October on a better footing. And inventory fell as well. It looks like we’re headed into seasonal tailwinds with temporary momentum as stimmies excite speculators and the
US stock markets continued higher in the post election haze, helped along by a somewhat dovish Fed which cut rates at the latest FOMC meeting overnight by 25 basis points. This arrested the post election surge in USD somewhat as Euro bounced back alongside other undollars with the Australian dollar heading up to a two
Treasury Secretary Steven Kennedy told a Senate estimates hearing that his department is modelling the impact of changes to the capital gains tax and negative gearing regimes. Kennedy said that Treasury undertakes such modelling “from time to time”, but emphasised that the federal government had not asked it to do so and is not considering
Australia’s governments hope to ‘solve’ the housing crisis by pushing residents into living in high-rise apartments. However, high-rise apartment approvals have collapsed, as illustrated in the following chart: High-rise apartment approvals have decreased 63% nationally since their 2015 peak, with sharp declines in New South Wales (-74%), Victoria (-68%), and Queensland (-60%) being the main
There is nothing quite like a public servant on a massively bloated wage: Australia’s new Reserve Bank governor Michelle Bullock has received a nearly $400,000 a year pay increase after stepping into the top job. According to the RBA annual report up to June 30, the woman responsible for Australia’s monetary policy settings received $1,056,835
On Tuesday, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) released its Statement of Monetary Policy (SoMP), which provided forecasts on Australian wage growth and CPI inflation to December 2026. Australians have endured the sharpest decline in real inflation-adjusted wages on record, tracking 7.2% below their June 2020 peak as of Q2 2024. According to the RBA
Asian stock markets are mainly up across the region with Chinese shares leading the charge in the post US election mood with the USD pulling back slightly against most of the undollars after a mammoth surge overnight. The Australian dollar recovered the most with a swift move above the 66 cent level. Oil futures are