When you only have a hammer, everything looks like a nail: UNSW economics professor Richard Holden said the policy for a one-off cut of 20 per cent to student debt was “blatant vote-buying” in the vein of Queensland Labor’s strategy before the state election. “The government’s just acting like this doesn’t count, it’s just Monopoly
Two candidates enter, one president leaves. Two currencies enter, one currency leaves. Will it be DXY or AUD. The former: AUD firmed a bit: North Asia too: Oil up as OPEC holds volume return, gold down: Base metals: Miners meh: EM meh: Junk is screaming risk-off: Yields bid: Stocks sell: As we enter the US
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
The Chinese stimulus keeps getting downgraded. ANZ this time. China National People’s Congress preview • We expect a CNY10trn bond issuance plan for a debt swap program but the economic impact will be indirect and unnoticeable. • Direct economic stimulus will only be CNY1trn via frontloading the issue of special local government bonds, helping GDP
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 hits keep coming for Australia’s housing construction industry, which is failing dismally to meet the Albanese government’s target of building 20,000 homes a month, 60,000 homes a quarter, 240,000 homes a year, and 1.2 million homes over five years. Various forces are impacting the home-building industry, reducing capacity and effectively shifting the supply curve
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
A generally positive day across Asian stock markets to start what could be the most volatile trading week of the year as the US election looms. Friday night saw the release of the latest US non-farm payrolls aka unemployment print that came in quite weak, while the latest Iowa poll is shifting sentiment away from
DXY is down this afternoon: AUD is up for Harris! North Asia too: Gold and oil meh: Commods firming: Miners too: EM not so much: Junk not update: Aussie bonds have priced out all easing. This is hysteria: Stocks firm: It’s Monday afternoon for Harris in the US election. Far from decisive but after