Alex Joiner, chief economist at IFM Investors, recently published the following chart showing the outsized contribution of the non-market sector (i.e., public services, healthcare & social assistance, and education) to overall job growth. Of the 926,425 jobs created between Q1 2023 and Q3 2025, 637,273 (69%) were in the non-market sector that is primarily government
Former LNP media advisor in the Howard government, Chris Kenny, pines for bygone times. In my lifetime I have not seen more division, or a greater lack of social cohesion. Many of us wonder what national values or symbols our country can unite around. “I am not as pessimistic as that,” former prime minister John
It has happened. Pauline Hanson is now Australia’s number one choice for PM. The LNP has committed suicide, and ON is comfortably the official opposition. Which is driving the surge? You tell me. The moving average at Poll Bludger is fast catching up as ON gobbles votes from both major parties. Once the LNP gets
Friday night saw a huge reversal in precious metals fortunes perhaps triggered by the Trump regime’s nomination of Kevin Warsh as the next Fed Governor or the technical overbought status of both gold and silver. Silver dropped over 30%, gold fell more than 10%, taking both back to where they were just two weeks ago.
In the debate over the types of houses being built in Australia, a frequently repeated narrative is that the shift toward more apartments is positive because migrants favour that type of living arrangement. While we lack data on this question for Australia, figures from Canada shed some light on migrants’ housing choices and priorities. While
Cotality’s latest housing affordability report noted that Australian rental affordability in the September quarter of 2025 was the worst on record, with the median renting household required to spend 33.4% of their incomes to rent the median advertised home: Cotality’s housing results for January, released on Monday, revealed that rental affordability continues to worsen, with
The latest interest rate futures pricing has Australia’s official cash rate sitting at 4.17% by the end of 2026. Thus, financial markets are tipping at least two and possibly three 25 bp interest rate hikes by the end of this year. If these forecasts came to fruition, variable mortgage rates would climb to around 6%
The ferrous jaws must close! The CNY steel inventory restock has begun from a higher level than last year, according to CISA data. The iron ore port mountain is Himalayan and growing at roughly 2mt per week. From CISA. And MySteel. The Chinese Steel PMI was dead flat at 50 across the board. The export
What goes up… DXY has recaptured support, and how. Houston, we have a problem. CNY still supportive. JPY not so much. As I have warned many times, gold is volatile. AI metals meltdown. Massive mining reversal. EM too. Junk is alseep in a chair. Curve steepened. Stocks fell. What gives? Kevin Warsh will succeed
Since coming to power, Labor has increased the Australian Public Service (APS) headcount by 24%, to more than 213,000 staff. The government argues the increase is necessary to reduce reliance on consultants and contractors. The federal government had forecast in its March 2025 budget that the public service wages bill would remain steady at about