Last week, the Centre for Independent Studies (CIS) released a stunning analysis showing that spending by federal and state governments on initiatives such as the NDIS, aged care, and child care has reached its highest level since World War II. Total spending on the NDIS, disability support pensions, and carer payments now exceeds $90 billion
Domain released its Q2 house price report last week, which showed that the median Sydney house was valued at an extraordinary $1,722,443 at the end of June, up 2.6% over the quarter and 4.2% year-on-year. This was the fastest quarterly rise in two years and the third straight gain in median house prices. Sydney unit
Despite a dreadful durable goods order print on Friday night, Wall Street still pushed to new record highs as earnings are coming in solid as expected, helped by buybacks and the “Big Beautiful Bill” spending. Other risk markets were not so easily convinced with European shares falling back while the USD climbed to a two
DXY was up Friday but will be down today as Trump strikes a tariff deal with Europe at 15% tariff. Bloomberg. Von der Leyen and Trump also differed on some of the key terms of the deal they announced. The US president said the tariff level would apply to “automobiles and everything else,” but not
A wise man once said that “Hope is not a strategy.” But that isn’t entirely correct. As the chart below of historic Reserve Bank wage growth forecasts reveals, hope can be a strategy; it’s just not a particularly good one. The latest hope from the Reserve Bank is that the market economy can generate sufficient
By Lucinda Jerogin, Associate Economist at CBA The Minutes of the July RBA Monetary Policy Board Meeting re-enforced a cautious Board who wanted to wait and see quarterly inflation data before resuming its rate-cutting cycle. News offshore was dominated by trade headlines as nations worked to secure deals with the US before the August 1
Public submissions to the Governments Productivity Roundtable closed yesterday. All that is left for the public to consider are the outcomes. Ultimately the Productivity Round Table is unlikely to achieve all that much because it isn’t set up to achieve anything, and is set up to provide a spectacle in lieu of effective policy. Therein lay
Australian home values reached a new record high in June and are expected to continue growing. The single-best leading indicator of price growth—auction clearance rates—has bounced, suggesting buyer demand is increasing. As illustrated below, final auction clearance rates are tracking at their highest levels in more than a year across Sydney, Melbourne, and the combined
Ah, The Guardian, home of hypocrisy. Mark Humphries has moved house five times in the past seven years. First was the place in the Sydney suburb of Turramurra he had to vacate because it was, “forgive me for saying this – leaking like a giant breast from the ceiling”. Next came a house so damp,
DXY is trying again. The AUD uptrend is intact. Lead boots got heavier. Gold needs more Trump. Metals flamed out. EM too. Junk is bullish. Yields faded. Stocks ATH. The big bear short on CFTC driving price gains reached -81k contracts, which is approaching very bearish terrain. AUD had a down day, but so long