Amazingly, Australia has discovered an even worse way to grow its economy than the immigration/housing ponzi economy. The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), a bottomless public spending pit, fuels the bedpan economy. The giant economic suckhole costs a literal mint: It has helped drive public-funded jobs towards one-third of employment: Systematically devouring productivity: As the
No modern economy can survive without affordable energy. Australia’s east coast has none as the gas cartel party rolls on well above Albo’s $12Gj price floor joke: Triggering a new round of power price shock: ANZ has a take on the direct consequences of the cartel: RBA Deputy Governor Hauser recently asked do you strip
The statutory authority model, employed at the state level for power, water, housing, and various infrastructure services, was extremely effective over most of the twentieth century. Statutory authorities used boards that were independent of direct governmental control and chosen to represent a diverse range of community interests, including employees and customers. These authorities were generally
Data from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), reported in The Australian, shows that hospitality businesses collapsed at the fastest rate on record in the 2023-24 financial year, as rising food and energy costs and a sharp drop in consumer spending drove cafés and restaurants out of business. Insolvency appointments in the accommodation and
The latest GDP nowcast from the Melbourne Institute, plotted below by Justin Fabo at Antipodean Macro, suggests that Australia’s GDP growth remained at just 0.2% in June quarter: Given population growth of around 0.5%, this suggests that Australia will record its sixth consecutive decline in per capita GDP when the Q2 national accounts are released
It’s over for iron ore. Shanghai steel futures are in free fall, well below seven-year support: Dalian is also breaking down: Coking coal: Scuttlebutt is terrible: Pessimism pervaded the Chinese iron ore market last week, with steelmakers and traders rushing to sell off rebar stocks ahead of the implementation of new rebar standards, consultancy Mysteel
Bit of a wobbly night on Wall Street with no follow through from the more bullish returns from Friday although it initially started much higher. Confidence is lagging across risk markets as traders prepare for an action packed economic calendar this week with the USD also initially firming before losing ground against most of the
For Australia, the question of why Treasurer Jim “Chicken” Chalmers is so destructive has gone beyond the theoretical. We have an academic treasurer who makes answering the question a national interest priority: The answer to the question may lie in “Doctor” Jim Chamler’s academic exposure. One might expect a theoretician to be rigid in pursuit
The intertwined areas of immigration and housing are two of the most significant policy failures of the Albanese government. In its first federal budget in October 2022, the Albanese government projected that Australia’s net overseas migration would be 235,000 in 2022-23 and 235,000 in 2023-24: Instead, Australia received an unprecedented 980,000 net overseas migrants in
DXY is firm and its uptrend is intact: AUD is not well: North Asia is volatile: Oil puked: Commods puked: Miners puked: EM is holding support: Junk is da man: As yields roll over: But stocks can’t get a bid: As the Fed moves to cut, the market is wondering whether it is inflation that