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Do-nothing Malcolm is overseeing the breaking of Australia

Australia is dying. It’s being killed by neglect and corruption. At the head of the destruction is Do-nothing Malcolm and his vacant non-plan for the country. Consider what “Australia” is. An Anglophone nation in Asia defined by a working class ethos of the “fair go”, English pragmatism, sport and self-effacing good humour. In recent decades

Latest posts

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There is nothing below house prices except thin air

The headlines yesterday were for improving Australian growth as the Botox Boom takes a hold, but under the hood it was ugly. Domestic demand is now hanging by a single fiscal thread and the outlook is for more of the same: Private investment is still shrinking and household consumption is very weak despite a tumbling savings

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Aussie workers’ economic share falls to 53-year low

By Leith van Onselen Yesterday’s national accounts release for the June quarter revealed some depressing news for Australian households. While the broader economy posted a 1.8% rise in real GDP over the year, Australian workers’ continued to slide backwards. The key chart was the following showing that the average compensation of employees fell by 0.2%

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WA depression rolls on

By Leith van Onselen The June quarter’s national accounts, released yesterday, revealed that Western Australia’s economy remains in a slump, with state final demand registering zero growth over the quarter and falling by 3.8% over the year: Western Australian workers continue to suffer big pay cuts, with real per capita wages & salaries declining by

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NZ mortgage debt growth falls as macro-prudential bites

By Leith van Onselen The RBNZ has released several pieces of data suggesting that the RBNZ’s recent loan-to-value ratio restrictions targeting investors has been successful in cooling mortgage demand amid record population growth. As shown in the next chart, New Zealand household borrowing continued to retrace sharply, recording annual growth of 7.1% in July: Most

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Links 7 September 2017

Global Macro / Markets / Investing: Those 3% of scientific papers that deny climate change? A review found them all flawed – Quartz US trade wars with emerging countries in the 21st century – VOX Inequality caused by urban renewal is “the central crisis of capitalism” says Richard Florida – Dezeen When the hedge is

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Macro Afternoon

by Chris Becker The lack of volatility as safe havens are bid up left right and center is still pushing stock markets down across Asia today, as tensions over North Korea remain high. The Yen is nearing a year high while gold remains highly elevated as managers switch from cautious mode to risk-off mode leading

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Big Sleazy breaks to new lows

Dalian is trying to rebound: BHP is still nudging breakout: Big Gas continues its re-rating with exporters down and the domestic gougers flying: All I can say to that is, what a pack of bloody idiots we are. Big Gold is powering, working beautifully as portfolio insurance. I’m still a seller here for the short

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Aussie home loan repayments breach 30% “unaffordable” threshold

By Leith van Onselen The Adelaide Bank/REIA Housing Affordability Report has been released for the June quarter has been released, which reveals that the percentage of household income required to service the typical Australian mortgage has increased by 0.2 percentage points to 31.4% – breaching the widely accepted threshold to being a manageable housing repayment.

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Sydneysiders advised to sell property

Via the AFR: “Home sellers can’t enter this spring selling season with the arrogance of last spring,” auctioneers say as the spring auction season kicks off. On the first big mid-week auction on Tuesday night at Domain Auction House in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, only 53 per cent of the 13 auctions sold, with four selling prior to auction

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NZ leaders’ phony war on house affordability

By Leith van Onselen In the lead-up to last year’s Australian federal election and since, we have witnessed politicians from both sides feign concern over Australia’s poor housing affordability while at the same time soothing concerns that house prices would necessarily fall. It seems New Zealand’s politicians have followed the same script in this week’s

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Peace breaks out with The Kouk

Mirabile dictu, peace has broken out between The Kouk and MB: Let me return the complement before we all blink and say The Kouk’s dovish positioning on the RBA is ahead of most in the market, including Phil Lowe. We’re in this together, I suspect, because we’re mutually disgusted by the war on wages.

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MB Fund seminar in Adelaide tomorrow night!

A reminder that if you’re in Adelaide tomorrow night your social standing is at risk if you miss the hottest event since The Beatles visited in 1964. Presentations will include: LVO dishing dirt on the disaster that is mainstream economics; DLS dishing dirt on the disaster that is market economics; DK on how to make a

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Daily iron ore price update (stall)

Iron ore price charts for September 5, 2017: Tianjin benchmark rose 30 cents to $77.50. Paper fell sharply overnight. Rebar is at new highs. Retuers has texture: China’s iron ore futures dropped on Tuesday for the first time in four sessions after a fire at a government-owned steel mill raised concerns that planned safety inspections may

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Chinese steel mill reform drawing to a close

At last some clarity on the Chinese steel sector reform that has so disrupted the market his year. Via Macquarie: China commodities trip: Update on government policy and steel  At the start of this year, we highlighted that Chinese commodity demand would be intertwined with government policy in 2017. Government intervention has stepped up

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Macro Morning

By Chris Becker   Stocks are finally feeling the heat of the tensions brewing across Asia, with US markets off 1% or more as risk scrambles for havens like Treasuries, Yen and gold. The USD lost ground and gave it back to commodities with oil and copper both rising. US Treasury yields are now on