Watercooler Reads and Videos: 23-27 October 2023

International Reads:

• Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates. Behind Every Self-Made Millionaire is a Father with Money – Medium
• Jerome Powell Is Still Puzzling Over the Strength of the US Economy – New Yorker
• The best and worst retirement systems in the world: US is just mediocre, survey finds – Yahoo
• Cratering motor fuel sales in Norway show the death spiral that can end oil – Elecktrec
• The IRS crackdown on rich taxpayers is already raking in millions in back taxes – Market Watch
• When boomers ‘age out’ of their homes, this is who will benefit the most – Market Watch
• U.S. wraps up fiscal year with a budget deficit near $1.7 trillion, up 23% – CNBC
• Cruises, golf and private health: how baby boomer spending has kept UK inflation stubbornly high – The Guardian
• As mortgage rates hit 8%, home ‘affordability is incredibly difficult,’ economist says – CNBC
• Gen Zers and millennials working several jobs to make ends meet are finding that gig work isn’t cutting it anymore – Fortune
• Cannabis firms are cut off from the US financial system, but relief is in sight – The Guardian
• Many Americans preparing for a recession despite signs that say otherwise – Fox Business
• Brazil Is Embracing the Migrant Crisis That Everyone Else Wants to Avoid – Bloomberg
• Greece Returned to Investment Grade by S&P After Over a Decade – Bloomberg

Local Reads:

• Company tax avoidance: ATO claws back record $6.4 billion in multinational crackdown – The Age
• Is the sea of dark roofs raising the heat in Australia’s new suburbs? – ABC
• Hidden hops on King Island reveal a secret beer history and 140-year-old mystery – ABC
• Rental squeeze pushes Gold Coast couple from house tenancy to unknown future in ‘home on wheels’ – ABC
• With pears ‘the forgotten fruit’ in supermarkets, struggling growers are pulling up trees – ABC
• Federal government will not cancel Chinese company Landbridge’s Port of Darwin lease – ABC
• Methane bubbles in groundwater cast doubts over Beetaloo basin fracking approval, scientists say – The Guardian
• Human demands exceed Earth’s regenerative capacity – Interest.co.nz
• Estimated real estate agency commissions topped $400m in the September quarter – Interest.co.nz
• Infometrics says New Zealand economy is on track for a soft landing – Interest.co.nz

Last week’s MB media appearances:

The Treasury of Common Sense, where I talked about the triple whammy being inflicted on Australians by the Albanese Government:

I also appeared on Sky News on Friday night where I discussed Alboflation and the RBA:

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