Weekend Reading and Media Appearances

International Reads:

• Costco to raise hourly pay for most US store workers to over $30 – Reuters
• Trump says US could soon put 25% tariffs on goods from Mexico, Canada – Reuters
• Trump’s grant gambit threatens to wreck the goldilocks economy he inherited – CNN
• Americans tipping less as frustration over prices and prompts grows, hits a six-year low – sinhalaguide.com
• Biggest US trading allies brace for a ‘game of chicken’ with Trump’s tariffs. (25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico, starting tomorrow!) – The Guardian
• Civil rights activists call for a Target boycott after retailer backs away from diversity programs – AP News
• Americans Are Changing Their Mind on the Economy – News Week
• GDP report shows US economy is chugging along – Axios
• Trump Signs Executive Order to Deport Pro-Palestinian Student Protesters – Review
• Nuclear stocks tank as energy names get caught in DeepSeek-fueled rout – Business Insider
• Oil prices rise amid US tariff threat but still set for weekly loss – Reuters
• Donald Trump attacks Fed after no change in interest rates – BBC
• EU debates return to Russian gas as part of Ukraine peace deal – FT
• Tesla Misses Q4 Estimates as Car Sales Drop, But Musk Bets Big on Self-Driving – Review Div
• U.S. economic growth slowed to 2.3 percent in late 2024 – Washington Post

Local Reads:

• Coles, Woolies, Kmart, and Costco contributing to push to scrap penalty rates – News.com.au
• The way you buy painkillers is changing. Here’s what to know– SBS
• Human Rights Commission considers discrimination complaint against Peter Dutton over Gaza comments – The Guardian
• Jacinta Nampijinpa Price pledges to cut Welcome to Country ceremony funding if elected – ABC
• ‘Grim’: number of Australians facing long-term homelessness surges 25% in five years – The Guardian
• We are seeing anti-medical, anti-science narratives everywhere – how can doctors like me respond? – The Guardian
• Moderate Liberals losing ground as hard-right faction looms large in Senate battle – The Guardian
• WA government under investigation over alleged environmental noncompliance – ABC
• Labor scrambles to clinch political expenditure reform with Coalition deal – ABC News
• Australian democracy is not dead, but needs help to ensure its survival – The Conversation
• Moribund mortgage market shows signs of life – Interest.co.nz
• Home values show signs of flattening out after last year’s slide – Interest.co.nz
• ‘NZ’s long-run economic growth about expanding the population and rising house prices’ – Interest.co.nz

Media Appearances:

The Great Australian Housing Swindle

Australians face 15 years of economic pain

Australia should tax gas exports

We’re a throwaway economy with falling living standards

Interesting chat with Mearsheimer vis Israel and Palestine

Zeihan on China Real Estate