Weekend reading and MB media appearances

International Reading:

• EU Freezes U.S. Trade Deal After Trump’s Unhinged Davos Speech – New Republic
• Majority of CEOs Alarmed as AI Delivers No Financial Returns – Futurism
• The U.S. debt now equals $229,000 per household—and a hefty tax hike looms as the most probable outcome – Fortune
• ‘This is sell America’ — U.S. dollar, Treasury prices tumble as globe flees U.S. assets: Trump’s latest threats around Greenland pushed global investors to shift exposure away from U.S.-centric investments. – CNBC
• Economic Blackout Planned To Protest ICE’s ‘Complete Disaster’ In Minnesota – Huff Post
• E.U. halts approval of U.S. trade deal after Trump’s Greenland tariff threat – NBC News
• US could hit breaking point in 30 days in China war: report. – Fox News
• Trump Drops European Tariff Threat Over Greenland After NATO Meeting – NY Times
• Why did Blackrock CEO Larry Fink Open Davos with a Warning? – Business Chief
• Trump’s newest order bans Wall Street from snapping up homes – but buyers shouldn’t celebrate just yet – Independent
• Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei Warns Giving China Access to Nvidia’s H200 Chips Is Like ‘Selling Nuclear Weapons to North Korea’ – Capital Daily
• IMF projects Ukraine will outgrow Russia in 2026 as latter’s oil tax revenues drop 46% in January – Euro Maidan
• Trump says he has a top choice to replace Jerome Powell as Federal Reserve chair, but skips on a name – Independent

Local Reading:

• Criticism of Benjamin Netanyahu may be an offence under Australia’s new hate speech laws, Greens claim – The Guardian
• The optics are diabolical for Liberals and Nationals, as chaos reigns on a supposed day of mourning – ABC
• CSIRO PhD candidate accused of planning terror attack denied bail – ABC
• Australia earns global praise for ‘soft landing’ but still dependent on China – ABC
• Gen Xers the new baby boomers: analysis identifies Australia’s richest landholders by generation – The Guardian
• Eight remaining Nationals in shadow ministry quit in solidarity – ABC
• Why did Queensland’s flood warning gauges fail when they were needed most? – ABC
• NDIS tool to determine support not tested on variety of disability types – including diverse autism, experts warn – The Guardian
• Debt collector hired to chase unpaid taxes for the ATO pays zero corporate tax itself – The Guardian
• Net population growth from migration remains below 1000 a month – Interest.co.nz
• ‘A disappointing month for retailers’ as electronic card transactions data shows a seasonally-adjusted fall in sales – Interest.co.nz
• REINZ sales firmer but prices slightly softer overall in December – Interest.co.nz
• Big slide in asking prices on Trade Me Property over the last two months of 2025 – Interest.co.nz

MB Media Appearances:

Last weekend’s Treasury of Common Sense with Luke Grant on Radio 2GB/4BC unpacked the Centre for Population’s latest forecasts, which project that Australia’s population will balloon by around 13.4 million by 2065-66, equivalent to adding another Sydney, Melbourne, and Perth to the current population.

I also briefly unpack Labor’s fake East Coast gas reservation policy.

The latest mid-week Treasury of Common Sense on Radio 2GB/4BC discusses the collapse in housing completions, which has coincided with Australia’s aggressive population growth via mass immigration.

nbsp;

FFS

And President Xi of China seems to be taking out his Generals

Have UK Greens twigged to Class War?