Weekend reading and MB media appearances

International Reading:

• Trump, Who Calls Medicare for All Too Expensive, Vows $5,000 to Every US Adult—If GOP Wins Midterms – Common Dreams
• Global oil hits $107 per barrel and bond yields surge – CNN
• Vance appears to walk back Trump’s offer of $5,000 ‘dividend’ if Republicans win midterms – The Guardian
• Trump to Make $500 Payouts Ahead of Midterms, Citing Obamacare – Bloomberg
• 30-year fixed mortgage rate tops 7% for the first time in over a year – CNBC
• Trump lost the war. Oil surges above $100 a barrel. Americans suffer. – AP News
• Feds to buy up to $6 billion in Treasury bonds in move to ease borrowing costs – CBS News
• The president trying to buy your votes – The Guardian
• US home sales slowest in more than a year as mortgage rates and prices climb – The Guardian
• Trump says oil and gas prices won’t fall until ‘right after’ midterm election – CNBC
• Why All ‘Cryptocurrencies’ Are Doomed to Fail – Medium
• EU’s Russian energy exit faltering, auditors say – Reuters
• The Fallout of the U.S.–Canada Trade War Won’t Be Limited to North America – Carnegie Endowment
• South Korea nears $100 billion nuclear and gas energy deal with U.S. – Yahoo
• IMF says global growth on track to reach 3% in 2026, but risks remain high – Yahoo
• US weekly jobless claims edge down as layoffs remain low – Yahoo

Local Reading:

• Lambie accuses Hanson of being a ‘coward’, calls on One Nation to remove ‘traitor’ cartoon – ABC
• Andrew Hastie accuses Pauline Hanson and Barnaby Joyce of being ‘lying cowards’ over One Nation ‘traitor’ cartoon – The Guardian
• Three Greens senators to cross floor amid internal brawl over contentious koala park plan – The Guardian
• Victoria’s koalas in chronically poor health and population is half what was previously estimated – The Guardian
• Sydney businessman Alexander Csergo sentenced to time behind bars for reckless foreign interference – ABC
• RentTech companies asking tenants for personal details ‘completely outside’ new Victorian laws – The Guardian
• Australia softens east coast gas reservation rule for LNG exporters, delays start to 2028 – Reuters
• Australian students record worst-ever reading and maths results in international PISA test – ABC
• Bureaucrats urge Albanese to ban social media clips taken from parliament to save them from ‘ridicule’ – The Guardian
• Record strength El Niño could mean bigger supermarket bills for Australians, experts warn – The Guardian
• Housing slump affecting existing home owners wanting to move up the property ladder – Interest.co.nz
• The public service has a design problem, not a size problem – Interest.co.nz
• First-home withdrawals hit record levels, average KiwiSaver balance passes $40,000 – FMA report – Interest.co.nz
• ASB economists say it’s the end of an era for house price capital gains – Interest.co.nz
• Labour promises new rules for data centre electricity use, coordinated AI policy across government – Interest.co.nz
• Government opens build to rent option for wealthy investor immigrants – Interest.co.nz

MB Media Appearances:

This week’s podcast with Nucleus Wealth’s Chief Investment Officer Damien Klassen on the outlook for the Australian housing market:

This interview with Sean Murphy at ABC Radio Upper Hunter explains why Australia’s living standards are declining and what policymakers can do about it.

This interview with Luke Grant at Radio 2GB/4BC explains why Australians are feeling poorer, are considerably grumpier, and are seeking alternatives like One Nation.
I also lambast Anika Wells’ gaslighting on the housing crisis.

This interview with Mike Jeffreys at Radio 2GB/4BC discusses the prospect of Australia sliding from a rich, developed nation towards a middling, semi-developed nation.
We also talk about One Nation’s proposed superannuation changes and the federal government’s 5% deposit scheme for first-home buyers.