By Leith van Onselen A decade ago, Melbourne was gripped in drought. Water storages had fallen to below 30% and widespread water restrictions were in place across the city: Several years of strong rainfall followed and today Melbourne’s dam storages sit at a healthier 69%. However, today The ABC reports that Southern Australia is getting
From CoreLogic’s Cameron Kusher comes a nice breakdown of last weeks’ ABS biennial survey of household income and wealth: As at the 2015-16 release 30.4% of households were lived in by someone that owned that property outright. This figure was lower than the 31.4% in 2013-14 and as the above chart shows it has been
By Leith van Onselen Back in February, The Economist released the below chart showing that Australia was leading the world in gambling losses, losing just under $US1,000 a year per resident adult, with nearly half of these losses coming from poker machines (see below graphic). According to The Economist: To the general public, Australia hardly
Global Macro / Markets / Investing: Automation will make countries with a youth bulge more volatile – Global Risk Insights Goldman’s Blankfein on Markets: ‘Things Have Been Going Up for Too Long’ – WSJ Ray Dalio: How to build a company where the best ideas win – TED Is Blockchain Ready for Fiat? Why Banks See Big Promise
Spring Moon, John Aland, 1967, Art Gallery of NSW China China sees new world order with oil benchmark backed by gold – Nikkei Asian Review ‘We must send our best to the front line’: Xi Jinping goes all out to rid China of poverty in three years – SCMP China bans new deposit certificates,
Via The Australian: Throughout their long and bitter pay dispute, Australia’s cricketers kept telling us it wasn’t about the money. It is just as well. If the past four days under a hot Dhaka sun have told us anything, it’s that money is a poor measure of a cricketer’s worth. The hapless 11 who yesterday
by Chris Becker Easing tensions on the Korean peninsula have caused stock markets to rally and a retreat from key safe havens like Yen, which lifted Japanese stocks for the first time this week. Gold prices remain elevated while a small selloff in local bonds continues as iron ore prices also retreat. In mainland China
Via the Herald Sun: VICTORIA has been dubbed a “parasite” state for relying on the rest of Australia to fund its extravagant lifestyle. Last year, Victoria imported more than $50 billion of highly manufactured goods, including cars, TV sets and machinery, official trade figures show. But despite promises in the early 2000s of the state
The bit I don’t get with the whole CBA money laundering through ATMs is why? The fees are so small. If you are going to launder money you need to: (1) take a hefty fee (10-15% should be an absolute minimum); and (2) obtain leverage over the criminal for future use. Macrobusiness has numerous times
by Chris Becker Death. Destruction. Nuclear holocaust! These headlines sell papers and bait clicks. Add to the mix a man-child US president, plus any chance to talk up defence contracts and the military-media-industrial complex goes into a frenzy. Doom sells! Luckily, science comes to the rescue. Let’s dispel the “threat” from North Korea using some
By Leith van Onselen Last month it was revealed that Australia’s farcical Health Star Rating system had been placed under review amid widespread concerns over its efficacy, which was beautifully encapsulated by Peter FitzSimons: Under the system, straight milk gets four stars, while Up & Go – with added, to use the specialised term –
The front page of the Australian is highlighting that the Labor party is starting to make inequality an issue for the next election, and Leith ran a post yesterday about the Labor party and a possible inheritance tax for next year. I find the whole inheritance tax debate fascinating. In my experience Australian’s have 3
There is sometimes confusion about the returns available on property in a self-managed super fund (SMSF) – especially as the mathematics starts to get confusing with relative rates of return, real vs nominal and opportunity cost vs risk, before tax and after tax returns. But I have a much easier way to explain why it
Iron ore charts for July 19, 2017: Tianjin benchmark rose $1.40 to $69.50. Paper flamed out overnight. CISA output for major mills fell 1% in the first fortnight of July. That is probably past the peak for the year but we shall we see. Steel prices are right at new price peaks. Thermal has caught
Dr Cameron Murray, author of the fantastic book Game of Mates: How Favours Bleed the Nation, will be presenting at various other book launches across Australia next, and MB readers are encouraged to attend. The upcoming dates are as follows (see links for further info): Monday 17th July – Economic Society Australia ACT is hosting
‘Open Cut, Muswellbrook’ Weaver Hawkins, 1955 National Gallery of Victoria China Beijing seen lending Chinese yuan a huge helping hand – Nikkei Asian Review China widens investor access as bond trading link with Hong Kong launches – Guardian China is focusing on the wrong things to fix its economy, says economist – CNBC China’s cooling
From CoreLogic: After it’s recent magical recovery to year on year highs, the index has again cratered again, this time to 2014 lows for the comparable period. Listings are a little better than last year. The index is volatile sometimes but does appear to be signaling mid-year weakness in mortgage issuance. Full report.
By Leith van Onselen Bloomberg has published an interesting article about how cities are facing swelter temperatures as climate change combines with the loss of green space to create a ‘heat-island’ effect: It’s so hot in Phoenix that American Airlines Group Inc has had to cancel scores of flights… The sweltering conditions, which have engulfed much of
Dr Cameron Murray, author of the great book Game of Mates: How Favours Bleed the Nation, will be presenting at various book launches across Australia over coming weeks, and MB readers are encouraged to attend (note: I’ll be at the Melbourne launch below). The upcoming dates are as follows (see links for further info): Thursday
By Leith van Onselen The Housing Industry Association (HIA) has attacked the NSW Budget’s first home buyer (FHB) bribe for failing to do enough to stimulate new home construction. From The AFR: Shane Garrett, senior economist for the Housing Industry Association, said the NSW budget to be handed down on Tuesday will cut a $5000
By Leith van Onselen Fairfax’s Peter FitzSimons has penned a thought-provoking piece on the government’s farcical Health Star Rating system, which is now under review: Last week the government announced it would be conducting a review of its Health Star Rating System on food products… Can I go first? It is freaking hopeless. Get rid
By Leith van Onselen Late last year, Foxtel announced that it would offer no contracts and equipment-free packages in a bid to attract price-sensitive customers and hold onto market share in the face of stiff competition from on-demand streaming services like Netflix and Stan. This followed Foxtel already halving the cost of its basic package,
Via Domainfax: “In contrast to the RBA’s recent upgrade to growth forecasts and the federal budget’s seemingly optimistic growth assumptions, we sense investor concern around the economy has risen in May,” UBS equity strategist David Cassidy said. Falling dwelling investment, some of it due to bad weather, and a drop in net exports, in turn
As a kid I loved watching the artistry of failure mastered by Greg Norman. The human frailty he brought to golf was so much more compelling than the game itself. Those early morning Masters disasters punctuated my youth like commandments from some hursuit and stinking mountain-top hermit. But he’s going to have to move over
Surrealist Landscape, Peter Purves Smith, 1938, National Gallery of Victoria China Regulator urges China banks to save ailing companies – FT.com The Boosterism Behind China’s Silk Road Story– Bloomberg China’s Addiction to Debt Now Threatens Its Growth – NY Times PBOC plans to adjust yuan fixing methodology as Fed interest rate rise looms –
