Blogotariat

On Saturday, the U.S. armed forces launched a series of attacks on Venezuela, which culminated in the capture of President Nicholas Maduro. As these events continue to make headlines around the globe, it’s worth exploring why this nation on the northern coast of South America matters in global affairs. Oil And It’s Geopolitical Impact First,

The post Venezuela – A primer appeared first on MacroBusiness.

You can lead a politician to gas, but you cannot make him/her use it. After thirteen years of campaigning for a sensible gas regulation regime on Australia’s east coast, MB has again failed to secure anything of substance from Canberra. Indeed, Labour’s late-year gas reservation is barely even a joke of a policy. Why those

The post A gas asteroid hurtles towards Australia appeared first on MacroBusiness.

The chairman of the Jerusalem-based Yad Vashem World Holocaust Remembrance Center has said it was the right decision to reject a request from Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky to deliver a speech at the institution.

Antizionist Rabbi Yaakov Shapiro and historian Samuel Biagetti explain why Israel is to blame for the increase in antisemitic attacks.

Washington’s unprovoked aggression against Venezuela, and the likely coming ground attack, are an attempt at reimposing “proud, stable democracy” in the country, in the words of the US front surrogate, Maria Corina Machado.

2025 turned out to be a banner year in the great steel crash. As of the November data, Chinese output was down 4% year-to-date. With a generous extrapolation for December, Chinese steel output will have shrunk well below one billion tonnes in 2025, approaching 2018 levels. Leading CISA data confirms no late-year rebound for China.

The post No end in sight to the great steel crash appeared first on MacroBusiness.

On Friday 2 January 2026 every major media outlet in the country was running the news that 120 Australian Business leaders were calling for the Federal Government to call a Commonwealth Royal Commission into the Bondi Shootings and Anti-Semitism in Australia. Australia’s biggest industry groups demand an antisemitism royal commission – The Age Australia’s biggest

Hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on December 26 that Israel recognizes Somaliland as an independent state, US President Donald Trump was asked whether the United States would follow suit, especially given the talk of a plan to relocate Gazans to the newly formed state. Trump replied, “That’s an important question.”

“SOMALILAND”: IS NETANYAHU EXPANDING THE SCOPE OF BLACKMAIL?

Yellow Robin with katydid in Broulee Courtesy Geoff McVeigh   Global Macro Five charts that explain the global economic outlook for 2026 – Guardian Oil prices record steepest annual fall since Covid pandemic – Guardian The 2025 energy transition in eight charts: clean wins, dirty setbacks – Reuters Commodities buffeted by Trump whirlwind seek relief

The post Weekend Links and Videos: 3-4 January 2026 appeared first on MacroBusiness.

On 5 December, tens of thousands of high school students demonstrated against conscription and war in around 90 German cities. On the same day, the German Bundestag passed a law on military service that moves towards conscription and ignores the concerns of schoolchildren.

Young people want to live in peace

I saw a short video where a UK policeman was arresting someone for supporting Palestine Action, an organisation which is all about trying to prevent the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. The person being arrested asked if it was because she supported Palestinians, and the copper said that it was. She also asked if she would be arrested if she supported Israel and the copper replied that she wouldn’t.

“Heaven is high and the emperor is far away.” So did Chinese peasants celebrate their distance from the Forbidden City over many centuries now past. I imagine a similar sentiment may prevail in the hyper-centralized People’s Republic.

When power is to one or another degree autocratic, power is best when power is distant. So it was for me, if briefly, as 2025 drew to a close.

Prominent Australian business leaders and public figures have joined calls for a federal royal commission into antisemitism following the Bondi terror attack, adding pressure on the Albanese government as it resists a national inquiry.

Among the more than 100 signatories to an open letter, published on Friday, are former Reserve Bank governors Philip Lowe and Glenn Stevens, alongside a broad cross-section of business figures and university chancellors.