Former Labor leader Bill Shorten warned that Australia’s declining economic complexity is the single biggest threat to national security. Shorten noted that the Harvard Kennedy School’s Economic Complexity Index ranked Australia 105th out of 145 nations. “Our near neighbours are Botswana, Panama, Namibia and Togo”, he said. “This is not an academic curiosity; it is
Coastline at 12 Apostles, Victoria AUD/USD EUR/USD USD/JPY GBP/USD Gold WTI Brent Australia 200 US S&P 500 UK 100 Japan 225
The post Macro Afternoon: 23 September 2025 appeared first on MacroBusiness.
After recording stronger than expected growth in the June quarter, it appears that Australia’s economy is stalling once more. Last week, the Westpac–Melbourne Institute Leading Index was released, which fell back to –0.16% in August from +0.11% in July. It was the first below-trend reading since September 2024, suggesting that momentum has slowed. “While the weakness
While the focus of Australia’s political policymakers remains on issues largely external to the nation’s rental crisis, more and more data continues to emerge pointing to the impact of the failure of successive governments, which is worsening circumstances by the day. According to a recent report from News.com.au International students are overwhelming Australia’s asylum system with
Australia’s population ballooned by around 8.5 million (45%) over the first 25 years of this century, easily exceeding the population growth experienced by other advanced nations. Between Q1 2021 and Q1 2025, Australia’s population grew by an astonishing 1.88 million (7.9%)—equivalent to adding an Adelaide and Hobart to the nation’s population. The following chart from
In the final climactic battle between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, Anakin says to Obi-Wan: “You turned her (his wife Padme) against me!” “You have done that yourself!” Obi-Wan replies. As the saga within the Coalition over Jacinta Nampijinpa Price’s comments regarding Indian voters and the Albanese government
Andrew Leigh, Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury, appeared last week on ABC’s Afternoon Briefing with host Patricia Karvelas, where Leigh stated the following blatant lie about Australia’s immigration numbers: “We’ve reduced migration from the record highs it was under the Coalition, getting it more in line, including working with universities on the
Over the past 20 years, Australian universities have evolved into revenue-driven corporations. To summarise, the federal government and Australian universities created a framework to attract huge volumes of full-fee-paying overseas students by: The Australian government provided generous student visa work rights and the opportunity for permanent residency. Australian higher education institutions lowered admission and teaching
As the Australian economy progresses, increasingly driven by the expanding size of government and the rising population, warning lights are beginning to signal that not everything is well. Like a real car, it’s possible that the warning lights are being thrown up due to a faulty sensor, in this instance, the deterioration of multiple labour
From the Market Ear: AI mania Consecutive sessions higher for the AIQ… Momentum mania “Our high beta momentum winners basket just rallied +11.5% last week (following an +8.8% gain the week prior). This basket aims to capture the best performers over the last year. Notably, 50% of the basket’s gain this past week was driven