Blogotariat

I was reading the early reports of Ukraine’s drone strikes on Russian strategic bomber bases, wondering ‘where have I read this before/?’

And then I remembered.

I didn’t read it. I wrote it a couple of years ago. In Zero Day Code. Chapter 17.

Wind power has become a significant contributor to the electricity supply in Australia. As of September 2024, Australia had an installed wind capacity of around 13.3 GW. Wind power accounted for 13.4% (or 31.9 TWh) of Australia’s total electricity production in 2024. The Albanese government has set a target of producing 82% of Australia’s electricity

The post The fundamental problem with renewables appeared first on MacroBusiness.

Shifting just 20% of Australia's iron ore exports to green steel products could potentially increase annual export revenues by tens of billions of dollars.

More hesitation on risk markets as the weekend news of increased tensions on Chinese and US trade, including more off the cuff tariff announcements from the TACO-in-Chief unsettles the new start to the trading month. Currency markets area again winding up strength against the USD in response with the Australian dollar breaking out and accelerating

The post Macro Afternoon appeared first on MacroBusiness.

Two new records over the weekend mark the continued evolution of battery storage in Australia's main grid,

Last week, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand lowered the official cash rate (OCR) to 3.25%, down 2.25% from the recent peak. The vote in favour of cutting rates was overwhelming, with five members voting for and only one against. The Reserve Bank’s guidance, presented below, suggests that the OCR will bottom at around 2.75%.

The post Reserve Bank sees disinflation ahead appeared first on MacroBusiness.

New data suggests Victorian households could be weaned off gas heaters in less than 10 years, freeing up more gas than used by by

University of Melbourne associate professor Milad Haghani argues that utes and SUVs should pay higher registration fees to account for the damage they do to roads because of their weight. “Bigger cars mean bigger costs for everyone else – it’s only fair those costs are reflected in how we price their use of public roads”,

The post Electric vehicles must pay higher registration fees appeared first on MacroBusiness.

We are still waiting for the final 2PP figures – they’ve finished in 149 seats and have even started the 2PP count in Bradfield now – but we now have basically all of the two-candidate-preferred figures in. We may not know the final Bradfield outcome, but for the purposes of today’s post it is close enough.

The latest data from the Department of Education shows that there were a record 1,095,298 international students enrolled in Australia at the end of 2024, an annual increase of 13%. There were also a record 571,986 new enrolments at the end of 2024. Julie Hare from The AFR reports that university tuition fees from international

The post Australia becomes dumping ground for international students appeared first on MacroBusiness.

CBA senior economist Stephen Wu created the following chart showing the divergence between various population measures: According to Wu: Next week’s National Accounts release (4/6) will contain an updated estimate of population growth, which is driven by net overseas migration (NOM). The already-released retail trade data show estimates of population growth will be downwardly revised

Westpac is reading the economy right as examines Q1 GDP. Domestic demand is expected to have slowed, lifting only 0.3%qtr in Q1. As growth in new public demand moderates, private demand remains patchy and at this stage, unable to pick up the slack left by the public sector. The impacts of the natural disasters which

The post RBA should have cut 50bps appeared first on MacroBusiness.