The Glass Pyramid

NEWSFLASH   – Since publishing this post on Saturday there has been a flurry of activity by the State Government, as some foreign buyer data for the period July through September 2016 […]

The papers are full of stories about Australian companies being gouged and charged top dollar for LNG supplies at the same time as a bunch of international companies extract our gas reserves […]

Sorry there was a typo in that headline. “Bank CEOs deny Australian Housing is in a bubble” is what it should have said but in terms of denying the obvious it is […]

An excellent interview from Renegade Inc. Professor Richard Werner and David Buik talk with the host Ross Ashcroft about what is wrong with modern banking – especially in the UK. Plenty of […]

Douglas Driscoll, the CEO of Starr Partners – real estate agents – reckons that foreign buying of Australian real estate is out of control. It is a good indication just how out […]

Seasoned RBA Watchers always look forward to speeches by Luci Ellis. Although solid as rock when it comes to preserving the sacred myths and fables of modern neoliberal era central banking, there […]

There is a story running in the Australian Financial Review today by Phil Coorey suggesting that Mr Morrison is thinking about reducing or eliminating the CGT concession that has made residential property […]

Everyone seems to be agreed that house prices in Australia are high …. very high…. nose bleed high …. international jet set standards high. Sure there are a bunch of Bernard Salt […]

If the Great Financial Crisis  “GFC” (Australian for the Great Recession)  taught us anything, and to date it appears not much has been learnt, it is that a solid understanding by the general […]

Over the soft tinkle of China and silverware, amidst the contented purrs as Peach Melba slid from hundreds of spoons, the Lucky Country Central Banker in Chief Governor Phil ‘Lucky’ Lowe cast […]

Minister for the Ring of Border Steel, Mr Peter Dutton gives excellent “Serious Sam” as he makes it clear that Winston Churchill had nothing on him when it comes to resisting unapproved […]

In recent years a number of enthusiastic groups, the “MacPru Crew”, have claimed that if only the RBA/APRA would fully embrace the doctrines of Macroprudential regulation, Australia could have a monetary policy […]

The first Tuesday of the month is the scheduled day for monetary policy twitchers to don their pin stripe camo and lurk expectantly on park benches in Upper Martin Place. Their presence […]

Here is DFATs fact sheet on US-Australia trade that demonstrates the great “dudness” of the FTA deal with the US signed by Howard back in the early 2000’s. Click to access usa.pdf […]

For many years Dick Smith and his team at Dick Smith Foods have worked hard to encourage more Australians to support local manufacturers and food producers. Putting together a range of products, […]

There has been a lot of talk recently about what the election of Donald Trump means for world trade. During the US presidential campaign, Donald Trump suggested the solution lay in the […]

This morning the topic of revolution was in the air at macrobusiness. Not so sure we are about to get a revolution but one thing is clear the so called “neoliberal consensus” […]

There are unconfirmed reports that ‘inflation’ has been sighted in the United States http://www.macrobusiness.com.au/2016/12/inflation-rising-us/ Inflation? What’s that? Come now, that has been cured. Everyone knows that provided you privatize the vast majority […]

At the end of a comment yesterday on Macrobusiness, PFH007 concluded with Wake up ALP Wake up Greens. One response was as follows ErmingtonPlumbing   November 26, 2016 at 6:51 pm Yes but […]

The Australian Dollar keeps on rising and if it is not rising it remains far above what our trade performance warrants -floating on a torrent of unproductive and predatory capital inflows. Below is […]

The news today is that Woolies is considering ending its agreement with SPC Ardmona for locally canned fruit. Understandably this has led to a fresh out break of the old debate – […]

Land Tax has become the new black with even the Treasurer talking about his enthusiasm for experimentation by other people (aka the state governments). However, shifting a state governments finances from the […]

Larry Summers has been talking about Central Bank independence, and it is certainly about time, but his proposals do not go far enough.   The issue should be included in the terms of […]

What does the future hold for Australia was up for discussion on Macrobusiness this morning A Glass Pyramid operative left the following as a comment on that article. The tea leaves in […]

The following was a response to a comment at macrobusiness.com.au (click here) tonydd, Yes, that is the core of the problem. The LNP policy recipe is designed to concentrate wealth and the […]

Slowly but surely the penny is dropping right around the world.   The issues that caused the GFC have not been resolved, are not going away and are lurking in the corner […]

Yep the closure of Australian Car Manufacturing says everything about the ignorance and stupidity of our politicians and many of our economic commentators. The Glass Pyramid doesn’t care whether we produce cars […]

Simply amazing what an inflated exchange rate will do ! Gutting export and import competing industries right across the nation. And there is unlikely to be any improvement on that front whilst […]

The management/Board of the RBA and APRA must truly be in PM Malcolm Turnbull and Mr Morrison’s good books at the moment. Governor Glen can expect a triumphant retirement full of flowery speeches […]

Auction Action is back! Apologies for the dead air but all Glass Pyramid operatives have been busy storing acorns for winter and throwing beer cans at the TV in unsuccessful attempts to scare […]

Macrobusiness turned a bright illuminating spotlight on APRA this morning in an article that raised a series of very important questions about the regulation of the Australian Banking and monetary system and […]

The good thing about all this attention on APRA is that people are slowing starting to understand the significance of APRA as part of our regulatory framework. Having said that the discussion […]

  There is a lot of speculation at the moment about what is going on in the Australian credit creation industry and what exactly APRA is trying to achieve. There is a […]

The RBA/ APRA strategy of filling the unexpected mining bust hole with low interest rate stimulated residential construction and the household debt that goes with it was always misconceived. Such a strategy […]

A story that appears in the AFR today and was noted by Macrobusiness concerns a call by Doug Turek, managing director of Professional Wealth, for more representation, on the Board of the RBA, […]

You might have thought we had more than enough”scare campaigns” this election festival what with Malcolm and Morrison prowling the streets of our cities spinning yarns of doom, gloom and desperation if the […]

Probably not. Here is a box of old speeches by Mr Lowe for Central Bank “twitchers” to peruse between now and September 2016 when Mr Lowe’s appointment as RBA Governor commences. http://www.rba.gov.au/speeches/list.html#lowe The […]

A big baby Saturday in Sydney yesterday. If Sydney first home owners were disgruntled about a  phalanx of grey beard speculators out bidding them at auctions, they are now petrified by a new […]

A gold star has been licked by Head of Research and is ready for application to the broad Morrison forehead when he next pays a visit to the Glass Pyramid Turkish Bath complex. […]

Today David Uren noted the comments made by the Governor of the RBA in New York last week that it was time for governments to do more as monetary policy (cutting interest […]

Caroline Overington put the Prime Minister over her lap this morning and gave him a good smack for his absurd endorsement of a new class of negatively geared landlords – the infant […]

Sunday was a beautiful day in Sydney and a splendid opportunity for Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Treasurer Mr Scott Morrison to bond with local member Mr David Coleman and explain to a […]

Another weekend with less than 500 auctions scheduled in Sydney, but as it is the last weekend of school holidays and a long weekend, ‘seasonal’ excuses are readily available for those who […]

Perth’s vacancy rate of 4.1% and Darwin’s vacancy rate of 3.6% – with both cities experiencing falling rents for houses and apartments – demonstrate just how important a healthy vacancy rate is to ensure […]

Very few things in this wild woolly world upset Sydney folk. From a few weeks from the crib, Sydneysiders are trained to cope with life’s outrages in a calm and measured manner. Children […]