Covid inquiry pure Seinfeld
Talk about chutzpah. Anthony Albanese has called a Covid inquiry that is a pure Seinfeldian rip-off – an inquiry about nothing.
Terry McCrann
Nukes maybe, but coal yes
The simple brutal truth is that we will build the first nuclear power station in Australia immediately after we build the next big coal-fired plant.
Minns follows Chalmers playbook
Two unrenewables are the base for budgets both state and federal. And it’s not sustainable.
Chalmers misleads on Labor misery
Treasurer Jim Chalmers seems to ‘think’ Australian ‘history’ began in 1983 but for the 25 years to 1974, Australia enjoyed a jobless rate even lower than it is now.
Likely no more rate hikes but don’t hold your breath for cuts
Rate hikes are likely off the agenda for the time being. But don’t count on a cut any time soon.
Qantas-Qatar debacle exposes government’s dysfunction
The fallout from the decision to reject extra Qatar Airways flights into Australia is a searing pointer to the much broader and deeper dysfunction of the Albanese Labor Government.
Wasting $10bn to make housing shortage worse
It takes a particular combination of stupidity and deliberate malevolence to keep fuelling the flames of the housing and rental shortages with out-of-control, immigration.
Qantas media hysteria flies past reality
Here’s the truth about Qantas and its former CEO Alan Joyce which should bury the unrestrained hysteria of the past week.
Joyce attacks have no basis
All the attacks on Alan Joyce are silly and ‘miss the mark’ by billions of dollars when he should really be getting applause for building and saving Qantas.
Missing ‘whales’ whack Aussie casinos
You’d be brave to suggest that Chinese billionaires, or even mere multi-millionaires, will be coming back to gamble in Australia’s casinos any time soon.
Twiggy’s new CEO on notice
It’s tough working for the billionaire man. It might get even tougher with a future China.
Jim’s big report: Worse than useless
The new Intergenerational Report will sink like a stone, like all its predecessors and no-one will ever look at it again, just like the Business Council’s ‘grand plan’, released on Monday.
Shoppers the real winners of the supermarket wars
Coming out of Covid, who’s been winning the great and seemingly eternal battle in the supermarket aisles. The latest profit reports from Coles and Woolworths provide an unambiguous answer.
Why BHP’s future is Australia’s future
BHP’s profit and its outlook tells us as much about Australia and its prospects as it does about the company – and the outlook for the next year and rest of the decade looks challenging.
Prepare for a week of financial fantasy
The week has kicked off with the greedy big business fantasies of the BCA and will end with the hopeless statistical fantasies of Treasury.
Why Labor’s dud housing plan’s a big fail
Given rocketing materials and labour costs, there’s nothing in Labor’s new housing plan to directly help builders, while the real challenge will be exploding immigration numbers.
Bowen’s insane energy campaign heading for UK-style disaster
Chris Bowen is on an utterly insane campaign to destroy our electricity system and it will turn out just like the disaster happening right now in the UK.
Why Tony Burke is biggest threat to higher rates, not wages
Workplace Relations minister Tony Burke has once again confirmed the federal government’s relentless anti-business and anti-productivity campaign is the biggest threat to higher rates.
Simandou project could screw Rio and shareholders
Rio Tinto’s Simandou iron ore project in far-off West Africa could potentially give the miner a competitive edge but it’s doubtful the head honchos at rival BHP are losing any sleep over it.
Price spike shows people still want petrol
The stark reality is that despite the tens of trillions of dollars that have been thrown away on useless wind and solar, coal, gas and oil still account for 80 per cent of global energy usage.
How the CBA got that $10bn
Two very different half-years contributed to CBA’s $10bn profit result, the largest ever by an Australian bank.
Trust me, big bank profits are nice for everyone
A bank that makes a too-big profit, and the CBA does not, is still a far more desirable reality than a bank that makes a too-small profit.
Myer outruns Covid-19, Dan and rates
When John King walked into Myer in 2018 it was at death’s door. Five years on post Covid and interest rates, the retailer is thriving.
Why ANZ must beat inept ACCC
The ACCC decision to black ANZ’s acquisition of Suncorp bank is an embarrassingly awful decision – reflecting gross regulatory ineptitude and an inability to understand the law.
‘Laughable’ reasons why ACCC banned $4.9bn deal
The competition watchdog decided it wanted to reject Anz’s takeover of Suncorp bank from the start and has spent six months trying to find reasons to back its decision.
‘Good enough’: RBA will pause again next week
After a ‘good enough’ fall in March quarter inflation, RBA governor Philip Lowe and his board are set to keep rates on hold at next week’s meeting.
ACCC’s meddling in Suncorp sale an outrageous overreach
The ACCC should stop attempting to broker and influence ANZ’s proposal to buy Suncorp and instead learn the laws it’s supposed to enforce.
RBA review failed dismally and spectacularly
Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ immediate and unqualified acceptance of all 51 recommendations contained in the RBA Review confirms again his unreadiness to shed his trainer wheels just yet.
Be afraid: ‘New’ RBA headed for disaster
The ‘accept’ a little higher inflation to avoid higher unemployment is the pathway to economic hell and it is where we could end up with the new RBA policy board.
Casinos lose gloss in post-Covid reality
Casinos used to be ‘licences to print money’ but they are no longer winners now that the Chinese high-rollers have gone and the fines are mounting for regulatory infractions.
Why China will be this year’s wildcard
The latest growth figures out of Beijing are rubbish but raise the very important question of whether a ‘China boom’ could be a wildcard for the global economy in 2024.
How Covid and voice trashed reason
There are disastrous consequences in allowing public policy to be driven by emotion over reason, by hysteria and “feel-good” vibes, over established understanding and knowledge.
There’s good news in US inflation and our jobs data
The latest US inflation data and our own March jobless numbers are important ‘good news’ pointers to the likely path of interest rates on both sides of the Pacific.
Critical countdowns to two Tuesdays in May
The March quarter inflation numbers due out later this month will go a long way to determining what happens to interest rates over the rest of the year.
Victoria’s fiscal disaster to cost every Australian
Victorian premier Daniel Andrews has gone cap-in-hand to Canberra seeking a bailout as the problems of 6.5m Victorians becomes pain shared by all Australians.
Victoria’s fiscal disaster to cost every Australian
Victorian premier Daniel Andrews has gone cap-in-hand to Canberra seeking a bailout as the problems of 6.5m Victorians becomes pain shared by all Australians.
Time will tell if NZ’s aggressive rate hikes work best
Australians and New Zealanders are being asked to swallow different doses of medicine when it comes to interest rates and only time will tell which is the most effective.
Get over it! Borrowers have nothing to bleat about
Don’t waste tears on someone facing a leap interest payments from $30,000 to $50,000 a year when they’ve seen the value of their property go from $1.5m to $2.5m.
Wages key to next rate move
Do not assume that this is the end of the rate hikes – what Philip Lowe and his RBA board do next will depend on wages growth.
Rate pauses won’t deliver investor clarity
Forecasters are jostling to predict when the US Fed Reserve and our Reserve Bank will start cutting interest rates but that outlook is very premature. Here’s why.
New safeguard mechanism is our national suicide note
The so-called ‘Safeguard Mechanism’ is aimed at ensuring we will never get another new mine or gas-field even just to keep our lights on and our heaters and air-cons working.
Uh Oh! Is the wages dam about to burst?
We could be heading into a wages-prices spiral that will lock in higher interest rates for longer, writes Terry McCrann
Lunacy on steroids: Why we can’t have net zero plus big Australia
The Albanese-Bowen-Bandt government is living in a fantasy world if it thinks it can get to net zero by 2050 and double the population to 50m, writes Terry McCrann.
Why Minns win could keep rates higher for longer
The voters of NSW might just have voted for interest rates to stay higher for longer for all Australians, writes Terry McCrann.
Chairman Dan is one gassy piece of work
Dan Andrews shows breathtaking hypocrisy by refusing to allow gas to be developed in Victoria but demanding that it be diverted from Queensland exports, writes Terry McCrann.
Regulator APRA’s always ‘woke’ but seldom awake
What APRA should be doing in the wake of the SVB collapse is demand more aggressive and timely disclosure by banks to treasuries, not tech start-ups.
It’s critical to look beyond April’s rate pause
The RBA minutes all but promise rates will be kept on hold in April and what happens after that will depend on crucial inflation data and global financial markets.
Rate pauses certain in wake of Credit Suisse bailout
The RBA was heading for a rate pause before the recent global banking turmoil kicked off but the bailout of Credit Suisse has made that all-but a certainty.
No, the Swiss bank is not 2023’s Lehman
A mighty global implosion might still be lurking out there but as of right now, we were not seeing ‘another Lehman’, writes Terry McCrann.
Investors get the ‘good news two-fer’
In a sign of good news for investors, the SVB collapse has been effectively neutralised and a ‘Goldilocks’ US inflation number is pointing to a Fed rate pause next week.
Original URL: https://www.ntnews.com.au/business/terry-mccrann/page/4