There are four economic wildcards between now and the election, and we know exactly when each will be played.
The first is this Wednesday at 11.30am eastern time, when we get the official update on inflation. We’re likely to see a figure so large it will take many of us back to the 1990s, to a time before anyone under 30 was born.
With the exception of a short-lived blip following the introduction of the goods and services tax in 2000, inflation has scarcely been above 5% since 1990.
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One of my lesser-known, early-career gigs in the 1990s was serving as editorial cartoonist for High Times magazine. Looking back, it’s amazing to think how much has changed in terms of marijuana laws, medical or otherwise. Here’s a cartoon of mine from back in the day, which can be sung to the tune of Bob Dylan’s “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35” (ie “Everybody Must Get Stoned”). Happy 420 to all who choose to partake!
My latest for the Village Voice.
Bond yields are an important economic indicator for investors, even those who don’t invest in bonds.
This election will be won by the Coalition and Prime Minister Scott Morrison if the economic models perform as expected – and they usually do.
A model refined in 2000 by then Melbourne University economists Lisa Cameron and Mark Crosby found that most federal election results in records going back to 1901 can be predicted pretty well by just two economic indicators.
And they are not the indicators that might be expected.
Clinging to the assumption that only dictatorships start military conflicts, proponents of democratization believed that the global success of their project would usher in a world without war. But this theory lacks a sound foundation and has produced one disaster after another when put into practice.
As always, if you enjoy this work, please consider helping me keep it sustainable by joining my weekly newsletter, Sparky’s List!
A first look at Doctor Who’s feature-length Centenary special, and Jodie Whittaker’s final episode, has revealed the return of the Doctor’s biggest adversary – The Master (Sacha Dhawan), who last appeared in series 12’s final episode The Timeless Children.
And for the first time since the show returned to BBC One in 2005, The Master, the Daleks and the Cybermen will all feature in one single story.
Fans of this website will perhaps remember a certain house from the “worst of suburban Illinois” post. I’m here to alert you to the fact that the interior of said house may in fact be the pinnacle of what has been dubbed by my colleague Cocaine Decor as “Cocaine Decor.” This 1990 house has lived rent free in my brain for a while, and now it will live rent free in all of yours. It sits at $1.1 million USD and precisely 10,000 square feet, each of which exists in ignorance of the Light of God.
Remember her? I wish I didn’t. Anyway.
