China’s economy is slowing down. Current forecasts put China’s GDP growth in 2023 at less than 5%, below the forecasts made last year and far below the high growth rates that China enjoyed until the late 2010s. The Western press is filled with China’s supposed misdeeds: a financial crisis in the real-estate market, a general Continue reading »
Economy
Two years after the heart-breaking Kabul Moment that saw the withdrawal of US-led Western troops from their illegal invasion and occupation, the United States has been urged to assume liability for humanitarian sufferings of Afghanistan people. Amid chaos that caused civilian casualties directly from leaving US military planes, the United States pulled out its final forces from Continue reading »
When corruption really gets into the bones of a society the damage it does to institutions can take generations to heal. Speech at the National Integrity Summit, Transparency International Australia, Melbourne, Wednesday, 30 August 2023. I acknowledge the people of the Kulin Nations, the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we gather today. I Continue reading »
Sunak's Government is throwing out plans to get dirty money out of the UK
Anthony Albanese needs to see for himself what the Chinese economic miracle looks like close up. It is time for Anthony Albanese to begin to understand what it is we are balancing with China, and what a challenge that is going to be. That the prime minister has mostly, but not entirely, clarified his position Continue reading »
The pandemic has revolutionised how an entire generation see work, education and society
The Albanese government is tiptoeing as if it has all the time in the world. Intergenerational reports make for great politics, but hardly ever great policy. Modern governments are bipartisan in not being big on the vision thing, long-term thinking, or even the planning thing. Reports and forecasts are good for several days of pontifications Continue reading »
The Australian Government’s public analysis of climate risk, our greatest threat, is dangerously misleading. The Intergenerational Report 2023 (IGR) is a prime example. By dumbing down the implications of climate change with simplified economic models, the IGR and similar reports are institutionalising the global failure to face climate reality. The US inquiry into the 9/11 Continue reading »
With the increase in the number of BRICS countries, this emerging international order dominated by the countries of the Global South will ultimately become the primary international order in the world, gradually replacing the fading international order dominated by the US and the West. The 15th meeting of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) Continue reading »
The Actuaries Institute of Australia has just confirmed what many Australian households already know – home insurance is increasingly unaffordable. It found average premiums climbed 28% in the year to March, while premiums for higher-risk properties, such as those in flood-prone areas, climbed 50%. The institute also found 12% of Australian households – 1.24 million – are Continue reading »