Insights, 05 Dec 2025

A Strange Eleven

Economic Update - November 2025

November brought some resolution but not much extra clarity on last month’s headlines. The US government shutdown ended with a whimper. Data is again flowing from US agencies, but not yet enough to fill in the gaps created by the shutdown. Some AI ...

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News, 04 Aug 2025

Hail to the Chief

Economic Update - July 2025

President Trump’s July 8 tariff deadline was extended to 1 August to give key negotiations more time. Japan and the EU both walked away with a 15% general tariff from their US “trade deals”. In return, they had to promise a lot of new ...

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Insights, 23 Apr 2025

A China and US Trade Beef: An Australian Perspective

Spotlight on Australia - April 2025

Gauging the fallout from Trump’s tariffs will take months if not years but for US beef exporters, the impact has been immediate. China is delaying the renewal of export licenses for US abattoirs. Australian beef exporters have experienced similar ...

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Insights, 03 Mar 2025

US Tariffs and Australian Steel and Aluminium

Spotlight on Australia - February 2025

When President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on aluminium and steel in his first term, Australia was able to eventually gain an exemption. However, this time around, Trump said there will be no exemptions: “It's 25 per cent, no exemptions, ...

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News, 01 Oct 2024

No alarms and no surprises, please

Economic Update - September 2024

Even when central bankers are surprised, they do so conservatively. Jerome Powell cut rates 50 bps but then did his best to allay any concerns that the US economy is secretly worse than it seems. Meanwhile, in Oz, the RBA remains alert but not alar ...

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News, 30 Aug 2024

Central Bank Cowboys

Economic Update - August 2024

What do central bankers like to do in their spare time? If the annual meeting in Jackson Hole Wyoming is a gauge, they like hiking and canoeing. Both activities typically follow a set route and are performed at a leisurely pace. Should we expect anythin ...

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Insights, 04 Jun 2024

Yielding to reality

Economic Update - May 2024

US consumers seem more Garfield than Furiosa at the moment with some good news on the inflation and consumer confidence fronts in May. Inflation may not be so sticky in the US after all? The Fed Reserve is however still talking tough. Inflation is still ...

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Insights, 16 Apr 2024

Bowing to the greenback

Chart of the Month - April 2024

It’s not looking good for the Australian dollar. The AUD has been trending down against the greenback since 2021 (AUD/USD)(see chart below). Now, several factors have come together to add a few more anchors to the AUD; it’s down around 6% si ...

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