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RBA is cutting rates in order to raise house prices.

"

House prices have risen at twice the rate of incomes and GDP since 2001 and back then, the Reserve Bank cut interest rates six times without a recession.

Now it's happening again: five cuts this time (probably) and no recession. Unemployment this time is at 4.1 per cent, not the 6.5 per cent it was in 2001.

When interest rates are cut, home buyers add the savings in mortgage repayments onto the price they're prepared to pay for a house.

When interest rates rise again, they don't sell the house but cut back on spending, so there's little downward pressure on prices to offset the rise.

The result is that house prices don't decline when rates rise - but house prices always increase when rates are cut.

"

Pathetic.

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While cheaper rates will help those with a variable-rate mortgage (most of Australia), it does NOT help people who are looking to buy.

Buyers will only see higher prices in the face of lower interest rates meaning there will be no "good deals" to be had.

Pathetic.

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The Finnish Parliament voted on Tuesday to approve a law that restricts the use of mobile devices by pupils at primary and secondary schools.

The new rules are expected to come into force after the summer break, in August.

The law does not entirely ban the use of mobile phones at school, and their use will be permitted in certain situations. But generally, the use of phones during class time will be prohibited.

Pupils will need to get special permission from teachers to use their phones, to assist them in studies, or to take care of personal health-related matters, for example.

The new law also gives school staff members the authority to confiscate mobile devices from pupils if they have caused teaching or learning disruptions.

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Watch this space:

Here's some of what has been pledged:

Health

- Expanding the bulk billing incentive to all Australians, and introducing a new incentive for practices in a bid to boost bulk billing rates

- A 24-hour '1800MEDICARE’ service will be launched to allow patients access to free after-hours general practice telehealth consultations

- An additional 50 urgent care clinics by June 2026, on top of the 87 already operating

- Women suffering from endometriosis, pelvic pain or menopause will have access to more specialised clinics as well as cheaper medicines

- Certain oral contraceptives, endometriosis medication and IVF medication will be added to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS)

- Most PBS prescriptions to be capped at $25 (currently $31.60). The $7.70 cap for concession card holders will remain frozen until 31 June, 2029

- Labor will expand access to free mental health, and upgrade or establish more than 100 mental health clinics with varying specialities

- Funding to support the training of more than 1,2000 mental health professionals, and to train more doctors and nurses

Industrial relations

- Labor has vowed to protect penalty rates for workers, saying it will enshrine them in law

- It says it will ban non-compete clauses, enabling workers earning under $175,000 to more easily switch jobs to a competing employer or to start a competing business

Housing

- Labor will expand its 5 per cent deposit scheme so that every first home buyer is eligible. There will be no income limits or caps on places

- It has pledged to build 100,000 new affordable homes exclusively for first home buyers, with construction to start in 2026/27

- More first home buyers will be able to access the Help to Buy shared equity loan scheme, which allows them to buy with a deposit of 2 per cent if they give the government a 30-40 per cent stake. Income caps will be increased from $90,000 to $100,000 for individuals, and property caps will also be increased

Women's safety

- Funding for initiatives including electronic monitoring and ankle bracelets for high-risk perpetrators

- Examining making perpetrators liable for social security debts incurred by a victim-survivor due to coercion or financial abuse and stop perpetrators from receiving their victim's superannuation after death

- Intensive behaviour change programs for men and young boys will get a funding boost

- Has pledged to refurbish and build more crisis and transitional housing for women -leaving domestic violence or at risk of homelessness

Cost of living

- Australian households and businesses will receive an extra $150 in energy bill relief. The money will appear as a credit on people's power bills in two $75 instalments over the last six months of 2025

- Every taxpayer would also be eligible to claim an instant $1,000 tax deduction for work expenses from 2026/27, without filling out paperwork or receipts

- Labor has legislated two tax cuts, meaning anyone earning more than $45,000 will save $268 in 2026/27 and $536 the year after

- Price gouging to be outlawed, with supermarkets facing heavy fines if caught

Education

- Roughly three million Australians will have 20 per cent of their student debt loans wiped by 1 June 2025

- Labor has pledged to make fee-free TAFE permanent

- From July next year, students will not begin to repay their Higher Education Loan Program debts (such as HECS) until they are earning at least $67,000

- Apprenticeship incentives for construction workers including a $10,000 payment at intervals, with the first payment at six months and the last when they complete their training

- Investments in Australian Community Language Schools to help students learn a language other than English, particularly Asian languages

Childcare

- Labor says it will provide three days of subsidised childcare per week for every family.

- Activity tests will be scrapped, meaning parents won't have to work or study to be eligible for childcare subsidies

Immigration

- Labor has pledged to increase visa fees for international students from $1,600 to $2,000

- Small decrease in the permanent migration intake — from 190,000 places to 185,000 in 2024/25

Environment and energy

- Labor has vowed to establish a federal Environmental Protection Agency

- National Vehicle Emissions Scheme to come into effect on 1 July. It penalises high-polluting vehicles by setting an emissions ceiling for each manufacturer's fleet, incentivising consumers to buy low-emission vehicles, including hybrids and electric vehicles

- Labor has promised to subsidise the cost of solar power batteries, which could save households thousands a year in energy bills

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Similar pledges were promised in the first 3 years and were never implemented. Let's see how they go this time now that they "have a mandate".

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The article SHOULD overlay this rent/income data with population data to tell THE FULL STORY.

The reason rent has gone up is driven by GREEDY landlords and developers in the face of UNPRECEDENTED DEMAND.

Only a few mentions of immigration ("influx of people") in the article - but this is the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT PURPOSELY FIXING PRICES TO INCREASE.

"But of course, when you've got huge waves of migrants into an affordable housing market, that makes the housing market unaffordable because it can't cope with the sudden influx of people," said Curtin University economist Rachel Ong ViforJ.

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"

Streamlining of local planning approvals

Developers are bogged down by a thicket of land deals, permits, infrastructure demands and endless red tape.

Planning codes have ballooned into thousands of pages, turning a simple process into a bureaucratic grind.

Boosting medium density in ‘missing middle’

Overzealous regulations are exacerbated by vocal NIMBY anti-development groups, who have become one of the biggest roadblocks to fixing Australia’s housing squeeze and contributed to the “missing middle” of medium-density housing.

The Business Council of Australia has called for widespread rezoning to boost medium-density development in urban centres with existing infrastructure.

Auckland has proven this works with upzoning, scrapping single-dwelling restrictions, and lowering housing costs.

A land tax rather than a stamp duty

In Sydney, up to 38 per cent of the cost of a new apartment is absorbed by government taxes and charges.

Replacing stamp duty with a broad-based land tax would lower barriers for people to move, encourage downsizing by empty nesters, and free up larger homes for growing families.

Abolishing stamp duty would also allow people to downsize without the financial penalty, helping ease housing supply shortages.

Lifting productivity in the housing construction sector

Finally, the construction sector has been mired by skilled labour shortages even while the federal government approves temporary visas for vast amounts of unskilled workers which in turn spikes the demand side of this problem.

The Productivity Commission report revealed the number of dwellings built per hour by construction workers has dropped a staggering 53 per cent since 1994-95.

"

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Long article but worth the read.

It explores the emergence of "end times fascism," a far-right ideology characterized by apocalyptic beliefs and an emphasis on survivalism for the wealthy (e.g. Elysium / government-induced economic apartheid).

Key points:

Corporate City-States: The rise of ventures like "freedom cities" and "seasteading," supported by figures like Peter Thiel, promotes self-contained havens for the wealthy, insulated from taxes and regulations.

Fascist Ideology Shift: Today's far-right ideology lacks a hopeful vision of the future, focusing instead on apocalyptic scenarios, bunkered nations, and exclusionary policies against marginalized groups.

Apocalyptic Preparations: From bunkered nations to billionaires planning for societal collapse (e.g., Elon Musk's Mars aspirations), these actions exacerbate existential threats like climate change and economic inequality.

Christian Fundamentalism: Many in the far-right base, including Trump appointees, subscribe to Rapture-inspired worldviews, blending religious and survivalist ideologies.

Dangerous Technologies: Advancements in AI, deregulation, and resource-intensive industries are accelerating environmental and social crises while serving the wealthy few.

Inequality starts with government policies. This end-times thinking is a result of people (rich and poor) realizing that as long as the inequality expands, unification / working together will be impossible - so we should prepare for the worst.

The solution IMO is reducing inequality and rebuilding the middle class in order to bind the two extreme ends of the political spectrum together.

Once the majority of voters are in the middle, they steer the ship consistently... instead of watching the whipsaw effect we've witnessed since the 90s as opposing ends of the ideological spectrum fight against one another in increasingly extreme ways.

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"Investment is driven by a belief that it is possible to foretell the future. That this is an obvious illusion does not make it less essential to capitalism. Yet the political project of the right is now authoritarian and the very essence of the dictator is a monopoly on unpredictability. The cult of personality that comes with this territory elevates the leader far above the ordinary, and thus above the rational. Trump, to his followers, is semidivine.

The demigod does not have policies. He has urges, gut feelings, inspirations. He intuits truths not apparent to anyone else. And precisely because no one else can have these impulses, no one else can predict them. For the true believers, this volatility is proof of the leader’s indispensable uniqueness. But for capitalism it is disastrous. It shatters the necessary illusion of a knowable future.

These contradictions are so fundamental that the only real surprise is how quickly they have come to a head. Money, seeing itself reflected so starkly naked in the political mirror, is issuing an involuntary cry of alarm. "

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Just in case there are any other articles out there that attempt to claim that Sydney and other metro areas never saw a reduction in rent during the Pandemic (ignoring this author's own proof that reductions were abundant during the pandemic)

Proof that reducing demand reduces rent. See the purple line dip from 2019 thru 2021?

That's evidence of how reduced demand results in reduced rents.

Most of this reduced demand was caused by the flight of people who were here on temporary visas or tourists - forced to leave the country as Australia shut its borders.

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There are at least 25 different causes to the housing crisis in Australia so we should expect there will be at least 25 different resolutions required to address this crisis.

But let's be clear: there is NO SILVER BULLET to the housing crisis.

There is no single resolution that will address this crisis from either the supply side nor the demand side.

ALL RESOLUTIONS must be considered as part of a holistic approach to solving the crisis.

The media and certain political parties (esp the Guardian and the Greens) continue to insist that any resolution offered towards this crisis that does not address the crisis in totality must be wrong and must not be pursued.

Demand in housing exceeds supply in housing.

We need MULTIPLE RESOLUTIONS in SEVERAL AREAS to reduce demand while we work to increase supply.

One such resolution involves capping temporary visas held by international students as well as those in other visa categories.

Other resolutions that would also help even though they are unpopular and/or have various side effects include:

Abolishing negative gearing across the board

Limiting foreign investment to new housing stock only

Increasing taxes for individuals / companies / trusts which hold more than 2 residential properties

Increasing interest rates overall

Ensuring renters can access long-term leases (beyond 24 months)

Converting empty / in-progress commercial property into residential property

Increasing the stock of social housing / affordable housing thru government buy back (taking units away from landlords / investors and directly into government hands without waiting for a new building)

Restricting rent increases

Preventing evictions without cause

Banning short-term rentals in suburbs / cities where long-term rentals have decreased over the past 5 years.

Limiting the intake of immigration (NOM) in the current year to the amount of NET NEW housing stock that is forecast to come online in the next year.

...and many others.

A crisis requires MULTIPLE SOLUTIONS from MULTIPLE ANGLES. There is no silver bullet here. All options must be considered.

Let's not make perfection the enemy of the good.

SIDEBAR

I personally know several immigrants who arrived in Australia on student visas and constantly lament about the work hour restriction that prevents student visa holders from working more than 48 hours per fortnight (24 hours / week). Most of these students come here assuming they can find ways to bypass those work restrictions. They expect to find more work because that is ONLY WAY they will be able to afford tuition and the high cost of living in Australia. A few students are able to find employers that allow them to work beyond the visa restriction. Many of them end up in the hands of exploitative employers who steal wages from them. One person I knew completely abandoned going to school and just worked as many jobs as possible hoping to stay as long as they could in Australia knowing they were violating the terms of their visa. They ultimately left the country one year later due to financial stress. In reality, only well-funded students backed by their families are able to survive the cost-of-living crisis while on a Student Visa. What Australia is doing to international students is absolutely shameful. It's a Ponzi scheme backed by Australian universities and the federal government. The above article by the Guardian is just a proxy piece endorsed by the universities to keep the Ponzi scheme running full steam ahead. Australia's current immigration system induces waves of international students to spend massive amounts of money up-front on relocation, visa fees, tuition, and rent - only for these students to land in a ditch on arrival. International students are often well-credentialed professionals here to study and learn English and obtain an Australian degree relevant to their industry - and live in 4 bedroom share houses with 12 other people - only to struggle and be exploited by this country's parasitic landlords and employers. PATHETIC AUSTRALIA. JUST PATHETIC.

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So timely given the recent interest in the show 'Adolescence' that depicted much of this behavior thru the show's narrative.

Growing inequality and reduced access to psychological safety leads to increased stress and violence across every corner of society.

Let's talk about how social media platforms (manipulation platforms) are fanning the flames of this inequality and what to do about it.

Social media (aka Manipulation Platforms) have become a pervasive, habit-forming product that saturates our modern life.

These platforms are engineered to maximize engagement at the expense of mental health, family cohesion, societal harmony, and even functioning democratic institutions.

Social Media companies (Big Tech) have employed the same tactics that Big Tobacco (RJ Reynolds) and Big Pharma (Purdue) use to downplay product harms while maintaining profits.

Unlike the pharmaceuticals industry however, where products undergo stringent testing before release, Social Media companies release their products out into the wild with NO CONCERN for how that product shapes society. These companies have been allowed to grow unchecked, wreaking havoc on family dynamics and societal structures. Moreover, these companies exert immense influence over governments and regulatory bodies, making it challenging to hold them accountable.

We need action on multiple fronts:

1) Countries around the world should work to temporarily suspend access to social media services until regulatory frameworks are established. This would compel companies like Meta, Snap, etc to adapt their platforms to meet safety and ethical standards specific to each nation, akin to how pharmaceuticals are regulated differently worldwide. Such frameworks could include rigorous scientific testing and review of product changes, transparency in algorithms, limits on data exploitation, and accountability for societal harms.

2) Just like we had anti-drug, anti-smoking campaigns thru the late 20th century up thru today - we need STRONG public awareness campaigns led by governments and NGOs, aiming to educate citizens about the dangers of social media to counter the narratives promoted by tech companies. Let's draw from our experience on the anti-smoking campaigns and laws which successfully shifted societal perceptions and curbed harmful behaviors.

Why Action is Critical:

We continue to observe the scale of harm caused by social media yet do damn little about it. We need urgent action.

Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok have fundamentally altered how children's brains work, how people interact, and this is shaping societal norms and even political outcomes.

The recklessness embodied by the industry’s "move fast and break things" ethos has led to profound damage - from fractured family relationships to widespread misinformation, increased misogyny, bigotry and even genocide.

Implementing bold regulatory measures and fostering a cultural shift away from dependency on social media are necessary steps to safeguard future generations.

The message is clear: allowing these platforms to operate unregulated is no longer a viable option. Society must demand accountability, prioritize well-being, and reclaim control over the digital landscape.

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More proof that Australia's economy is solely focused on extracting rent via the Parasite Class and restructuring society back towards feudalism.

Predatory companies need to be replaced with community-based non-profit organizations that are focused only on providing care and a safe environment for children.

This government and its predecessors DO NOTHING but encourage "the market" and these predatory companies to exploit families as walking dollar signs seeking higher profits by minimizing safety while maximizing the number of children per square meter.

Pathetic.

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Unsurprisingly, homeownership rates have fallen fastest for younger and poorer Australians.

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"

[Young people] look around and conclude that our institutions are not there to solve their problems.

This sense of despair about housing security infiltrates much of what we believed about Australian egalitarianism.

As in many other advanced economies, the lack of secure and affordable housing is accentuating and perpetuating inequality.

And among young people especially in my focus groups, there is a kind of fatalism about the situation.

They feel that governments are incapable of or unwilling to unwind policies that have created a situation in which even well-educated, hard-working citizens struggle to cover rent or enter the housing market without parental capital.

"

Subjecting entire generations to a sense that their government no longer represents nor cares for their concerns will only result in more anti-social behaviors, crime, and eventually a police state that protects the "haves" from the lawless "have-nots".

Welcome to Economic Apartheid.

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Fascinating articles about Gen Z and the effects of overabundance, rejection and their resulting attitude and behaviors.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/careersandeducation/ar-AA1B0P0x

"

Through the 1960s, most Americans got married in their early 20s to partners they met through their social circles. Today, they spend nearly a decade longer dating; the median age for first marriage is 31.1 for men and 29.2 for women. During that additional eon, they're also equipped with an arsenal of apps that can summon — and terminate — new prospects on a daily, if not hourly, basis. If we tallied up the literal sum of all the unreciprocated swipes, DMs, follows, or texts that create today's ambient mode of romantic rejection, it wouldn't be a stretch to say that a typical Zoomer on the apps is getting rejected by, and rejecting, more prospective partners in a week than a typical married boomer has in their entire life.

The paradox of online dating has been thoroughly documented: Despite having more access to potential partners than ever, young people have invented vocabularies to describe the endless purgatorial disappointments of "ghosting," "situationships," "breadcrumbing," and the hellscape of the apps themselves. Last year, Hinge surveyed 15,000 people about their dating views. Ninety percent of Gen Z respondents said they wanted to find love, and 44% said they had little or no dating experience.

So as young people relentlessly reject each other, many are too scared to risk truly putting themselves out there in the first place. "It is so easy to get involved with someone and then detach," Catherine, a recent Barnard grad, says. "I have friends who have been texting with people that they met on dating apps for weeks or months, and yet they have never met in person. I actually had a friend who had a date all set up, and she went to the restaurant, and by the time she got there, the guy unmatched her and blocked her on everything before they even had a date."

... in the world of employment...

For Gen Zers, the disenfranchising reality of chasing entire flocks of wild geese has diminished their self-esteem. Lanya, a 22-year-old who graduated last year with a degree in media studies, tells me she thought she had done everything right as a first-gen college student who counted a Nasdaq internship among her achievements — and feels incredibly guilty that she has yet to find a job. "Self-worth-wise, this is the lowest I've ever felt," she says. "This is my time to say thank you and pay them back by showing them what they sacrificed was worth it, but I can't help them the way I want to."

Dylan, the finance grad, says the job hunt made him modify his expectations for the future. "I just remember applying to so many and feeling like: I don't care what I get. I just need to survive. I'm not scared of failing; I'm just scared of dying."

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Rental vacancy rates over the years ... something to note if you're a renter... is that vacancies tend to decrease Jan-Mar (making it hard to find a place, longer queues) and then increase May-July (shorter queues).

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More proof the RBA and government wonks who manage the economy for Australia have been getting it wrong for over 20 years.

One has to assume their objectives are not to ensure the prosperity of all, but instead to reinstate feudalism.

The report says there was a fall in home ownership between 2002 and 2018, but home debt across all households rose in a "sustained fashion" regardless.

The ABC could use a lesson on data visualization to make this more obvious, but the graph indicates home ownership rates have plunged over the past 20 years.

Another way of looking at this

From

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/lucky-for-some-the-older-get-richer-in-the-worst-wealth-divide-in-two-decades-20250304-p5lguv.html