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Australian Economy

Something’s about to snap

This means the Australian economy is heading for a very sharp slowdown next year, which might seem a big call with unemployment at a 33 year low of 4.1 per cent . . . . » Something’s about to snap (Alan Kohler) – Business Spectator, 14th February 2008.

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Australian Economy

End of the boom?

The Age asks Steve Keen about house prices : It has to fall at least as far as the US market will, and probably a lot more. Some conservative pundits think US prices need to fall another 25 per cent to restore pre-bubble valuations, and they’ve already fallen 8%. That

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Australian Economy

Global Recession Risk Grows

From U.S. recession to Global recession. . . The U.S. economy may already be in recession; other countries might not be far behind. Japan, Britain, Spain and Singapore, which together represent about 12 percent of the world economy, are vulnerable as fallout from the U.S. worsens their economic weakness. Even

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Australian Economy

The price of fish

The median house price in Australia is now 50 per cent higher than the median price in the United States. This is a huge disparity between the cost of housing in Australia and the US, and is not matched by a difference in incomes. » The price of fish –

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Australian Economy

Debt, Debt – It’s everywhere.

First it was subprime, then it was the home equity crisis. Today it is margin loans. In a day when the Australian Stock Market slumped 7.3%, making it the biggest fall in 28 years, debt was again playing its role. With double digit returns as long as you could remember,

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Australian Economy

Doubts surface on nation’s ability to withstand recession

THE first real hint that something was wrong came in February last year. People started using the word “subprime” and talking about defaults in the US mortgage market. …. The long-proposed theory of ‘decoupling’ is also breaking down, and market watchers are less convinced the Australian economy can withstand a

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Australian Housing

Meltdown puts heat on global house prices

US and British house prices are falling. Australian house prices are still rising. Housing here is protected in the short term by strong Australian growth, but that will not last forever. …. Even so, the OECD suggested in 2005 that Australian house prices were the most overvalued of any developed

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United States Economy

Warning : The Home Equity Crisis Ahead

As subprime takes center stage, there appears to be more trouble in the woods. As house prices spiraled to dizzy heights, home owners used the equity in their homes, or their homes as ATMs to buy other goods and services. This was achieved with a home-equity loan. Now as house

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Australian Economy

US recession ‘could hurt Aust resources sector’

A leading economic analyst says Australia’s strong resources sector could suffer if the United States economy slides into recession. Craig James from Commonwealth Securities says the slowdown in the United States will have a follow-on effect for Australian shares, particularly the resources sector. “If the US economy slows and there’s

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Australian Housing

Land prices plummet in western Sydney

The New South Wales Valuer General says a glut of properties in parts of western Sydney has led to a fall in land values in the past year. » Land prices plummet in western Sydney – The ABC, 13th January 2008.

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United Kingdom Economy

Spitting Image – Madness sing Our House spoof

Dad believed when Maggie said: Get a mortgage, buy a home, so dad took out a great big loan. For a while there we were chuffed. Now the market has collapsed and we are absolutely stuffed. Our house, in the middle of the slump . . . .

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Australian Economy

UN Says U.S. Economy’s Housing Slowdown Risks Global Recession

“There is a clear and present danger of the world economy coming to a near standstill,” the UN’s Department of Economic and Social Affairs said in an analysis released today in New York. “The domino effect of a U.S. recession would be to knock down export growth from China, Europe

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United States Economy

US now in recession, top bank says

A top bank says the feared recession in the United States economy has arrived. A report from Merrill Lynch, one of the world’s leading financial management and advisory companies, says Friday’s employment report confirmed that the US is in the first month of a recession. » US now in recession,

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Australian Economy

Are the baby boomers really all that well off?

There has been this misconception that as our population gets older, most will own their house outright and hence more will be immune from the credit crunch gripping the world. In today’s AFR they published this interesting graph : It would seem while more and more of Australia’s population, aka

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Australian Economy

Debtors face loss of home

CONSUMERS who default on their post-Christmas credit-card bills could swiftly be declared bankrupt and have their homes auctioned to meet their debts as the banking sector tightens the screws. » Debtors face loss of home – Sydney Morning Herald, December 30th 2007.

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Australian Economy

Decoupling dies as half the globe hits crunch

The rising economies of Asia are too small and deformed to rescue world growth as America, Britain, Australia, and Club Med face their day of debt reckoning. China may make matters worse, not better. The seven pillars of global demand over the last year – measured by current account deficits

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Australian Economy

RBA says households in good shape

AUSTRALIAN households are in good financial shape and not facing huge risks, despite debt levels reaching record highs, the central bank says. Speaking today at the opening of the 20th Australasian Finance and Banking Conference in Sydney, Mr Battellino conceded that household debt, as a proportion of total debt, had

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Australian Economy

RBA ‘running scared’ of global credit crisis

A new openness at the Reserve Bank has revealed a board increasingly worried about the chaos in world credit markets and the outlook for the world economy. “It’s very clear from the statement this morning that the bank is a little bit more concerned about global credit conditions and the