GlobalNumber of the dayNews
New Zealand's OBEGALx Deficit Forecast Falls to NZ$6.8bn
Treasury sees the 2026/27 deficit shrinking from NZ$11.4bn forecast in May, with an NZ$4.0bn surplus pencilled in for 2028/29.
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Money
Rates, tax, trade and markets, explained through what they do to a household.
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GlobalCapital & Trade
LNG Canada’s Partners Commit to Double Export Capacity
A final investment decision for two new Kitimat processing trains raises planned annual output from 14 million to 28 million tonnes. The total cost is undisclosed, and years of construction remain before the extra exports arrive.
AU EditionNumber of the day
RBA Raises Cash Rate to 4.60%, Highest in 15 Years
The 25-basis-point move is the Reserve Bank of Australia's fourth rate rise this year.
US EditionTrade & Power
The U.S.-China Trade Truce Has Bought Time, Not Trust
Washington and Beijing have extended their fragile trade truce to January 10. That is a negotiating window, not a settlement: the next test is whether specific commitments survive the summit spectacle.
US EditionNumber of the day
Canada Puts C$100 Million Behind a Two-State Opening
Canada announced C$100 million in new assistance for Palestinians at the United Nations, with C$80 million for humanitarian aid and C$20 million for peace and security capacity-building.
AU EditionDemography & Prosperity
Australia's Population Problem Is Now a Productivity Problem
Treasury says deaths will outnumber births in the 2060s as fertility falls and migration slows. The answer is more homes, faster productivity and a migration system that rewards the work Australia actually needs.
AU EditionRates & Households
Australia's Inflation Warning Has Put the RBA Back on the Trigger
Michele Bullock says upside risks to inflation are materialising even as growth slows. The Reserve Bank now faces a choice between another rate rise and a longer inflation hangover.
GlobalCapital & Reform
Canada Finally Makes the Tax Code Care About Capital
Ottawa’s Productivity Mega Deduction would let firms expense roughly two-thirds of capital investment immediately. The growth case is strong, but the government should publish the bill, the cost and the results.
US EditionMoney & Prosperity
The Fed Has Turned the Rate Cycle Back Up
The Federal Reserve has raised its policy rate for the first time since 2023. Borrowers will feel the cost, but the larger signal is that price stability has reclaimed priority over cheap money.
US EditionTrade & Power
The Canada Tariff Reset Is Becoming a Permanent Trade System
The latest U.S. tariff changes on Canadian goods are narrow in volume but broad in consequence: a product-by-product regime is replacing the idea of one negotiable trade rate.
GlobalMarkets & Power
Hormuz Diplomacy Needs a Shipping Deal, Not Another Summit
Oman postponed its Iran and Gulf meeting on the Strait of Hormuz in the name of consensus. The next step should be a verifiable shipping arrangement that protects crews, cargoes and prices.
GlobalMoney & Prosperity
Canada's 3% Inflation Is a Warning, Not a Victory
Headline inflation held at 3% in August, but gasoline, rent and travel costs show how quickly a calm number can become a cost-of-living problem again.
US EditionMarkets & Power
The August CPI Leaves the Fed No Clean Escape
America's August inflation report put household energy back at the centre of the policy argument. Headline CPI rose 3.4 percent over the year, while fuel oil rose 52 percent and gasoline rose 27.4 percent.
US EditionMarkets & Power
A $5,000 Promise Needs a Balance Sheet
President Trump has promised every adult American a $5,000 dividend if Republicans hold Congress. Before calling that a dividend, Washington should show the bill, the funding and the accounting.
UK EditionPower
Britain’s Settlement Trade Ban Tests Whether Sanctions Can Stay Targeted
Britain’s promised ban on goods from illegal West Bank settlements is a consequential reset, but its credibility will depend on precise rules that punish settlement expansion without turning wider trade into collective punishment.
US EditionMarkets & Power
Trump's Bombardier Threat Turns Trade War Into Industrial Policy
A social-media threat to block Canadian jets would punish American suppliers and turn market access into a political favour. The United States should compete for factories by making itself the best place to build.
GlobalMarkets & Power
America's Tanker War Turns Commerce Into a Target
The United States struck three Iranian oil tankers after Tehran fired at two American warships. Washington may claim deterrence, but turning commercial shipping into a battlefield makes energy and trade less secure for everyone.
US EditionMarkets & Power
Trump's Trade Ultimatum Treats Imports as a National Loss
The president threatened to stop trading with countries that run goods deficits with America unless the Federal Reserve cuts rates. The threat confuses a trade account with a scoreboard and risks making households pay for the mistake.
GlobalJobs & Prosperity
North America's Jobs Numbers Tell Two Stories About Growth
The United States added 162,000 jobs while Canada lost 42,000. The useful lesson sits beneath both headlines: durable prosperity depends on productive private investment, not a flattering monthly total.
AU EditionGrowth & Prosperity
Australia's Growth Headline Is Hiding a Productivity Problem
The economy grew 0.4 per cent in the June quarter, but GDP per person was flat and productivity remains weak. Australia cannot build lasting prosperity on a headline number alone.
CanadaTrade & Prosperity
Canada's Tariff Retaliation Puts Consumers in the Crossfire
Canada will match new US tariffs on $27.6 billion of goods while spending $7.5 billion to cushion the shock. The bill will still reach Canadian buyers.
AU EditionMoney & Prosperity
Australia's RBA Pause Leaves a Live Rate Rise Risk
Minutes from the Reserve Bank's August meeting show a serious debate over another increase. The unanimous hold buys households time, while inflation, energy and data centre investment keep the next decision open.
GlobalMarkets & Fiscal Policy
Treasury's Buybacks Cannot Substitute for Fiscal Credibility
Washington is doubling the size of its long bond buybacks to support liquidity. The move can steady trading, while durable borrowing costs will depend on debt, inflation and credible fiscal restraint.
GlobalTrade & Prosperity
Three Days of Tariff Relief Cannot Replace a Trade Deal
Washington has delayed 50 per cent duties on selected Canadian goods until 22 August. The pause gives consumers and firms breathing room, but the durable answer is rules that survive presidential improvisation.
AU EditionTrade & Prosperity
Australia's Tariff Exemption Test Is Really a Test of Sovereignty
Anthony Albanese has asked Donald Trump to remove a 12.5 per cent tariff. The request is sensible diplomacy, yet the durable answer is a more competitive Australia that can choose its markets rather than plead for favours.
AU EditionMoney & Prosperity
Australia's Rate Pause Is Not Mortgage Relief
The RBA has held the cash rate at 4.35 per cent, but households are still carrying a debt burden near its pre-crisis peak. The way out is not to wait for cheaper money. It is to let Australia build and compete.
AU EditionHousehold Economics
Australia's Petrol Tax Holiday Ends at the Worst Possible Moment
Canberra's temporary fuel relief has ended as Middle East risk keeps energy prices elevated. The bill now returns to drivers, businesses and every household that depends on transport.
UK EditionCost of living
Burnham’s VAT cut on electricity: relief now, distortion later
Downing Street says VAT on domestic electricity will drop from 5% to 0% from 1 October, taking about £45 a year off the next Ofgem price cap. The politics are easy. The economics are not.
AU EditionPower & Policy
Australia's Jobs Machine Keeps the RBA's Finger Near the Trigger
A surprise June employment surge has revived bets on a fourth rate rise, leaving the Reserve Bank pinned between 4% inflation and a labour market that refuses to cool.
UK EditionPower & Policy
Burnham's Cost-of-Living Blitz Meets Britain's 1948 Tax Ceiling
The new prime minister zeroed VAT on electricity and revived the £2 bus fare cap, but with the tax take heading to its highest share of the economy since 1948, the arithmetic is unforgiving.
US EditionMarkets & Capital
Wall Street Circles Its Record as the Fed Stares Down a Rate-Hike Faction
The S&P 500 clawed back within a whisper of its June all-time high, even as a vocal minority inside the Federal Reserve floated the once-unthinkable: a rate hike, not a cut.