Blogotariat

A good summary from JP Morgan:

The Q4 CPI data essentially delivered a 1-1 draw and, therefore, is inconclusive for next month’s RBA decision. The headline result printed softer than expected at flat (consensus 0.2%q/q, J.P.Morgan 0.4%q/q), but the all-important trimmed mean core measure was a little higher at 0.6%q/q (consensus 0.5%, JPM 0.7%). There was a small upward revision to the prior quarter’s core print to 0.4%q/q from 0.3%. This all leaves core inflation tracking at an average of 2.5%oya over the second half of last year, bang in line with the mid-point of the RBA’s target zone. Annual headline inflation remains above target at 3.1%oya, but it is trending down.

In an attempt to whitewash history, Tennessee Tea Party members are trying to eliminate references to slavery in American history textbooks. Marie Diamond from Think Progress reports.

Once again the annual Demographia survey of house prices across seven English speaking nations places Australia in the front rank of the Hall of Shame on housing prices. Aside from land starved Hong Kong, Australia remains the highest cost housing market in the Anglo world.
Out of the 325 metropolitan markets around the world, Sydney was the 323rd most expensive and Melbourne 320th with other major cities not much better. In the US, many bustling metropolises like Atlanta, Dallas and Houston have house prices much less than one third of those seen in Melbourne and Sydney.
To allow for accurate comparisons, the Demographia data uses median house prices, thereby excluding the influence of very expensive and very cheap houses in particular locations.

Anna Bligh has called the state election for March 24, one week before the council elections were due to be held. As a result the government (she) is going to reschedule the council elections until late April early May. This is not just a cynical political ploy, but it is desperate too as well as [...]

At this stage, I think a "surprise" will be anything equal to or less than 0.2% (ie, more than one standard deviation away from the consensus view of 0.5%). Even then, the market is really positioning for a low number, so it might not move huge. The upside is more complex. A "surprise" would certainly be 0.7% or higher, because nobody is expecting it. However, the price action will be in the interbank futures and OIS contracts, and less so in the 3 year government bonds given the structural demand for those contracts, as witnessed during 2011. That is, even with a high number I don't think many will have the balls to short Aussie bonds this far out from an RBA meeting. Having said that, the global theme is risk-on.

As Australians continue to be ripped off on digital content (Bernard Keane in yesterday’s Crikey exploring the ridiculous world of ebooks), it’s good to see that some of the former defenders of the copyright industry have now given up on it:

As I suggested in the comments to Keane’s piece, our government should:

The viewers are sick of it. The commentators are sick of it. The other players are sick of it - to the point where they’re asking the WTA to act, and even worse, taking the piss out of them behind their backs (see below video of Caroline Wozniacki and Kim Clijsters). Whether it’s cheating or not is open to discussion, but there’s no denying Maria Sharapova and her fellow screaming grunters are driving everyone around the bend.

The Prime Minister has let us all down, particularly young people ....

Some things transcend politics and policy and the lust for power. Truth, honesty, integrity, decency and fairness are immutable values. They are the ethical substance of life. They ought to be cherished. To sell them out is to sell one's soul. It is even worse when a leader expediently betrays these values, because it undermines the entire community.

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The genesis of the tennis grunt is disputed. Some say the grunt was invented in Nick Bollettieri's tennis laboratory where, convinced a noisy expulsion would help a player hit the ball harder, the famed coach played soundtracks from pornographic movies near the test tubes in which his ''Deci-belles'' were incubating.

Others are adamant the shriek was secretly encouraged by the WTA Tour marketing department, which hoped to keep spectators awake during early-round matches.

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I hate to sound Pollyanna-ish, but sometimes the sunny point of view turns out to be right.

Yes, corporate money has hijacked democracy. And it's true that our two-party system often fails to offer real choices or reflect the will of the majority. Our corporate political system doesn't have a problem. It is the problem.

The biggest announcement in education, particularly digitized education, in January was … no, not that. Sure, Apple got lots of press and attention for its foray into textbook publishing but I think that was secondary to another announcement made a few weeks earlier on January 3rd. That was when the Kahn Academy announced that Vi Hart would be moving to Mountain View and joining its team.