Under Donald Trump,the country that created the global free market is bringing it to an end,not soberly but vengefully. The entire episode would be comically clownish if it weren’t so serious.
China may be facing a 34 per cent economic penalty on exports,but Peter Hartcher says the US president has handed Xi Jinping a big favour on a silver platter.
Voters want to know what the contenders for the prime ministership will do to protect the national interest. Neither Albanese nor Dutton so far have any answers for them.
Election offerings so far,from both sides,are coherent,but insignificant. As one political observer quipped,it’s like a “battle of the Band-Aids”.
Shane Wright,Ross Gittins,Peter Hartcher,Jacqueline Maley and Matthew Knott break down the economic and political implications of the budget.
The budget reveals the political calculus of a government heading into an election,not one bracing the country for a new era of global tectonic shocks.
The West thought China would be entranced by its freedoms. But now an American president is aping Beijing’s repressive controls.
Australia’s voters increasingly are anxious. The political party that can best address this compounding anxiety will win the forthcoming federal election.
Trump and Musk’s new policies will make the rich richer and the poor poorer. What could go wrong?
The mercurial US president will haunt the forthcoming election campaign. How the leaders handle him,and his chaotic pronouncements,may even swing the result.