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Latest posts.

Essays and analysis without the noise. Markets, economics, and what's actually beneath the headlines.

Tomago or data centres

14 Aug 2026

Australia is spending $2.5 billion to prop up a 20th-century aluminium smelter, when letting it close would instantly free up enough grid capacity to power 20 hyperscale AI data centres.

A royal waste

12 Aug 2026

South Australia's royal commission into artificial intelligence is a waste of taxpayer funds.

Australia's data centre shenanigans

10 Aug 2026

Chris Bowen is opportunistically using the AI boom to pressure cashed-up tech companies into cross-subsidising his renewables plan.

Should FIFA sell equity in the World Cup?

6 Aug 2026

Gianni Infantino's plan to sell equity in the World Cup was an attempted heist.

Situational Awareness

4 Aug 2026

A big brain doesn't make you immune to the risks of excessive leverage.

Australia still has an inflation problem

1 Aug 2026

Australia's domestic inflation, the poor incentives behind green energy transitions, Australia's new oil refinery, and Argentina's ongoing recovery.

Where is Australia's Zohran Mamdani?

29 July 2026

Australia's institutions work to prevent people like Zohran Mamdani from achieving similar political power.

How to build a moat

28 July 2026

Banning open-weight AI is just rent-seeking dressed up as national security.

The latest AI scare campaign

24 July 2026

The Hugging Face hack, how to value AI firms, the Australian media's shaky legs, and who is Andy Burnham?

There is no moat

20 July 2026

Chinese AI models are really good and the LLM space looks set to be commoditised, with consequences for the owners of the leading closed models.