In the long run, productivity is the key driver of real wages growth. Alas, Australia’s productivity over the last decade (i.e., 2010-2020) grew at its lowest rate for 60 years. But it could be worse: “Turkey has had no total factor productivity growth or technological upgrading for over 15 years.

An internal Google document leaked at the start of this month claimed that “We have no moat and neither does OpenAI”. The document was, of course, referring to the fact that in the arms race of AI, there are no barriers to slow down potential competitors. The technology itself is not new, and every day people are coming up with new ways to do “with $100 and 13B params that we struggle with at $10M and 540B”.

Hot on the heels of the UK regulator’s decision to block the merger between Microsoft and gaming giant Activision Blizzard on dubious grounds, the European Union gave the deal the green light: “The European Commission said the transaction was pro-competitive due to Microsoft’s agreement to licence popular Activision games such as ‘Call of Duty’ to rival game streaming platforms, confirming a Reuters report in March.

The recent federal Budget included $2 billion worth of funding for a ‘Hydrogen Headstart’ program. Tim Ayres, Assistant Minister for Trade and Assistant Minister for Manufacturing, provided some details on the government’s reasoning for the program: “This Budget was a great budget for Australian manufacturing. Two billion dollars in the Hydrogen Headstart program, which will be there to create a market for hydrogen production in Australia to make sure hydrogen production is onshore in Australia with Australian technology and an Australian workforce.

The United States is a quirky place, and its mortgage industry is no exception. Instead of borrowing at variable rates like we do Down Under, when you take out a mortgage in the good ol' US of A you’re generally locking in the rate for 15 or 30 years. Now banks borrow short and lend long – how on Earth do they manage the enormous risk of maturity mismatch that this model entails?