Weekend reading and media appearances

International Reading:

• Tesla Board Asks Elon Musk to Step Down – Clean technica
• JD Vance Tells Paycheck-to-Paycheck Americans to Suck Up Tariffs Pain – Daily Beast
• Republicans are losing faith in Trump rescuing the economy – News Week
• Layoffs spiked by 205% last month to third-highest ever recorded, fueled by DOGE mass firings – CBS News
• Dow drops 1,400 as US stocks lead worldwide sell-off after Trump’s tariffs ignite a COVID-like shock – AP News
• Trump’s first 50 days mark one of the worst starts for the S&P 500 under any presidency – Yahoo
• Trump’s new tariffs would be laughed away by a high school economics teacher, analyst says – QZ
• Trump Mocked for Stock Market Nosedive Following Tariff Rollout: ‘So This Is What Liberation Looks Like’ – Latin Times
• President Stagflation Comes Into His Own: Global markets reel as Trump tariffs stoke fear of economic ‘spiral of doom’ – Yahoo
• Boomers face a ‘devastating’ blow to their life savings as more tariff pain looms, finance guru warns – Business Insider
• Global markets in turmoil as Trump tariffs wipe $2.5tn off Wall Street – The Guardian
• Wall Street plunges as Trump tariffs trigger recession fears – Reuters

Local Reading:

• ‘This has been a long road’: relief and excitement as NSW ban on gay conversion practices comes into effect – The Guardian
• Albanese outlines five-point plan to respond to Donald Trump’s tariffs – ABC
• Peter Dutton calls Anthony Albanese ‘weak’ over US tariffs – SBS
• ABC to host election leaders’ debate on April 16 – ABC
• Peter Dutton and Gina Rinehart fall out over Coalition gas plan, net zero – ABC
• Albanese Threatens To Use ‘Dispute Resolution’ Powers Against Sweeping US Tariffs – ABC
• Peter Dutton is trying to talk to two audiences but Donald Trump has him wedged – ABC
• Dutton stops short of backing wage rise above inflation for lowest paid workers – The Guardian
• Plastic pollution on Australian coasts drops, but cigarette butts remain a problem, CSIRO study finds – ABC
• ‘Australia is a landlord’s market’: rents still at record high despite slow growth, report shows – The Guardian
• Students and union groups concerned by Coalition’s ‘woke’ agenda education crackdown – ABC
• Australia soon to be second in world for retirement savings as superannuation pool soars – ABC
• This little piggy: We’re mapping the election’s pork-barrelling – Crikey
• Surge in new housing completions in Auckland at the start of 2025 – Interest.co.nz
• CoreLogic says housing market ‘is now into its next stage of growth’ – Interest.co.nz
• ANZ NZ reduces mortgage serviceability test rate – Interest.co.nz
• High hopes for hydrogen trucks and flights in NZ – Interest.co.nz

MB Media Appearances:

Australians have a clear choice on energy policy

Idiot Albo rejects East Coast gas reservation

Peter Dutton’s gas reservation policy is a game changer

How Trump’s trade war could hurt Australia

Expect a post-election rate cut