Why I (and the market) are not worried about nuclear war with North Korea, and why Richard Thaler is wrong

Nobel Laureate Richard Thaler was recently reported as expressing bemusement about why global stock markets continued to levitate, and particularly given what he considered to be a material and growing risk of nuclear war. He noted:


"We seem to be living in the riskiest moment of our lives, and yet the stock market seems to be napping.... I admit to not understanding it". 

The (real) truth about our debt

Livewire Markets today posted an article by Stephen Koukoulas from Market Economics, entitled "The Truth About our Debt". The full article can be found at the link below.

However, in my interpretation, the crux of Koukoulas' argument is that we need not worry about the high level of Australian household debt - now approximately 200% of GDP - because looking at the debt is only half of the equation, and the level of household assets has also risen significantly. Australian households, on a net basis (assets less liabilities), are in fact as wealthy as ever, and so - it is argued - fears over Australia's high indebtedness are misplaced.