What the Middle East conflict means for your European summer
Should you still book flights to Europe this year? Will you arrive safely? Or risk getting stranded?
These are the questions Australians are asking after Monday night's air strikes closed the airspace over two of the world's largest travel hubs, Doha in Qatar and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.
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Sydney Morning Herald
an hour ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
A deep dive into Bitcoin's enduring riddle: the identity of its inventor
The Booklist is a weekly newsletter for book lovers from Jason Steger. Get it delivered every Friday. CRYPTOCURRENCY The Mysterious Mr Nakamoto Benjamin Wallace Atlantic, $45 In 2008, a white paper was published entitled Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System. It explained how existing technologies like proof of work, public key encryption and peer-to-peer network architecture could be assembled into a decentralised digital currency - the Bitcoin. The author, whose name was given only as Satoshi Nakamoto, had been active on internet forums and had built an implementation of the so-called Bitcoin - leaving clues to his identity - in code and word. Then one day he disappeared. Over the past 16 years, the identity of the paper's author has been the matter of widespread speculation - with possible candidates running in the hundreds, mostly nerds, freaks and weirdos, along with a few starry-eyed optimists. It's generally assumed that Nakamoto is a mister but could be a group. And owing to Nakamoto's use of British English, this rogues' gallery even includes a few Australians - a bigot and a conman, most likely a serial liar. The Mysterious Mr Nakamoto, by former WIRED writer Benjamin Wallace, journals a 15-year search for Nakamoto's true identity. From the beginning, his book shines less as a hunt than as an excuse to tell Bitcoin's florid history. The general idea of cryptocurrency emerged from an online group called the Cypherpunks, of which Nakamoto was a member. These were a mix of crunchy Bay Area hippies who somehow found common cause with their ideological opposites: Randian libertarians. Both could agree that the post-global financial crisis bailouts were proof of rot in an antiquated system that new technologies could replace. Today it takes an effort to cast one's mind back to an era of tech utopianism when technology was a solution to, rather than an entrenchment of, societal problems. The belief was that recent advances in cryptography would provide anonymity while decentralisation would avert concentration of power and limit the financial corruption that had led to the crisis. Wallace notes similar efforts existed to Bitcoin but failed to catch on. Bitcoin was unique in its intuitive understanding of market and human psychologies.
Perth Now
an hour ago
- Perth Now
Proof 30yo Aussies have never had it worse
For much of Australia's history, each new generation has been better off than the last: better jobs, higher incomes, and improved living standards. But a new e61 Institute report reveals that promise may now be in doubt. The report found that young Australians were barely earning more than their predecessors yet were racking up markedly larger student debts and taking years longer to pay them off. Real average incomes for 30-year-olds increased just 6 per cent in a decade, from $59,496 in 2012 to $62,987 in 2022. Meanwhile, the average HELP debt jumped by 45 per cent, from $19,485 to $28,260, the analysis of tax return data found. The average age of final HELP repayment also rose from 33 in 2012 to 35 in 2022. The percentage of 30-year-olds with a HELP debt increased from 15 per cent to 23 per cent, In 10 years, the average HELP debt has jumped 45 per cent. NewsWire/ Gaye Gerard Credit: NewsWire The report said the story of young Australians today may not necessarily be one of decline but rather of delay. 'It is still unclear how many of these patterns will evolve. The challenge for policymakers is distinguishing between whether young Australians are reaching major life milestones – like moving out of home, starting families, and buying a home – later than prior generations, not reaching them at all, or changing their preferences,' it said. e61 Institute research economist Matthew Maltman said the intergenerational compact's growing disparity had its roots in the global financial crisis of 2008. Since then the wages of workers under 40 have grown at less than half the rate of older Australians. 'Some explanations include rising underemployment, a shift toward insecure and lower-paying service jobs, award decisions, and an oversupply of workers relative to available high-quality jobs – driven in part by older Australians working longer – which weakened bargaining power and suppressed wage growth,' he said. 'Rising employer concentration and a decline in job mobility may also have weakened young workers' ability to climb the job ladder and move into higher-paying positions.' The report stated that young Australians now had access to opportunities that were not available to their parents and grandparents. The report found young Aussies are dealing with the financial consequences of university education for years longer. NewsWire / Valeriu Campan Credit: NewsWire 'Today, they are achieving more in education, earning more in their early career stages, and participating in the labour market in new ways,' it said. 'Young people have also benefited from technological advancements, including greater access to information through the internet, improvements in the availability of digital goods and cheaper consumer goods. 'Whether young Australians will be better of than previous generations remains an open question, 'It depends, in part, on the choices policymakers make today. In the past, productivity growth has been the surest way to lift living standards for all and maintain the intergenerational bargain. 'However, Australia's recent lacklustre productivity performance means that policymakers cannot take for granted that the standard intergenerational pattern of improvement will operate as well as before.'
The Age
an hour ago
- The Age
A deep dive into Bitcoin's enduring riddle: the identity of its inventor
The Booklist is a weekly newsletter for book lovers from Jason Steger. Get it delivered every Friday. CRYPTOCURRENCY The Mysterious Mr Nakamoto Benjamin Wallace Atlantic, $45 In 2008, a white paper was published entitled Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System. It explained how existing technologies like proof of work, public key encryption and peer-to-peer network architecture could be assembled into a decentralised digital currency - the Bitcoin. The author, whose name was given only as Satoshi Nakamoto, had been active on internet forums and had built an implementation of the so-called Bitcoin - leaving clues to his identity - in code and word. Then one day he disappeared. Over the past 16 years, the identity of the paper's author has been the matter of widespread speculation - with possible candidates running in the hundreds, mostly nerds, freaks and weirdos, along with a few starry-eyed optimists. It's generally assumed that Nakamoto is a mister but could be a group. And owing to Nakamoto's use of British English, this rogues' gallery even includes a few Australians - a bigot and a conman, most likely a serial liar. The Mysterious Mr Nakamoto, by former WIRED writer Benjamin Wallace, journals a 15-year search for Nakamoto's true identity. From the beginning, his book shines less as a hunt than as an excuse to tell Bitcoin's florid history. The general idea of cryptocurrency emerged from an online group called the Cypherpunks, of which Nakamoto was a member. These were a mix of crunchy Bay Area hippies who somehow found common cause with their ideological opposites: Randian libertarians. Both could agree that the post-global financial crisis bailouts were proof of rot in an antiquated system that new technologies could replace. Today it takes an effort to cast one's mind back to an era of tech utopianism when technology was a solution to, rather than an entrenchment of, societal problems. The belief was that recent advances in cryptography would provide anonymity while decentralisation would avert concentration of power and limit the financial corruption that had led to the crisis. Wallace notes similar efforts existed to Bitcoin but failed to catch on. Bitcoin was unique in its intuitive understanding of market and human psychologies.
