Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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Reserve bank leaves interest rates at 1.5%
In an unprecedented move, the Reserve Bank has left interest rates at 1.5% for the seventh month in a row. This was the first meeting of 2017 and it has surprised economists that the rates have stayed the same despite concerns about the housing market and the growing economy. The bank’s governor Philip Lowe has…
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Victorian government announces stamp duty cuts
Stamp duty cuts are the plan that the Victorian government is putting into place to make buying a home easier for first time buyers. When first time buyers are going to buy a house, they will not have to pay stamp duty if the price costs less than $600,000. However, Treasurer Scott Morrison says that…
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New ‘Frugal Movement’ taking over Australia
The ‘Frugal Movement‘ is a movement that is gaining traction all around the world. It involves users being more conscious about where they’re spending their money and breaking the cycle of consumer culture. Many people who are a part of this movement save thousands each year, so it’s confusing to see why we’re all not…
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Bitcoin value overtakes gold for first time
The digital cryptocurrency known as Bitcoin has exceeded the value of gold for the first time since the introduction of the payment method in 2009. Demand for the digital currency has skyrocketed in recent times,particularly in China. Its stock price closed today at a base value of US$1268, with an ounce of gold trailing it at…
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Australian trade surplus falls by two-thirds
Australia’s trade surplus has fallen to $1.3bn for January 2017, a drop of almost two-thirds from December 2016’s significant $3.3bn surplus. This surprising decline defied the expectations of many market experts, who had predicted further growth in the surplus following the record-breaking surplus recorded for December 2016. However, economists have been quick to address the situation, stating…
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Yahoo CEO reprimanded in fallout from data breach
Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer has agreed to forgo her annual bonus due to the multiple data breaches the technology company suffered during her tenure. Marissa Mayer, who became CEO of Yahoo in 2012, released a statement on Tumblr that announced that she was giving up her annual bonus and equity grant because of the data breaches. “I…
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Amazon cloud crash disrupts Internet users
A major server controlled by Internet giant Amazon crashed briefly yesterday, causing widespread disarray amongst Amazon Cloud users and varying problems for major websites including Netflix, Adobe, AirBnB and the Harvard Business Review. The Amazon S3 server is used by around 1% of the top 1 million websites, according to SimilarTech. Amazon itself described the problems…
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Trump takes lead from Australian immigration
In his first major address to the US Congress since taking office, US President Donald Trump laid out plans for the adoption of an Australian-style immigration plan that would “save countless dollars [and] raise wages”. Mr Trump said that the adoption of the merit-based system would benefit struggling families by making millions more jobs available…
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Housing prices surge in Sydney and Melbourne
Housing prices have surged again, hitting their highest point since the early 2000’s. This represents the quickest annual growth seen on the housing market in over a decade. Unfortunately for first time owners, investment property buyers are buying properties in the countries’ two most populous cities, Sydney and Melbourne. This is due to the Reserve Bank cutting interest…
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Boston Dynamics unveil intimidating new robot
Boston Dynamics are the Google-owned robotics team who have terrified the world with Spot, the robot dog. The company have been committed to changing what the world knows about robotics in terms of mobility, agility, dexterity and speed within robotics. Many people believe that they’ve done that with their new robot, Handle. Handle is a 1.98m robot that…
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