Paul Furst

Forensic psychiatrist, mental health advocate and systems thinker. Opinions my own. RT not endorsement.

[Grok @grok]

Wholesale prices are falling. AER data shows drops in all NEM regions in 2025 versus 2024 (e.g. NSW from $150 to $119/MWh). Q2 2026 NEM average hit $74/MWh, down 47% year-on-year, aided by more solar, wind and batteries.

Retail is mixed. From July 2026, regulated DMO standing offers fell 3.4-7.2% in NSW and SE QLD but rose 1.4% in SA. CPI electricity was up 13% to August mainly because federal rebates ended, so many bills rose even as underlying wholesale costs eased.

[Allen Frances @AllenFrancesMD]

Adult ADHD is fad diagnosis.

DSM criteria require:
1)childhood onset
2)significant impairment
3)occurrence in multiple settings
4)NOT DUE TO ANOTHER PSYCH PROBLEM (all can cause poor concentration)

Loose diagnosis very dangerous: eg giving stimulant ADHD meds to a manic patient

[Paul Furst @PDFurst]

@therealRYC In my experience it’s almost always because clinicians don’t fully apply the DSM criteria- they pick and mix.

[theleahfiles @leahfiles]

People keep saying Trump term II is the most corrupt administration ever, so I built a model to find out if it was true.

I took the UN's definition of corruption, turned it into eight criteria and 100 points, and scored the leaders history remembers for looting their countries: Marcos, Suharto, Mobutu, Abacha, Obiang, Putin.

Then I put every president since Eisenhower on the same scale, both parties, with every exoneration counted right alongside the convictions.

Nixon scored 41 and no other American President scored over a 25.

Trump's second term scored a 91, which ties him with Suharto and Mobutu and puts him above Marcos and Abacha.

So he is not only the most corrupt president in American history. At this pace he finishes his term level with the most corrupt rulers of the last hundred years.

PSA: don't come in my comments arguing about the results if you haven't read the full article, because ignorance is a choice.

Full article is up now on my Substack (link in bio) and it's free.

[Peter FitzSimons @Peter_Fitz]

This is a bit brilliant, with great pertinence for Oz.

[Paul Furst @PDFurst]

@JudkinsSimon @Acyn He’s not unwell. It’s not a mental illness. He’s just not a good person.

[Robert Bruce @24_70xu]

🔥 This is Epic!

Journalist: “Do you think Trump mocks you and your wife because of your religion and culture and calls you ‘savages’?”

🇺🇸 Abdul El-Sayed: “Yes. He can say whatever he wants—it’s his personal choice. But unlike him, our names aren’t in the Epstein files.” 🔥

Bro absolutely destroyed Trump. 🤣🔥

[Paul Furst @PDFurst]

@MrJohnJnr E

[Rex Patrick @MrRexPatrick]

She didn’t turn up for last week’s Senate sitting but managed to attend a weekend protest in Canberra. She’s missed Senate Estimates this week. She earns a $211K salary + allowances + super but doesn’t turn up for work. Is she Australia’s most expensive dole bludger? #auspol

[Aaron Smith @aaronsmith]

Dave, you've responded to a detailed fact check by introducing an entirely different argument.

Whether government should be smaller is an interesting discussion. It just isn't the discussion we were having.

We were discussing whether your description of Australia's economic history in a 90 second clip was accurate.

It wasn't.

What I think is extraordinary isn't that you got things wrong. Everyone does. It's that you've conceded precisely nothing.

Not one factual error. Not one correction. Not one "Fair enough, I got that wrong".

You have a remarkable ability to turn economic fiction into confident public performance. The problem isn't just the mistake. It's that once the performance is over, the fiction is simply left behind for your audience to keep repeating.

You haven't acknowledged that you confused government debt with the Future Fund. Your reply now explains how the Future Fund grew from around $60 billion to $255 billion which is a baffling addition, given you previously spoke about it as though it had ceased to exist.

You haven't acknowledged that you claimed the GFC stimulus was funded by the Future Fund. Or that your broader account of Australia's response to the GFC was wildly misleading.

Instead, you've simply changed the subject, which is a perfectly respectable debating tactic, provided nobody remembers what the original discussion was about.

When the errors are painstakingly explained, you don't correct the record. You simply move on, leaving the misinformation behind for your audience to repeat as though it were true.

I’m reminded of a line from Jackson Lamb in Slow Horses - Explaining this to you has become rather like trying to explain Norway to a dog.

[Toilet Paper Australia @toiletpaperaus1]

And this is what the lawyer presiding over the case said…

Ouch.

[Michael Pascoe @MichaelPascoe01]

All too rare. @FinancialReview should ask permission to reprint it

[Dirtyleftie @CraigSarg73]

Australia now has the world’s strongest economy and some of its weakest economic reporting.

Coverage of the latest Federal Budget exposed just how far standards in Australia’s media have declined.

The Budget data showed Australia remains one of the strongest-performing advanced economies on Earth. It is currently the only country with unemployment and inflation both below 4.7%, median adult wealth above US$250,000, triple-A credit ratings from all major agencies, moderate interest rates, and government debt below 25% of GDP.

On top of that, the Budget introduced reforms aimed at tackling long-standing structural inequities changes that many economists argue were overdue.

In most countries, results like these would dominate headlines and strengthen public confidence. Instead, much of Australia’s media responded with outrage, fear campaigns and ideological attacks.

Headlines warned of “budget debacles”, “dire consequences”, “war on wealth”, and “further pain”, while largely ignoring Australia’s globally leading economic performance.

Much of the commentary relied on the same recycled narratives that have dominated economic reporting for years narratives that often collapse under scrutiny.

Claim: Living standards are falling.
Reality: Living standards dipped globally after COVID, including in Australia, but key indicators have rebounded strongly since 2023. Australians are travelling overseas in record numbers, spending more on dining, retail and discretionary goods, and consumer activity has surged.

Claim: Wages are going backwards.
Reality: Real wages were hit during the inflation spike that followed the pandemic, but wage growth has now outpaced inflation. Since late 2023, wages, pensions and welfare payments have all risen faster than consumer prices.

Claim: Australia is a high-tax country.
Reality: Australia remains one of the lower-taxed advanced economies. The GST is just 10%, far below consumption taxes across much of Europe, while Australia’s total tax-to-GDP ratio sits near the bottom of the OECD.

Claim: Labor keeps increasing taxes.
Reality: IMF data places Australia among the lowest-taxing developed economies in both 2025 and 2026.

Claim: Labor is anti-business.
Reality: Business profits outside mining have reached record highs, while employment and expansion across many sectors continue to grow.

Claim: Labor spends recklessly.
Reality: Spending as a share of GDP under Anthony Albanese remains below levels seen under several previous governments, including the Morrison Government.

Claim: Business investment is collapsing.
Reality: Investment stagnated during the Coalition years but has resumed growth under the current government.

The bigger issue is what this says about Australia’s media culture.

Economic reporting increasingly resembles political campaigning rather than factual analysis. Too often, selective statistics, misleading framing and emotionally loaded commentary replace balanced reporting.

When positive economic outcomes are ignored while fear and outrage dominate coverage, it damages public trust, distorts national debate and weakens social cohesion.

Australia’s economy is not perfect. Productivity, housing affordability and inequality remain serious challenges. But pretending the country is in economic collapse despite internationally strong results does not inform the public. It misleads them.

[cinesthetic. @TheCinesthetic]

Hot Fuzz (2007) is one of the most tightly constructed comedies ever made. Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg pack the script so densely that almost every line ends up as a setup, payoff, callback, or sly reference to classic action movies.

[Protect Kamala Harris ✊ @DisavowTrump20]

🚨NEW: Kerry Kennedy has announced Late Show Host Stephen Colbert is the recipient of the 2025 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award for his advocacy for free speech and speaking truth to power.

RETWEET to congratulate Colbert on this honor!

[Allen Frances @AllenFrancesMD]

Finding: Healthy people who use chatbots a lot were not harmed by them.

Not that reassuring because of folie-a-chatbot: (suicidal/psychotic/anorexic symptoms triggered de novo or in patients with pre-existing psych disorder.

Include chatbot use in all differential diagnoses.

[Karly Kingsley @karlykingsley]

🎯

[Crikey @crikey_news]

Opinion | News Corp’s controlling share of real estate company REA Group is worth about $13.75 billion — about 65% of News Corp's entire market value. No wonder The Australian is tut-tutting so hard. https://t.co/et8SzJsR2Z

[Tyler Black, MD @tylerblack32]

Nothing says "I have no idea what I'm talking about" more than stating that "antipsychotics don't have meaningful benefit in psychosis."

[Stephen Koukoulas @TheKouk]

Some frenzied feedback on the below: The cookers hate facts - but here are a few:
1990:
60% of the population finished year 12 - now 80%+;
8% of the population had a uni degree - now 34%
Female participation rate 52% - now 63%
Inflation was 6.5% - now 4.1%
Cash rate was 17% - now 4.35%
Life expectancy was 76 years - now 85 years
To name a few ...
Is 2026 better than 1990?
Of course it is.