Today in The Australian
 
That this year’s American presidential contest is unusual hardly needs to be said. What remains to be seen is just how far the outcomes diverge from the norm. To help you assess the results, here are five features of American presidential elections worth knowing. Two weeks ago, they were all going Hillary Clinton’s way; that is less clear today.

Today in The Australian
 Set against the turmoil that has racked Australian politics since 2007, John Howard’s masterly series on the Menzies era reminds us of what stability looked like.

Today in The Australian

When Walt Whitman, writing in 1856, observed that Americans aspire to a “democracy of manners”, he meant that they expect to be treated not only equally but also respectfully. Well, you don’t need to know much about politics to know that Donald Trump’s ­remarks about groping women don’t meet that standard.

Today in The Australian

Although it is unlikely to precipitate a broader crisis, the turmoil affecting Deutsche Bank — the biggest bank in Europe’s largest economy — highlights the risks still confronting the global financial system. And as markets struggle with those risks, there are serious questions to be asked about the decisions Australian regulators are taking to ensure the stability of our banking sector.

In The Australian today
William McChesney Martin Jr, who chaired the US Federal ­Reserve in the 1950s and 60s, ­famously observed that central bankers are the people who take away the punch bowl just as the party is heating up. Nowadays, his successors are the fellows who spike the drinks.

In The Australian today:

Stephen Conroy’s decision to quit the Senate so as to establish a red underwear business has been ­hailed by his colleagues.