Financial author and forecaster Harry Dent blames the latest asset bubble on unprecedented US government money-printing, warning that another “couple trillion” dollars of stimulus will be less effective because investors have already seen repeated crisis rescues. He labels gold’s surge from about $1,600 to roughly $5,600 in three years as “the fastest, most extreme bubble in history”, far above its long-term trend. Dent expects a severe deflationary downturn would drag gold down alongside commodities and equities, though with smaller percentage losses.

Arup has become a Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) adopter, committing to publish nature-related risks and dependencies across its global project portfolio by the end of 2027. The consultancy plans to embed TNFD-aligned screening into project design and delivery, covering impacts on ecosystems such as wetlands, river catchments and urban green corridors. For geotechnical and civil teams, this signals earlier constraints mapping around biodiversity, soil and groundwater, and more explicit reporting of nature-related liabilities alongside traditional geotechnical and flood risk assessments.

Western Australia is moving to convert decades of mining and petroleum investment into wider industrial capability, with WA MLA David Scaife telling the WA Mining Conference and Exhibition 2026 that the state’s mineral and petroleum sectors now generate a substantial share of gross state product and export revenue. The strategy centres on using established iron ore, LNG and critical minerals supply chains to attract downstream processing, manufacturing and technology services. For miners and engineers, this signals stronger policy backing for value-adding plants, local content requirements and skills development tied to existing operations.