I’ve been mulling over something that’s been nagging at me for a while now, and a recent online discussion really crystallised it: Australia’s economy has essentially become a hedge fund for residential real estate, propped up by a protected banking oligopoly. Four of the top five companies on the ASX 200 are banks – CBA, Westpac, NAB, and ANZ – with BHP being the lone miner in that exclusive club. When you step back and look at it, that’s genuinely bonkers.