The shutdown of online currency exchange Liberty Reserve and the arrest of its CEO and founder Arthur Budovsky may not have surprised some in the security industry. The company did not require its users…
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For many of us, smartphones and laptops have enabled an electronic untethering from physical and temporal limitations workplaces, creating the opportunity for greater flexibility to fit paid work in and…
The European Union (or at least its periphery) is a big, sick patient that so far has been treated with robust injections of fiscal austerity. This seemed to be the right course of action to cure the “debt…
As the sixth iteration of The Fast and the Furious franchise rolls out in cinemas, a greater speed demon lurks in our financial markets: high-frequency traders (HFTs). While the good guys in Fast 6 are…
In less time than it takes for the average teenager to get bored, Yahoo has put its acquisition of blogging site Tumblr behind it and moved onto its next potential target, Hulu. A couple of years ago…
Shortly the Fair Work Commission will announce their decision on the minimum wage for 2013. This will be based on its own research and balancing the claims of employers, unions and others. The ACTU is…
Manufacturers across the world rely on economies from the scale of production to drive down unit cost. This “mass production” approach, focused on efficiency and uniformity of product, is feasible when…
Australian mining firms remain at the forefront of natural resource exploration and extraction in some of our nearest - and poorest - neighbours. Timor Leste, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands are…
The sight of Victorian fruit farmers bulldozing surplus trees due to the loss of supply contracts is a dramatic way to illustrate the quandary facing both Australian industry and growers. In April Victorian…
Ford’s announcement that it will cease making cars in Australia is an enormous blow to manufacturing, and especially to the workers involved. But does it mean Australian manufacturing on its deathbed…
There will be a lot of debate as to why Ford now finds itself in the situation it is in. Ford CEO, Robert Graziano, cited economies of scale as the primary factor that made continuing to produce cars in…
Opposition leader Tony Abbott’s budget reply pledge to discontinue the Low Income Earners Superannuation Contribution (LISC) will hit the retirement savings of thousands of low-paid Australian workers…
Who is Superman’s greatest threat? Evil genius Lex Luthor? General Zod from the Phantom Zone? The doppelganger Bizarro? Super-villain Brainiac? Kryptonite? Or is it intellectual property law? In 2013…
Earlier this month, Australia’s Big Four banks copped a serve over their support of the coal and gas extraction industries, focusing attention on the ways large banks’ investment decisions can put the…
“You’ll never see Japanese cars in an RSL car park.” That was Bill Bourke, Ford Australia’s sales supremo of the ’60s. Bourke was wrong. Dead wrong. In 2016, Ford will cease manufacturing in Australia…
Yesterday’s announcement that Ford will close its manufacturing operations in Geelong and Broadmeadows by 2016 at the cost of 1,200 jobs raises questions of what the workers’ future employment options…
Today’s announcement by Ford Australia President Bob Graziano that the car company will exit Australian manufacturing by 2016 is not a surprise for anyone who has been paying attention to the fortunes…
The future of Australia’s auto manufacturing industry is under a heavy cloud after Ford’s announcement that it would cease its manufacturing operations in Australia by 2016. Ford Australia president Bob…
Two reports released on the same day have confirmed what we already knew - that the structural budget balance is in poor shape. The Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) has launched its report, Estimates…
This is the ultimate stuff of hipster dreams. Despite the protestations of user defections, Tumblr bloggers couldn’t help but be beguiled by the attentions of 37-year-old Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, whose…
Social media has definitely changed the game for job-seekers and recruiters. Traditionally, HR recruiters placed an advertisement, sifted through the responses, and interviewed the shortlisted candidates…
Employers recognise that work performance can’t be predicted perfectly by formal qualifications, references and interviews. Job candidates may have sheaves of diplomas, incandescent recommendations, a…
It’s been almost a month since the collapse of the Rana Plaza garment factory in Bangladesh, resulting in the deaths of 1100 garment workers. Some significant responses from business and governments have…
Recent years have demonstrated the enduring strength of a core Keynesian insight: deficit spending may result in higher growth and enable states to move more quickly into surplus. In this light, Australian…
Political forecaster Nate Silver’s excellent book The Signal and Noise explores living in an era of information abundance. Information is not in short supply, but how to interpret it accurately — as he…