Earlier this week, reports emerged that Italian finance officials had held talks with their Chinese counterparts regarding the possibility of China making significant purchases of Italy’s public debt…
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Trade negotiations currently being conducted behind closed doors could see a major setback to providing access to essential medicines for the world’s poorest people. The Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement…
Major proposals designed to reform Britain’s banking sector after its spectacular 2008 crash have been described as one of the biggest shakeups in a generation. But they are likely be inadequate for a…
President Barack Obama’s $US447 billion jobs plan appears to be struggling. Republican resistance to some aspects of the rescue deal announced last week - particularly around government spending - was…
Like Australia, the United Kingdom accords a particular value to home ownership that extends beyond the mere provision of housing. We British like to think of ourselves as a “property-owning democracy…
Five senior executives of the Chinese-owned investor Hanlong Mining have had assets frozen after the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) launched an investigation into alleged insider…
People who work in business and finance are obsessed with economic data releases – GDP growth figures, unemployment rates, trade statistics, and so on. Business journalists, investors, financial analysts…
Federal parliament has begun debating the merits of a new independent unit which would cost election promises and policies for all parliamentarians. But one of the more controversial aspects of the Gillard…
In chess, the endgame takes place when only a handful of pieces are left on the board. In close games, the players must select the best move available to avoid being checkmated. Gunns – Tasmania’s “forest…
There is a monster under the bed, frightening young and old. That monster is the proposal for a tort of breach of privacy. It is time that we turned on the lights, looked under the bed and looked our fears…
It was refreshing recently to see Deputy Opposition Leader Julie Bishop draw national political attention to the question of Pacific women’s political status. But her survey of the current problems facing…
Global markets look set for a rough week amid new concerns that Greece could default on its massive debt. The Australian share market has spent most of the day down 3% after reports that Germany could…
Barack Obama has laid out a US$447 billion (A$421 billion) plan to cut payroll taxes and boost government spending to create jobs, in a bid to “jolt” the stalled US economy back to life. Obama told a joint…
What is to be done about Australia’s deteriorating productivity performance? It’s by no means inconceivable that the answer to this question could be “nothing”. Historical precedent strongly suggests Australians…
Business leaders are insisting changes be made to the Fair Work Act to boost productivity. Retailers apparently face a crisis because of penalty rates, and an MP agrees that penalty rates stymie productivity…
Official explanations of the deterioration in Australia’s productivity growth have tended to emphasise the especially sharp declines in three sectors – agriculture, mining, and utilities (such as electricity…
In 1990 there were about 400 international environmental groups. Today, this number is more like 1.4 million. So why is the world apparently in a worse state now? Have environmental groups paid too much…
When the appointment of Rod Sims as chairman of the competition watchdog was announced earlier this year, there was disquiet among some competition lawyers. Would Sims, an economist, readily appreciate…
Former BHP Billiton Chairman Don Argus has blamed inflexible industrial relations laws for Australia’s lagging productivity, describing the Gillard Government’s economic reform agenda as “lazy”. Argus…
With the anticipated introduction of an Australia-wide carbon pricing scheme, there have been some calls to rationalise or scrap targeted climate policies, such as renewable energy support schemes, both…
Last week’s Equal Pay Day highlighted the fact that despite decades of supposed reform, women’s average full-time weekly earnings remains 17.2% below men. Is this obvious to our employers? Worryingly…
The Federal Court ruling in the Centro Properties Group case in June has been viewed by many as significantly raising the legal bar in relation to Australian company directors’ duty of care. Yet the penalties…
Despite the poor outlook for the Earth’s climate, putting in place acceptable solutions is proving difficult. Mired in economic uncertainty, some countries are scaling back climate change efforts. But…
One of the most interesting features of the mining boom is the way that it is opening up old, and unresolved, political and policy debates in Australia. Do we trust that the benefits to the small group…
The world is getting warmer and wetter, almost undoubtedly due to the fact that we are burning up fossil fuels at an incredible rate. While this change in our climate will lead to some positive opportunities…