Economic surplus
Displaying 31 - 40 of 44 articles
The electricity ‘death spiral’ is raising considerable angst. Residential demand for power appears to be declining. This has led to higher prices to cover fixed network costs. The Australian Energy Market…
There is a view that the major supermarket chains, Coles and Woolworths, can behave without restraint. Under this view the two retailers can act with impunity to sell whatever products they choose, regardless…
The interaction of competition policy and the digital economy is complex. The digital economy may not fit easily with current rules. For example, business contracts may restrict the way that one of the…
The Federal Court of Australia has brought down its decision in the ‘free to roam’ case. The Court has clarified that our consumer protection laws are about, well, consumers! Some background to the case…
In October 2008, at the height of the Global Financial Crisis (GFC), the federal government decided to guarantee bank deposits. The ‘financial claims scheme’ (FCS), was an emergency measure to protect…
If there is a ‘root and branch’ review of competition laws after the next election, it should be led by a group of sexagenarians. That is, people aged at least sixty. Why? Because they will remember how…
The demise of Better Place, shows the difficulty of moving between idea and commercial success. In particular, it illustrates how ‘radical’ change can be defeated by the ‘chicken and egg’ problem. Better…
Professors of philosophy at San Jose State University have refused to teach using a MOOC (i.e. a ‘massive open on-line course’) and have written an ‘open letter’ (via the subscriber only Chronicle of Higher…
When Woolworths is looking at parallel importation, you know that the Australian retail sector has a problem. Today’s Australian Financial Review states that: “Woolworths has been buying Australian-made…
What does a sustainable superannuation system look like? And do the reforms announced by the Treasurer make our system more or less sustainable? Let’s start with the first question. My assumption is that…