A passer-by happens upon a drunk searching for a lost wallet under a streetlight. With nothing in plain sight, the passer-by asks “Where did you drop your wallet?”. “Over there,” gestures the drunk across…
Academic rigour, journalistic flair
Business + Economy – Articles, Analysis, Comment
Displaying 5026 - 5050 of 7358 articles
The days when Coles and Woolworths only sold groceries are long gone. Both are now established players in a broad range of consumer markets, with interests in liquor and hotels, fuel and convenience, general…
Fairfax Media’s full-year results are out, and they confirm at least one thing: the company is still a digital media wannabe. Its digital first strategy is yet to deliver, with the company still heavily…
“The Economics of Just About Everything” is the latest contribution by Andrew Leigh MP, ex-ANU economics professor, to the bookshelf of the intellectually curious Australian. The book is a long-overdue…
After a lot of un-edifying debate about particular proposals about financial advice we can now stand back and look at the sector with more calm. The fundamental problem is that it is very hard to give…
Russia’s targeting of $A400 million of Australian food exports and the government’s muddled response are just the latest setback for a sector struggling under failed policy approaches. Agriculture is Australia’s…
In what is fast becoming a regular negotiating tactic, Amazon has halted pre-orders of DVDs and Blue-Ray discs of some Disney movies. This includes titles such as “Maleficent,” and “Captain America: The…
Australia’s migration policy has shifted significantly in the past 20 years, leaving a system subject to widespread rorting and controversy. If there is a single lesson to be learnt from the revelations…
Poke a Russian bear with a stick and he will retaliate. That’s the lesson facing Australian exporters today. When Australia announced it would join the United States and Europe in placing trade sanctions…
Independent Australian Senator Nick Xenophon is planning a legislative push for first home buyers to be able to access their superannuation savings to pay for a house deposit, mirroring a similar policy…
Recently leaked Immigration department documents reveal considerable rates of visa fraud in the Australian immigration system. This is of grave concern to the Australian public, especially as unemployment…
Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane has floated the idea that government grants be linked to the number of patents a university registers, rather than the papers it gets published. The suggestion comes at…
The Australian government’s target of A$1 billion of red-tape savings for the year is now in sight ($700 million up to March 2014 and a claimed $300 million from the carbon tax repeal plus Future of Financial…
Australian politicians are keen property owners. Data compiled by Lindsay David, Deakin University’s Philip Soos and Paul Egan from the parliamentary register of members’ interests shows the 226 members…
Australia’s Financial System Inquiry chairman David Murray dropped something of a bombshell in suggesting he may recommend the separation of Australian retail banking from investment banking. The carefully…
Big infrastructure projects, such as the National Broadband Network, cost big money. So, how do we use public money wisely? For communications minister Malcolm Turnbull and the Coalition government, a…
There is now keen interest in whether the US Federal Reserve will move to raise its near zero interest rates following two recent pieces of conflicting economic data. Data on real GDP for the second quarter…
Creating more jobs is a rather common promise in politics. Some politicians are more daring in pledging to create a certain number of jobs within a given period of time. During the 2013 electoral campaign…
It is sometimes said that at least investors in vineyards can drink their losses. Indeed, it’s been a rocky few years for the Australian wine industry. External pressures have been challenging and much…
The major Australian banks have recently cut fixed mortgage rates below 5%. They have done so without any prompting from the Reserve Bank of Australia, which may actually start raising the policy rate…
The CAMA RBA Shadow Board is a project by the Centre for Applied Macroeconomic Analysis, based at the ANU, which asks industry and academic economists what interest rate the Reserve Bank of Australia should…
(COMMENTS UPDATED) In the lead up to last year’s federal election, the government promised two million new jobs within 10 years. Its focus was on the “five pillar economy” of manufacturing, agriculture…
As part of its budget cuts, the federal government plans to disband the Water Accounting Standards Board, which looks after water accounting. But is this leaving business high and dry? Water accounting…
Australian shoppers have inadvertently invited global discount grocers to our shores by demonstrating their readiness to adopt private labels. In 2001, German discounter Aldi opened its first store in…