There are two main fears about the possible implications for Australia in China’s latest five-year economic plan, but in reality, we have little to worry about. In fact, Australia has much to gain from…
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The behaviour of credit rating agencies is back in the spotlight, as Portugal struggles with its large debt burden. Credit rating agency Fitch has copped some criticism for cutting Portugal’s credit rating…
In the ongoing debate around the resources tax, there has been little focus on the fundamental difficulties and complexities presented by a tax on profits in the resource-extraction industry. There are…
Australia is one of the ten worst offenders in the OECD when it comes to generating solid waste. The construction industry is a leading contributor, throwing out a third of our gross national pile of (potentially…
Recent reports that the Queensland government may build its $2B Sunshine Coast hospital by using a public-private partnership appear to indicate a continuing love affair with this form of funding. State…
Why has the Federal Government launched a review into the distribution of GST revenue among the states? There are two reasons. One, there is a need for genuine reform in that the effective amount of GST…
Economic arguments have come to dominate the Australian political debate about climate change. When it comes to climate policy, both the government and the opposition talk far more about taxes, trading…
If Australia is truly serious about avoiding climate catastrophe we are going to need to move towards a zero-emissions economy. A price on carbon emissions is an important component of climate protection…
Coles and Woolworths are fighting a price war on milk, beer and now chicken. Why? With the emergence of Aldi and more recently Costco, we’re seeing the two big supermarkets worried about losing some of…
A mining tax to provide a wealth fund for the future, a flood levy to pay for Queensland’s floods earlier this year, a carbon tax to pay for our environmental damage. Little wonder the tabloid press is…
With Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan indicating carbon, mining and the GST are off the agenda for October’s tax summit, it’s been suggested there’s little left to talk about. Of course that’s not the case…
The recent settlement of a class action against cardboard manufacturers, Visy and Amcor, has been reported as providing a further boost to the “crackdown” on cartels in Australia. Unfortunately, coverage…
The decision by a US Federal Court judge last week to reject a $US125 million settlement between Google Books and the publishing industry allows authors to protect their copyright and prevents Google from…
When a media proprietor such as Seven Network chairman Kerry Stokes describes newspapers as a “sunset industry”, it goes without saying that the future of the newspaper does not involve paper. Mr Stokes…
Successive governments in NSW, of both political persuasions, have tried to privatise electricity despite strong and consistent citizen opposition. Citizen opposition is based on the desire to maintain…
TV breakfast shows often air the live reactions of people who have answered the phone to win ten thousand dollars or the like. Screams of delight or speechless surprise are usually followed by plans for…
With the political debate over climate change getting muddier, many people who used to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by buying carbon offsets are no longer doing so. The market for carbon offsets…
The global financial crisis reopened furious debate about many issues the finance industry once considered settled. But one area that mostly escaped scrutiny is the way universities educate finance students…
Many public debates come down to facts – issues like “Whose costing of the Opposition’s spending plans was correct?” or “How many people died in Iraq?” Too often the media report a strident opinion from…
West Australian Newspapers’ $4.1B proposed purchase of the Seven Media Group to create the country’s biggest listed media group is correctly viewed by industry insiders as the start of a wider consolidation…
In recent years productivity growth in Australia has been in alarming decline. A series of government reports have identified some of the causes: infrastructure and skills inadequacies, bottlenecks and…
REDgroup Retail accounted for 20% of Australia’s $1.6B book market and in another life, might have been Australia’s version of the Amazon success story. Instead, last month the parent of Borders and Angus…
The failure to adequately price carbon emissions allows the world’s affluent to impose serious climate-related costs upon its poor. But is this primarily an economic or an ethical issue? Despite fierce…
Even as debate rages on how the Federal Government will legislate the Minerals Resource Rent Tax, it seems that as so often happens in politics, what is old is new again. Almost 23 years ago, off-shore…
When BHP chief Marius Kloppers returned Australia’s largest half-yearly profit for 2010, news reports described him as being ‘among the top 20 most powerful people in business worldwide.’ This tag is due…