Retail Food Group (RFG) Managing Director Andre Nell (right) and Chairman Colin Archer. The company has been the focus of the latest investigation into franchise problems.
Dan Peled/AAP
There are some hallmark problems within franchising in Australia and internationally and not all are within the franchisor’s or franchisees’ control to fix.
Some sectors, like supermarkets, are not natural monopolies, but have significant economies of scale.
Sam Mooy/AAP
It’s going to be difficult for UK government-backed autonomous vehicle projects to compete with Silicon Valley – unless they have something neat under the bonnet.
South African Reserve Bank deputy governor and registrar of banks, Kuben Naidoo, has the tough task of curbing money laundering.
Supplied by SARB
South Africa’s Reserve Bank is facing a growing challenge of illicit financial flows and money laundering from gangs and errant businesses hell-bent on tricking regulators.
Solar home designed by University of Maryland students for the Department of Energy’s 2017 Solar Decathlon.
DOE Solar Decathlon
Energy Secretary Rick Perry says the US needs to subsidize nuclear and coal power plants to keep the grid stable. But this policy would raise energy costs and could drive consumers off-grid instead.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg initially dismissed as “crazy” the warnings that Russia had been using Facebook to spread propaganda in the 2016 U.S. election. He has since apologized and introduced plans and tools aimed at fighting false information on the platform. In this file photo, he delivers the commencement address at Harvard University in May.
(AP Photo/Steven Senne)
In a fight for the global flow of information, social media firms must be regulated. Their billions of dollars in revenue put their financial interests in conflict with truth and democracy.
Falling back or staying put?
Romolo Tavani/Shutterstock.com
Advocates say daylight saving time saves energy and wins wars. But studies show that injuries and illnesses rise when the clocks change. Some states may end the practice; others could make it permanent.
Wasteful and fake charities are usually harder to spot than this.
jefftakespics2/Shutterstock.com
The Trump administration is committed to deregulating industry, as it’s done with the EPA Clean Power Plan. But a historian shows how regulations have actually benefited both industry and consumers.
Initial coin offerings have taken off this year.
Shutterstock
Despite its name, cryptocurrency isn’t just money. It could also be debt or equity and so it should be regulated and taxed in the same way as other finance.
A recent study shows that large piles of coal produce measurable quantities of fine particulate air pollution within a 25-mile radius. Covering coal trains and storage piles could reduce the problem.
The general assumption in the UK is that regulation is a drag on enterprise, but a closer look at the costs and benefits suggests this might not be the case.
APRA chairman Wayne Byres says the inquiry will provide the CBA with change recommendations.
Mick Tsikas/AAP
The APRA inquiry puts the regulator in the tricky position of trying to be seen to be tough on bank scandals but juggling its close relationship with the government and the CBA.
Distinguished Professor of Practice, Trachtenberg School of Public Policy & Public Administration, and Director of the Regulatory Studies Center, George Washington University