The Industrial Revolution led to centuries of social and economic upheaval. Are economists telling us not to worry about workplace automation because things will be better in a couple hundred years?
Instead of trying to bring back the old economy jobs that have been lost, the U.S. should focus on training Americans in the new skills that will be needed in tomorrow’s economy.
Students and academics are fed up with the situation at South Africa’s universities. One way to improve conditions is for universities to be run as institutions of learning – not big businesses.
The Department for Education’s proposal that for-profit companies could provide child protection services and other statutory functions for families caused a major public uproar this spring – and the furore…
When Qantas wished to outsource some of its engineering operations in the 1990s it came to a compromise with the unions - the 767s would be done in-house, and the 747s outsourced. Decades on, clashes between…
The awarding of a A$1.22 billion contract to Transfield Services to run the Manus Island and Nauru detention centres is yet another example of a government handing over responsibility to other parties…
Something strange, or perhaps rather unexpected, has occurred over the past few years: the media and politicians alike have been highlighting the strength of British manufacturing. Stranger yet, perhaps…
Earlier this month, the Serious Fraud Office started a formal criminal investigation into Serco and G4S, who are accused of overcharging for electronic tagging contracts. Today, Serco issued a profit warning…
Would you feel comfortable paying someone to write the greeting cards you give to your loved ones, or toilet training your child, or pretending to be a new friend to your elderly father by taking him on…
As governments increasingly come under fiscal stress, many leap at the opportunity to cut costs by outsourcing services. The current flurry of activity around outsourcing, gaining much attention in the…
Reports of more offshoring of jobs from Australia to other countries are, seemingly, a daily occurrence. Such reports include, for example, the manufacturing of cars and their components and aspects of…
It’s the pharmaceutical industry equivalent of the butterfly effect: a drug manufacturing plant in Ohio shuts down production after regulators on two continents uncover contamination problems. Suddenly…