Over the past few months, South Africa’s government has cancelled foreign investment treaties with Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg, Switzerland, Spain and the Netherlands. The reasoning behind this tells…
It’s encouraging to see the UK government is finally taking China seriously as a business partner, with David Cameron this week following the parade of ministers who have made the trek to Beijing. There…
When Federal Treasurer Joe Hockey quashed the acquisition of GrainCorp by Archer Daniels Midland on national interest grounds, his stated reasons were based on competition. Despite it being five years…
Federal Treasurer Joe Hockey has rejected the proposed takeover of GrainCorp by US grain handling giant Archer Daniels Midland, arguing the takeover would not be in the public interest. Mr Hockey said…
The Coalition government is split over the controversial bid for GrainCorp by American commodities trading giant Archer Daniels Midland (ADM). Treasurer Joe Hockey has found himself torn between upholding…
Why do we clamour to keep foreign-owned car makers here, paying them billions of dollars to stay, while being wary of foreign investment in farms? Around 0.1% of foreign investment last year was in agriculture…
John Van Reenen, London School of Economics and Political Science
The proportion of UK-quoted shares owned by overseas investors passed the 50% mark for the first time last week. Predictably there was much wringing of hands about the decline of British business and short-termism…
Tony Abbott wants to be known as the infrastructure prime minister. He could be remembered for building roads and scrapping high-speed rail. But the role of Chinese finance and technical expertise in infrastructure…
Much has been made of the ‘unusual’ nature of the minority Labor government over the past three years and there has been a sense that Australia is better off without it; that we need a return to the stability…
“We often get criticised for trying to be protective. I actually look around the world and I see many, many countries being equally protective of their own core assets.” - Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, third…
Large parts of Australian agriculture are economically and financially unsustainable. Returns are inadequate and unbalanced; assets are depleted; risks are needlessly high. To date, governments have largely…
Kevin Davis, Australian Centre for Financial Studies
There is currently considerable interest in the practice of “dividend washing”. This refers to the practice of investors being able to trade shares cum-dividend for a period after the ex-dividend date…
The IMF has conceded that mistakes were made in the way the first Greek bailout in May 2010 was handled. Its report suggests the need to refine the fund’s lending policies to accommodate for conditions…
Until the recent bid from a Chinese-Japanese consortium Shandong RuYi for megafarm Cubbie Station, it appeared the property would limp along under locally-based administration. But then the opportunity…
Controversy surrounding the recent sale of Cubbie Station in Queensland near the New South Wales border to (mainly) Chinese interests is not unexpected. Fears about foreign ownership in Australia are long-standing…
Foreign investment, like any other policy, is a complex juggling act. A balance between welcoming foreign investment – without which Australia cannot survive – and protecting Australian interests in not…
In previous articles on The Conversation, I have noted that our economic relationship with China stands on only one leg. In contrast to two-way trade – merchandise trade topped $120 billlion in the year…
Opposition leader Tony Abbott made headlines recently when during a visit to China, he declared that “it would rarely be in Australia’s national interest to allow a foreign government or its agencies to…
One question that arises on the topic of real estate is the scale of foreign investment and ownership in Australia. It is understandable that the public has concerns about such investment, especially as…