The US has wasted its “sub-prime” mortgage crisis. The story of how and why this has happened is of interest not only for its own sake, but for the broader themes it reveals. I am a theoretically trained…
“It takes me about two hours to assemble a team of financial geeks and lawyers to devise a product or a transaction that would bypass any regulation coming our way,” a senior French banker said to me in…
Education minister Christopher Pyne has vowed to cut red tape in the higher education sector.
Shutterstock
As Rousseau nearly said, universities are born free but are everywhere in chains. Education Minister Christopher Pyne promised earlier this week to be the great liberator, signalling that the Abbott government…
The governent must reduce duplication across the various Acts governing regulation of the university sector, the report said.
Theen Moy
The higher education sector’s main regulatory body should have its functions reduced, according to a new government report that has called for a reduction in red tape for universities. The Tertiary Education…
In 2001 I met David Graham, an official from the US Food and Drug Administration, in a car park in Washington. I wanted him to shed light on why the diabetes drug troglitazone, or Rezulin, had been available…
The case raises important issues about the consistency of regulations that apply across the food-medicine interface.
Chuck Grimmett
Ken Harvey, La Trobe University and Melanie Voevodin, Monash University
It seems there’s no end to the production line of so-called “therapeutic” products promoted to trusting consumers by companies willing to make untested claims. The latest is Souvenaid®, a product promoted…
The rollout of the NBN provides small businesses with an opportunity to actively embrace e-commerce.
AAP
Last Wednesday, Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced the start of what is set to be Australia’s longest election campaign. Set for the 14th of September, it will last approximately eight months. One…
The US Securities and Exchange Commission was right to step in to regulate short-selling during the 2008 financial crisis…
A Diamond in the rough: Former Barclays chief executive Bob Diamond bore the brunt of public anger over the LIBOR scandal. But attention should be paid to behaviour of regulatory authorities.
AAP
As the Deputy Governor of the Bank of England, Paul Tucker, prepares to give evidence to the Treasury Select Committee, he will be mindful of the insult thrown at Bob Diamond, the recently crestfallen…
ASIC has grabbed the international corporate regulatory spotlight - so why aren’t we celebrating?
Flckr/Dan Brady
The election of Australia’s top corporate regulator Greg Medcraft to the chairmanship of the International Organisation of Securities Commissions has received nowhere near the prominence it deserves. Aside…
If one of Australia’s big four banks were to fail, it would be disastrous for the economy and the financial system.
AAP
Kevin Davis, Australian Centre for Financial Studies
The focus of the statement by the Australia-New Zealand Shadow Financial Regulatory Committee asks whether the systemic importance of the big four Australasian banks warrants special regulatory treatment…
The proposed Volcker Rule, which will ban proprietary trading by commercial banks, has raised the ire of Wall Street.
Bête à Bon-Dieu
The agenda of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Annual Summer School in Sydney was dominated by discussions on how to reduce systemic risk. The noted increase in the regulatory perimeter…
ACMA has handballed responsibility for regulating junk food advertising to kids to a preventive health agency.
Eekadman
There’s no evidence that industry self-regulation works to restrict junk food advertising to children. That’s the unsurprising finding of the Australian Communications and Media Authority’s (ACMA) long-awaited…
Some complementary medicines fill a medical need while others are of no value whatsoever.
nicholaslaughlin
Some complementary medicines are useful while others are just plain quackery so any attempt to regulate the industry requires an understanding of this heterogeneity. What’s more, the regulator of the industry…
Johnson and Johnson’s faulty Du Puy hip implants leeched metal into the tissue of some recipients.
Okadots
With joint replacement surgery becoming increasingly common, the flap over a large recall of De Puy hip implants has thousands of Australians worried about the quality and longevity their own hip replacements…
Vitamins, minerals and herbal therapies should live up to the claims on their packaging.
Peter Sunna
Two out of three Australians use complementary medicines to boost their nutrition, alleviate various symptoms and improve their overall health and well-being. There are around 10,000 products to choose…
Media ownership is much more concentrated in Australia than in the UK, where it is under scrutiny.
AAP/Dean Lewins
A profound shift is underway in the global news media industries. As the extensive police investigation and judicial inquiry into the News of the World phone hacking scandal continue in the UK, News Corporation…
There should be more regulation of third parties to help preserve Australian democracy. AAP/Alan Porritt.
MEDIA & DEMOCRACY: In the latest instalment of The Conversation’s week-long series on how the media influences the way our representatives develop policy, Marian Sawer examines the need to regulate…
Too much regulation of third parties like GetUp! will hurt democracy.
Paul Miller AAP
MEDIA & DEMOCRACY: In the latest instalment of The Conversation’s week-long series on how the media influences the way our representatives develop policy, Andrew Norton says there’s no need to regulate…
There aren’t any miracle cures but there are a number of treatments that can reduce its severity.
Flickr/Algo
Switch on daytime television on any given day and you’d be forgiven for thinking there was a cure for the debilitating and dreaded condition, osteoarthritis. Unfortunately, there’s not. And that’s not…
Distinguished Professor of Practice, Trachtenberg School of Public Policy & Public Administration, and Director of the Regulatory Studies Center, George Washington University