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When it comes to climate change policy, the numbers matter. Philippe Put/Flickr

Economics enlightens the climate change debate

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…
Is Australia waiting for other countries to do all the hard work on renewables? Torresol Energy

A carbon price won’t bring zero emissions

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…
Liberal MP Bill Heffernan with Coles boss, Ian McLeod at the Senate inquiry into grocery prices on Tuesday. AAP

Milk wars: pointing the finger at Coles and Woolworths

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…
Plenty to talk about: reform to the tax system is desperately needed.

Five reforms to debate at tax summit

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…
Last week’s Google Books ruling was a win for copyright protection. AAP

Google Books decision shows we need to turn a new page

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…
Sleeper: we’ll retire later even with a boost to fertility rates. AAP

Why boosting immigration or fertility won’t fix our ageing population

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…
offshoregas. AAP

The resources tax: back to the future?

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…
The Australian media landscape is undergoing another wave of consolidation.

WAN horse town just the beginning for media mergers

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…
Many finance theories have been debunked, so why do we still teach them? LifeSupercharger/Flickr

Why finance education must change

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…
Offsetting air travel is as simple as ticking a box on a website. So why aren’t more of us doing it? AAP

Taking responsibility for your carbon footprint

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…
Polluting our atmosphere shouldn’t be free, for ethical reasons as well as economics. AAP

Ethics beats self-interest in carbon tax debate

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…
Attempts to privatise NSW’s power have caused major public concern. AAP

State of NSW: Weighing the cost of the privatisation of power

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…
Not too young to care about super. Sean Dreilinger/Flickr

If you think super is a yawn now, try being old and poor

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…
The arrival of Chi-X as a competitor for the ASX will also usher in a new vocabulary. AAP

Transparency, dark pools and the Australian market

In the last five years, European and US equity markets have been undergoing a rapid evolution as regulatory reforms and technological developments usher in new trading venues that challenge formerly monopolistic…
Powerful position: BHP chief executive Marius Kloppers unveils a record half yearly profit. Source: AAP.

BHP: From the Big Australian to ‘nominally Australian’?

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…
The demise of Borders’ parent, REDgroup Retail means bookshops will close. doortoriver/flickr

What really went wrong for Borders and Angus & Robertson

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…