You could almost feel sorry for newspaper owners. The internet is smashing their hard copy advertising revenue and they have yet to work out how to make money out of their online editions. It is just over…
- Professor of Economics, Monash University
Professors of philosophy at San Jose State University have refused to teach using a MOOC (i.e. a ‘massive open on-line course’) and have written an ‘open letter’ (via the subscriber only Chronicle of Higher…
When Woolworths is looking at parallel importation, you know that the Australian retail sector has a problem. Today’s Australian Financial Review states that: “Woolworths has been buying Australian-made…
What does a sustainable superannuation system look like? And do the reforms announced by the Treasurer make our system more or less sustainable? Let’s start with the first question. My assumption is that…
The debate on superannuation reached farcical levels with Labor MP Joel Fitzgibbon claiming that “In Sydney’s west you can be on a quarter of a million dollars family income a year and you’re still struggling…
Fairfax Media is introducing a “soft” paywall for The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald (SMH). Initially, the paywall will only affect readers outside Australia, but a domestic version will follow. Fairfax…
Is the 457 visa system open to rorting? I don’t know. There appear to be plenty of safeguards in place to ensure that business has to jump through lots of bureaucratic hoops in order to bring an overseas…
As Channel Ten hires its fifth CEO in two years, does free-to-air television have a future? If we take the new CEO’s comments at face value, the answer appears to be ‘yes’! Channel Ten’s new CEO, Hamish…
BrisConections has been placed into administration only seven months after opening the Brisbane Airport Link toll road/tunnel. It has not had sufficient users to make the project viable. So what does this…
The High Court has ruled that Google did not engage in misleading and deceptive conduct when it published a number of advertisements created by its AdWords program. Does this mean that the advertisements…
Queensland is poised to become a major export hub for liquefied natural gas (LNG). Given the West Australian experience, where LNG is already exported to Asia, this will cause domestic gas prices to rise…
Two recent cases highlight the problem of misleading advertising. In the United States, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has dismissed an appeal by POM Wonderful about health claims for their juice…
The battleground between business, taxpayers and government for 2013 is taking shape. It is manufacturing and jobs. On Wednesday, building materials company Boral announced at least 700 job cuts in Australia…
Wind energy is growing rapidly in Australia. South Australia leads the pack with wind power making up around 20% of its electricity generation capacity. But there is plenty of interest in other states…
Electricity network pricing has been a hot topic in the last six months. The key issues have been regulation and demand side management. On regulation, Prime Minister Julia Gillard is taking a package…
On November 2, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) issued an initial assessment knocking back a certified trademark application by the Australian Egg Corporation Limited (AECL). The…
Two of the world’s biggest English-language book publishers, Penguin and Random House, are forming a joint venture. Bertelsmann, the owner of Random House, will have 53% of the venture with Penguin’s owner…
MOOCs, or Massive Open Online Courses, are gaining a lot of attention. Some commentators believe that these free internet-delivered courses are the future of university education. Others meanwhile argue…
News Corporation is breaking up. The process will take about 12 months and is subject to shareholder approval. The de-merger will separate News Corporation’s publishing assets from its media and entertainment…
A week is a long time in the media. Yesterday Kim Williams, the CEO of News Limited, announced a series of reforms to his company. This follows the slash-and-burn announcements by Fairfax Media earlier…
Welcome to part two of our In Conversation between the former head of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, Graeme Samuel and Monash’s Professor Stephen King, also a former competition regulator…
What happens when two of Australia’s best known former competition regulators sit down together and talk about the world? A wide-ranging discussion on the state of Australia’s political debate, xenophobia…
If wishes were horses, then beggars would ride. And if wishes were new technology, then Victoria’s Latrobe Valley would be a mining export hub to rival the Pilbara. But wishes are neither horses nor new…
When a major retailer uses its countervailing power (or “market muscle”) to negotiate better terms from suppliers, should policy makers be concerned? In Australia, the debate has focused on dairy farmers…
Christmas is coming, which means consumers are out looking for great deals to fill stockings and feed the family. And for retailers and manufacturers, the temptation to add “spin” to their marketing is…
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