book review The Great Deformation You may have never heard of David Stockman, who made his a career as a U.S. government budget-maker turned high-powered private equity financier. But you may be interested in his book, which attempts to unravel the 2008-09 global financial meltdown. I started reading it during the examination period and
austrian school Reading Hayek: liberty, capitalism and Austrian economics Friedrich von Hayek (1899 – 1992) was a Nobel-prize winning economist and one of the most influential thinkers in politics and economics of the 20th century. He is famous for his work on what is commonly referred to as supply side or Austrian Economics: an alternative to ‘mainstream’ Keynesian business cycle
commodities The end of good times? The mining boom re-examined This article is one of two Q&A specials informing the reader on a topic of economic importance to Australia that was discussed by the panel on the night. In the past few years Australia has experienced one of the longest and largest increases in the value of the mining
agriculture Will your children have enough to eat? I recently read an article featured in our Editors’ Picks about the greatest food in the world (the ‘humble’ McDouble for anyone that missed it), chosen as such mainly because of its affordability and energy content. This got me thinking: will we have enough food to go around in the
economic theory The Rational Fare Evader Fare evading, i.e. not paying for the use of public transport, is a fairly significant issue for public transport providers. The Victorian Transport Authority has been tracking the estimated number of commuters who regularly fare evade and as you can see there is a sizeable portion who do this
commonwealth A beginner's guide to the Federal Budget When asked what the biggest organisations in the world are, you might think of large corporations such as ExxonMobil, Microsoft, Toyota and the like. But the truth is, only the largest of companies can even come remotely close to matching the size of national governments in terms of the size
australia Chinese GDP and growth: What's in a number? Recently China’s president Xi Jinping was quoted in saying that China’s GDP growth will be subdued in the foreseeable future, relative to the rapid growth in the past decade. China’s official newspaper Xinhua has put the internal target at 7.5% p.a. for 2013 from a
BitCoin The BitCoin: 'In no one we trust' Last year I wrote a few articles discussing the origins of money and how its development arose from the need to have some sort of commonly accepted medium for storing and exchanging value, led by governments who could enforce and guarantee the value of currency. More generally, this is the
canberra press gallery ESSA Q&A: Panellist Biographies This semester ESSA’s flagship event is a Q&A, where we have invited six illustrious panellists to share their viewpoints and discuss two issues that confront Australia on a nationwide scale: Immigration and the two-speed economy. With the event just around the corner, you might like to know a
currency The Euro Crisis (Continued): Time to make a choice? It is now July 2012, almost three years since the chain of events that set in motion what is now called the Euro Crisis and surprisingly enough, the world is still waist deep in the middle of it. In my previous article I attempted to diagnose what was causing the
economics Slacking Off Ever feel like putting things off and not doing them until the last minute? Feel like doing things in advance requires too much effort and that getting things done just before it’s due gives you that distinct sense of satisfaction? It’s probably common knowledge that you’re not
debt A Brief Non-Printing Press, History of Money, Taxes and Debt When we’re out to buy something, chances are we’ll need to pay for it and that the payment will be done in one of the forms of money. In fact it’s probably quite difficult to get by in the economy without money, as ‘legal tender’ in any
bubble The Billion Dollar Start Up Chances are if you’re on the internet you’ve probably heard of Facebook. With 840 million active users, the Big Daddy of Social media has a user base that rivals a large portion of the rest of the world combined. At the head of this organisation that just 8
Bonds Negative Interest rates: They don't exist...Or do they? Examining the strange case of the Swiss It’s commonly assumed that interest rates of any sort of debt has to be positive, because it just doesn’t make sense otherwise: why would you pay someone to hold on to your money for you when you can do the same by putting it in the bank and
dues Paying your Dues Ben Franklin, one of the fathers of the United States said that death and taxes are the only constants in life. Indeed, beyond printing money taxes are one of the cornerstones that keep the world as we know it turning round by providing governments with a source of revenue, so
crisis The Euro Crisis: Why Greece is broke but Germany won't do anything about it Anyone reading the news lately would’ve surely caught on that something is amiss in Europe: The so called ‘PIGS’ (Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain), and especially the Greeks have been on the edge of default for months, causing rumours that the Euro may be headed to the scrap heap.
