Past Programs
Business, Economics and Finance - 2008
2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003
Parched: the politics of water Read Transcript
21/11/2008
Efficient shower heads are not enough to solve our water problems. As the world warms, weather patterns are changing, and rain falls in all the wrong places. We need to find new ways to save and share water or it could become a primary cause of global conflict. This public forum on the politics of water was recorded at Melbourne's Capital Theatre on Saturday 30th of August as part of the 2008 Melbourne Writers Festival.
Infrastructure impasse: rail access a socialist Trojan horse? Read Transcript
31/10/2008
Imagine this: you invest millions in a private rail line to get your goods to port, then along comes the government and tells you you have to share the track with rival companies. A few days ago, Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan declared that the mega-miners BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto must share their Pilbara rail lines with Fortescue Metals and other mining firms. This should allow new companies to open up deposits in the iron rich region. But does a victory for the market ideal of competition mark a defeat for an equally important capitalist principle - that private property is sacrosanct?
Solar - So Near And Yet So Far
16/05/2008
Just as three Australian states get a guaranteed high price for selling domestic solar power back to the grid, the Federal Government means tests the rebate for solar panel installation so that households earning more than $100 000 miss out. So is it a case of one step forwards two steps back for residential solar power?
Is Australian Democracy Ailing?
02/05/2008
Is there too much power concentrated in the hands of Australia's politicians? Do we need to expose them (and their policy decisions) to more scrutiny, and lose some of the 'she'll be right' attitude? Perhaps we'd be better off if we held business leaders in higher regard, and were less apathetic about public debate - in short, a little more like the United States. Would civil society then be in a stronger position to challenge government and public authorities, leading to more rigorous debate and as a result to better public policy?
Don't refund my drink: the case against container deposits
29/02/2008
National Interest listeners have spoken: South Australia's container deposit legislation should go national. But the idea has some recyclers rolling their eyes in despair. They argue that a 10-cent refund on your bottle may work as an anti-litter campaign in Adelaide, but it doesn't add much to broader recycling strategies. And why favour bottles and milk containers over, say, wine bottles? The recyclers also argue that those who think scouting groups and community organisations will start raking in the dosh if container refunds are introduced nationwide may not be the full-bottle. It's the revenge of the recyclers in the National Interest's ongoing battle for the suburban bottle.
Tricky short sellers Read Transcript
29/02/2008
Here's the plan: sell a truckload of shares that aren't yours, then buy them back once their price has plunged. Too bizarre to be true? Welcome to the world of share lending and short-selling, two of the trickiest manoeuvres in the ever expanding palette of subterfuge available to hedge funds. And guess what? You're an accomplice. Australian superannuation funds routinely hand over your shares to allow borrowers to have their wicked way with them - even when it pushes down the shares' value. Surely it's time for the Australian Securities Exchange to get physical with these guys... Or should we just let the market take care of itself?
Science, nurture and nature: the great forestry debate Read Transcript
22/02/2008
During the 2007 election campaign, federal Labor promised not to fiddle with forests. But do current policies balance economy and ecology? A special edition of the National Interest taps into the international conference 'Old Forests, New Management', underway in Hobart, which brings together scientists, logging companies and environmentalists. It's an attempt to fight the hype and tease out the science that underpins one of the most acrimonious political debates around. Our panel of researchers and industry representatives will shed light rather than heat on trees and timber, pulp and protection, wilderness and woodchips. However, there will be no escape from the probing questions of a live audience in Hobart's historic Bond Store. It's the forestry briefing we had to have.
Download the complete panel discussion and Q&A session recorded at the Bond Store, Hobart, on Sunday 17 February 2008.
Download mp3 [81 min - 38.2MB]
Future manufacturing: Mitsubishi bids farewell Read Transcript
08/02/2008
Millions of dollars in government subsidies weren't enough to save Mitsubishi's Adelaide car plant. But what exactly went wrong? It's not that the locally made model, the 380, wasn't good - it just didn't sell. And with a muscular Aussie dollar taking no prisoners, competition from imported vehicles is tougher than ever. So what does the fate of Mitsubishi tell us about manufacturing in Australia more generally? And what role can (or should) governments play in attempting to keep the country's manufacturing up and running? With tariffs now consigned to history and subsidies increasingly on the nose, the new government is under pressure to come up with an industry policy with cred. The National Interest will put a number of scenarios under the microscope of a panel of experts.
