Past Programs
Business, Economics and Finance - 2006
Scandinavia - still the model? Read Transcript
30/12/2006
Andrew Scott believes that the Australian Labor Party should remove its Anglo-Saxon blinkers and look to the Scandinavian model of social democracy for inspiration.
It's not the most fashionable advice to give at the moment.
Others claim that Scandinavian countries have high unemployment and stagnant economies, problems that countries with the less regulated economies, such as Australia, have avoided.
Future Fund: Part 2 (transcript available) Read Transcript
15/07/2006
The Future Fund is designed to bank the surpluses incurred during these boom times through which we're living and to set them off against public servants' superannuation liabilities, particularly the big bills incurred by the retiring baby-boomers.
David Murray, the ex-head of the Commonwealth Bank, is the man at the helm and we've been hearing him outline the parameters of his fascinating new position, as he sees them anyway.
Today, we're going to talk to him about a key part of his brief that's been hitting the headlines these past couple of months, namely the Telstra parcel of shares known as T3, and what the likelihood might be that the government might park these shares inside the Future Fund.
Indonesian military: commercial activities
24/06/2006
The Indonesian military has traditionally raised some of its budget through its own revenue raising activities—logging, private security work, trade concessions. Resource rich provinces like West Papua represent veritable cash cows for an underfunded military. President Yudhoyono, a former general, has intimate knowledge of all this and is well aware that an army that funds itself—even partly—undermines the authority of a civilian, democratically elected government.
Well can he change things? A 2004 Indonesian law requires the TNI to withdraw from economic activity and hand over military business holdings by 2009, but according to Human Rights Watch the progress has been painfully slow. They've just done an in depth study of the TNI's fundraising activities.
Frank Lowy
10/06/2006
Frank Lowy, the migrant who arrived here in the early 1950s via Hungary and Israel, has been absolutely crucial to the re-branding and repositioning of soccer in Australia.
Though he himself never played, right from his earliest days here he went along faithfully to a Maroubra sporting field every Saturday, to watch the then all-Jewish club Hakoah, wearing the new colours of Israel including the Star of David. Then he watched his children join in the game.
Even so, you do wonder what this hard-headed businessman, known to run Westfield with an acute attention to detail and an iron grip on suppliers and tenants, is doing throwing money at such an unpredictable thing as sport.
Beaconsfield mining disaster update
06/05/2006
The rescue operation is drawing to a close, but the town is still inundated with rescue workers and media. The AWU, through its head, Bill Shorten, has been playing a prominent role in gatekeeping communication between miners, management and media.
Scandinavia - still the model? Read Transcript
06/05/2006
Andrew Scott believes that the Australian Labor Party should remove its Anglo-Saxon blinkers and look to the Scandinavian model of social democracy for inspiration. It's not the most fashionable advice to give at the moment—others claim that Scandinavian countries have high unemployment and stagnant economies, problems that countries with the less regulated economies, such as Australia, have avoided.
Saints and sinners of the investment world
18/03/2006
Now, the idea that women are better investors than men, and that they are likely to take higher risks, is probably going to take the investment world by surprise.
Recent research by the BT Financial Group has found just that, and it's partly because women of a certain age feel they need to make money fast, due to divorce or lower superannuation savings, and also because they listen to their advisers – men tend to be overconfident and go their own way.
Racing wars
18/03/2006
A story about sport and business and who should control racing in Australia.
Free Trade update
04/03/2006
The Free Trade Agreement we struck with the United States was either the way forward for our future dealings with the Americans, or a dud that was skewed heavily in favour of Uncle Sam.
And in the two years since it was signed off on, it's a deal that continues to polarise opinion.
But whatever your view, one thing is clear - the negotiations required to sign off on that deal will be nothing when compared to what'll be required for any FTA with China to ever get off the ground.
There are a whole host of political, economic and developmental differences that Australia and China will have to work hard to overcome.
How long it might take is anyone's guess.
A few small steps were taken this week when almost 100 delegates from both sides met in Canberra for the third round of talks, in a dialogue that kicked off in May last year.
Trends in Marketing
11/02/2006
Even the most dedicated ABC consumer can't avoid advertising - lots of it, everywhere you look.
As we get better at tuning ads out, they get more clever at sneaking into our consciousness. And the uneasy relationship between the consumer and advertisers is getting even more edgy, as the industry looks for new ways to influence us.
This search is driven partly by a perception that the traditional marketing vehicles, TV programs and magazines, are no longer hitting the mark, and that new forms have to be developed.
China the Great
14/01/2006
China's growing economic power is affecting every other country - there are both opportunites and dangers there, says The Economist, in From T Shirts to T Bonds - China and the World Economy.
