Past Programs
Economics - 2006
Not Buying It
08/07/2006
If it's true that money makes the world go round then shopping, and buying stuff, must be the axis on which it spins.
For better or worse, consumerism and odd notions like consumer confidence now underpin the economic wellbeing of the developed world.
But of course only a fraction of what we buy could be classified as necessary items. Once you've got enough to eat and some clothes to wear, spending on necessities gives way to plain old 'shopping'; luxury goods or goods that an economist might call 'discretionary'.
So what is it that we get out of all this conspicous consumption, and what drives us to spend—is it fear, envy, desire—a combination perhaps?
Boutique funds
29/04/2006
Australians are said to invest more in managed funds than any other people. Funds under management have soared over the past five years, but a subset of the institutional managed funds that has been particularly popular are the boutique funds.
Is the Australian economy so awash with money, especially through our compulsory superannuation, that it has led to the creation of a market for these small funds?
With leading fund managers in big institutional managed funds leaving their companies in droves to set up their own 'boutique' businesses, how risky are they compared to reputable institutional managed funds?
So what are boutique funds? Who are the people behind them, and do they really perform?
East Asia regional update
01/04/2006
Eight years ago the Asian economic crisis wreaked financial and social havoc across much of East and South East Asia.
But the strong rates of economic growth the region is experiencing right now are not a precursor to a repeat of that cycle of boom and bust.
According to my next guest, there is now a level of financial and structural maturity driving the economic machinery of emerging nations such as Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and, of course, China.
And as we're about to hear, this extended period of economic sunshine appears to be having a dramatic impact on poverty reduction.
Indeed, the latest World Bank East Asia Update says throughout the region the number of people living on less than two US dollars a day has fallen by about 50 million people per year for the past five years.
Japanese recovery
18/03/2006
It's been a long time coming, but Japan might be finally emerging from its long economic hibernation.
Recent modest increases in CPI and economic growth figures, along with a renewed willingness of the part of consumers to spend, signal better times ahead.
For many years deflation and zero interest rates have been the hallmarks of an economy that was once the world's most robust.
But hard off the back of this tentative recovery, the Bank of Japan has announced it will cease its five-year policy of zero interest rates, while at the same time setting an inflation target of 0-2 per cent.
The concern amongst the experts is that the central bank is applying the brakes before the economy has time to build up a full head of steam, so in effect leaving open the risk of a slide back to the deflationary conditions of the past decade.
The Fortescue Saga
11/03/2006
In just a few short years Andrew 'Twiggy' Forrest has taken his company Fortescue Metals from obscurity, to the brink of being a major miner and exporter of iron ore.
But there are now a series of challenges that could seriously dent Fortescue's ambitions to mine alongside the likes of BHP and Rio Tinto.
First the financial regulator ASIC has announced it's to pursue civil action against Forrest for alleged 'misleading and deceptive conduct' in relation to the sale of shares in Fortescue in February last year.
Hard off the back of that Fortescue has announced it has abandoned plans to raise new capital for what will be a very expensive project to fully develop.
Add to all of that a longstanding fight with BHP over access to a railway line and Andrew Forrest is, not for the first time, up against it.
Five years ago his efforts to develop the Anaconda Nickel project in WA came to nothing, investors from here and abroad lost millions and Forrest was effectively dismissed from the company.
So how will the descendant of the state's first premier, indeed the son of one of WA's most famous families, fare this time around?
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.
Economic Update
18/02/2006
The long-term outlook for Australia's economic growth is more than a little pessimistic, and the next move for interest rates is up, not down – at least according to one of our top economists. That's the view of the Reserve Bank chief Ian Macfarlane.
Appearing before the House of Representatives Economics Committee in Canberra, the Reserve Bank governor appeared to be issuing a warning that the prosperity of the past decade will not be repeated over the next ten years.
Mr Macfarlane is in the final year of his tenure at our central bank.
John Edwards is Chief Economist for HSBC, and before that he was a senior adviser to former treasurer Paul Keating.
The Story of Gold
11/02/2006
In the space of a few short years the price of gold has almost doubled, making it a key element of the resources boom that the world economy is currently riding.
The favour it now enjoys won't last forever - it never does.
Its perceived importance waxes and wanes depending on a whole host of economic, political and even technological influences.
But behind that often fickle relationship is a story of a unique and precious metal.
Part commodity, part currency, part mythology, and arguably the most tangible and universal measure of wealth we have ever known.
Davos Report
04/02/2006
The World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, has wrapped up for another year.
The big-ticket items for discussion were the outlook for the global economy, and, not surprisingly, the role the US will play in determining whether recent positive trends can be sustained.
Discussions about 2006 also considered the influence of the booming new economies in the east – In particular those of China and India – and of course the record prices we're now paying for oil.
But even in the face of continuing high oil prices, the general sentiment appears to remain positive.
