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Archived news for October 2011 | Recent news
Union militancy just doesn't fly
Qantas is fighting for its life and had no option but to take strong action. The Qantas action to bring its disputes with unions to a head is...
A throwback to union militancy
The television scenes last week of union members marching through airport terminals were arresting. They wore vests, carried banners and were...
Why doubt free trade with China?
On Wednesday Tony Abbott told The Age that he would make a free trade agreement with China less of a priority than one with Japan - because China,...
'Occupy' must understand there is nothing fundamentally wrong with banking
It is all too easy to dismiss the Occupy Wall Street protests in the United States and elsewhere over the past month. After all it was almost...
Most important to avoid the perception of crony capitalism
While there is a tradition of former bureaucrats moving to business or even politics, Ken Henry provides an interesting challenge to Australian...
Taxing claims hot air
From July 1 next year, Australia is going to discover a carbon tax and trade barriers have the same disastrous economic impact. Trade...
Idealism turns us on, but reality bites
There's a particularly idiotic moment in the 2003 movie Love Actually when British Prime Minister Hugh Grant loses it. Grumpy at President Billy...
Democracy means doubt
Those business leaders bleating Tony Abbott's promise to repeal the carbon tax should remember one thing. That's the price of doing business in...
Why cling on to an outdated refugee convention?
The United Nations 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees is not fit for purpose. The 60-year-old convention was designed for an era we...
Carbon trading will fail because property rights cannot exist for gases
Economically sustainable markets are built on the back of secure property rights, but because secure property rights cannot exist for greenhouse...