The Northern Territory government has caved in to liquor lobby pressure and imperilled the health of First Nations People by approving a Dan Murphy’s Darwin mega-store for Woolworths and lifting the licence cap for Coles. The community will pay the price with their health, write Professor Lesley Russell and Dr Jeff McMullen. Will this be Woolworths’ Juukan Gorge moment?
Latest Economy & Markets Stories
Covid-19: sacrificing lives does not mean saving the economy
A study of 45 countries shows those who have contained the virus also tend to have less severe economic impacts than those which haven’t. Saving the economy does not mean sacrificing lives, writes Michael Smithson. Containing Covid versus saving the economy is a false dichotomy.
Are Thatcherism and Reaganomics your best answers, Josh?
Thatcherism and Reaganomics led to huge transfers of income and wealth from the poor to the rich. Increasing the tax rates on the highest earners would instead send a powerful message that we really are all in this together.
Democracy’s Watchdogs: Michael West Media turns four
We are privileged this week to be part of Democracy’s Watchdogs — Bill Birnbauer’s non-profit organisation — which “aims to honour the work of Australian investigative journalists and educate the public about the work of our watchdogs and how they have enhanced our democratic processes”. Michael West reports.
Lendlease puts 100-year-old WWII survivor through the retirement village wringer
Lendlease relied on a technicality to refuse to refund 100-year-old Egon Pedersen his $270,000 bond, making a mockery of its “pillars” of integrity, openness and trust. It quickly changed its tune when Michael West Media got involved. Dr Sarah Russell reports.
Purple House and MMT: new money creation is real, it is not a “leftist” conspiracy
They should call it MMP not MMT, Modern Monetary Practice, not Modern Monetary Theory. It is happening now. They are creating new money, and in a speech last week, Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank endorsed and explained it. Michael West reports on the debate over MMT and how it is being used to soften the impact of recession.
Trump helps rich to profiteer from the pandemic as US inequality balloons
The numbers are in — the Trump-Radical Republican response has been great for corporations and the one-percenters, not so good for Americans, writes DCReport editor-in-chief, David Cay Johnston.
The Virgin Brides: fate of airline on a knife-edge as bids lob and cash runs dry
The government has tossed $130 billion at business, the corporate largesse is dripping all over the big end of town. Even highly profitable $8 billion property developers such as Mirvac are rolling in the free money, yet when it comes to Virgin Australia they are being all punctilious about “letting the market sort it out”. Michael West reports on the future of Virgin.
The Virgin Brides: fee-fest time in the Virgin Australia showroom
The cuff-linked bottom-feeders are now preying over the carcass of Virgin Australia, 10,000 jobs are on the line, government is dithering and Qantas circles, the famishing spectre of a monopoly in its sights. This is not about bailing out Virgin, it’s about bailing out the banks.
For Whom the Tolls Bell: traversing Transurban’s $20 billion debt and tricky tax lurks
Toll road behemoth Transurban pays no tax and controls 18 toll roads. How sustainable is this suite of tolling monopolies? Michael West investigates. Tollroad monopoly Transurban got itself in a spot of bother last week for jacking up its tolls during the misery of...
ASX Heist: small shareholders ripped by bankers in rash of emergency capital raisings
Small investors on the ASX are being ripped off again by Wall Street investment banks, writes shareholder activist Stephen Mayne. This time, it’s a sneaky tweak to the rules governing how companies raise new capital, and right now, there are a lot of companies raising new capital, or dying to …
Trumped: pandemic to cost America $5 trillion … or more
Donald Trump’s biographer and Pulitzer Prize winner David Cay Johnston investigates the US stimulus plan and finds, unless a lot more is done, the country faces depression.
Debt, House Prices and the Virus: How prepared are Australians really?
Before the coronavirus, property market pundits were tipping their usual, regulation, 10% rise in house prices. They have been quiet in recent days. Callum Foote reports on the impact of the virus on an already weak economy, racking up the present crisis against the...
Too Big To Fail: Qantas, the corporate elite and the coronavirus
Alan Joyce is a canny operator. As the ravages of the coronavirus began to hit the airline hard, the Qantas boss announced he would take no salary for the rest of the year; no salary for the rest of the financial year that is. Who will the Government bail out?
Australia’s economic growth improves, but hold the champagne
Australia’s economic growth improves, but hold the champagne. Economic headwinds? Not really. Economy stronger than the OECD, Europe, Canada and the UK? Errr … no. Strong jobs growth? Sorry, no. Alan Austin runs his ruler over the latest quarterly accounts.
Record underemployment as Government braces for volatile week, slew of new data
Australia now has a record number of underemployed workers, and total hours worked per person per month are also at an all-time low. Alan Austin reports on the latest job data which augurs for what many believe will be a dreadful week for the Government as a slew of economic data is about to be released.
Regulatory Chill: tech giants lobby negotiators at secret Swiss talks to subvert national regulators
Global tech giants are lobbying Australian officials in secret talks in Geneva over a deal which could allow them to continue to operate without regulation, despite regulatory calls here to address Facebook and Google’s data abuse scandals and anti-competitive practices
Revealed: how the Murdoch men looted $1.4 billion in salary from public companies
News Corp’s Australian newspapers are quick to attack union leaders and local government bureaucrats for being overpaid, but somehow they’ve missed the biggest salary looting exercise by their own bosses in the history of public company capitalism.
Trump’s State of the Union Address falsifies facts on US economy
US economy
One Per Cent: how a few big companies shape the laws
Case studies of Woolworths, Coles, News Corp, Telstra and the Big Four banks show how a few large companies exert excessive influence over Parliament and increasingly scrape out the wealth from their supply chains, a phenomenon which is leading to further inequality
How Trump lost the trade wars in 16 cool charts
The verdict is in. The US started trade wars with several trading partners. It has lost them comprehensively. Alan Austin reports.
Exploding MYEFO Myths: no trickle down to households from export boom
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg’s MYEFO is mix of truth, trickery and outright falsehoods. Alan Austin reports.
Economic stagnation unlikely to improve under current Government policy vacuum
Wednesday’s release of the national accounts for the September quarter confirmed what we already knew — economic stagnation continues. Michael Keating steps into the policy vacuum with solutions.
Hardly Normal: appalling insults by Gerry mar Harvey Norman meeting amid activist revolt
“Are you are sexual predator?” asked Gerry Harvey of a dissident shareholder who was politely though persistently questioning him in front of a packed house at the Harvey Norman annual meeting. This was the crowning insult
Stephen Mayne on Gerry Harvey’s fans in the Murdoch media as fiery shareholder showdown looms
The culture wars have engulfed the stock market. As a fiery shareholder showdown looms at the Harvey Norman annual general meeting this week over poor governance at the retail juggernaut, Sky News host Peta Credlin lashed out at “hard left” proxy advisors and the “epidemic of politically correct box ticking”
MWI: Economic Recovery or The New Ordinary?
Australia’s economy looks like it has bottomed out, or perhaps this is the beginning of The New Ordinary. This is according to our MWI index which has this year shown predictive qualities.
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