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2008 August:   Business

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Anchor:   Base Index
Other months:    July  September
Other areas:    Climate  computing  education  health  international  Internet  science  social  technology  Others
Topics:   Agriculture  banking  carbon  climate  competition  consultancy  consumerism  copyright  corruption  economics  environment  fraud  free trade  freight  globalism  management  manufacturing  marketing  media  money  newspapers  outsourcing  pay  policy  politics  privatism  publishing  recycling  social  television  trademarks  wealth

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Carbon

(see also in Climate: Mitigation and National)

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John Martin, It is possible to make profits from brown coal with no greenhouse emissions, The Age, 2008 Aug. 29 (the use of super critical pressure pulse combustion boilers can increase electricity generated per tonne of brown coal by 50%—worth $20.50 on NEMCO figures; less: the cost of pulse combustion fired thermoacoustic liquefaction of the greenhouse gases in the flue gas at $3.00 per tonne; ocean sequestration at 3300 metres depth and under silts at $10.00 per tonne)
Peter Ellyard, Technology+market=problem solved; or does it?, The Age, 2008 Aug. 28 (the market will find a way to take advantage of carbon emission trading)
Mathew Murphy, Tax break could hamper carbon plans, The Age, 2008 Aug. 27 (a potential tax oversight in the Federal Government's emissions trading green paper could discourage businesses from buying carbon-reducing equipment, according to a tax expert)
Chris Hammer, Earlier start for clean coal power, The Age, 2008 Aug. 26 (pioneering clean coal company ZeroGen is preparing to move forward the completion date for a commercial clean coal power station to as early as 2014)
Adam Morton, Plant's carbon bill 'too high', The Age, 2008 Aug. 26 (a legal analysis throws into doubt the economic viability of a planned coal-fired power station in Victoria, finding the proposed emissions trading scheme will offer it no compensation for an estimated annual carbon bill of $50 million)
Chris Hammer, Viable carbon capture unlikely by 2020, The Age, 2008 Aug. 23 (one of Australia's leading independent centres on the electricity market concludes clean coal technology will not be commercially deployed by 2020)
Adam Morton, Alliance attacks clean coal proposal, The Age, 2008 Aug. 23 (clean coal alliance attack Federal Government's proposed world-first laws to regulate "clean coal" projects)
Chris Hammer, Carbon bill to backfire, big business warns, The Age, 2008 Aug. 22 (big business has attacked the Federal Government's proposed emissions trading scheme, saying it will force companies to the wall or drive them offshore)
George Monbiot, Old King Coal is a brave old soul, but he is talking utter nonsense, Guardian, 2008 Aug. 12 (Arthur Scargill's nostalgia would punish the people he cares about; and as for his room-full-of-radiation challenge?; I accept)
Arthur Scargill, Coal isn't the climate enemy, Mr Monbiot. It's the solution, Guardian, 2008 Aug. 8 (we must draw on existing resources as part of an integrated energy policy, not flirt with nuclear, the most dangerous option)
Kevin McCann, Carbon scheme is broadest in world, The Age, 2008 Aug. 7 (Australia is embarking on one of the most significant economic and environmental reforms of our time)
George Monbiot, The stakes could not be higher. Everything hinges on stopping coal, Guardian, 2008 Aug. 5 (the climate camp must succeed; in the absence of political backbone, our only hope is an avalanche of public revulsion)
Tony Parkinson, How the smart guys are making a killing out of the carbon credits trade, The Age, 2008 Aug. 5 (a plethora of "green chip" professionals is roaming the world, circling the honeypot)
Ian Sample, '100 months' to stop overheating, Guardian, 2008 Aug. 1 (New Economics Foundation predicts 8 years of today's emissions rates will pass crucial greenhouse gas threshold)

Competition

(see also Marketing)

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Simon Caulkin, Now we see it: the free market isn't always right, Observer, 2008 Aug. 31 (it is tragically the case that after all the frantic activity of the past 11 years, public services are still as much in need of reform)
Pharmaceuticals: Convergence or conflict?, Economist, 2008 Aug. 30 (drug giants' recent attempts to buy big biotech firms have provoked a backlash)
Nicholas Beaumont, 'Fibre to the home' a must-have only government can provide, The Age, 2008 Aug. 15 (a public FTTH superhighway will solve a lot of competition issues)

Consumerism

(see also Social and in Social)

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Jonathan Glancey, The manual vanishing, Guardian, 2008 Aug. 23 (unfettered consumer culture is depriving us of a deep source of joy and fulfilment—making stuff)
Saving money: Where the shoe pinches, Economist, 2008 Aug. 23 (Brazilians scrimp on travel and Russians on milk; Americans still love films)

Copyright and Trademarks

(see also in Internet and Technology)

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Charles Arthur, Big boys take all the fun out of playing around online, Guardian, 2008 Aug. 28 (Hasbro/Mattel have come up with an 'official' version of Scrabulous that everyone really, really hates)
Andrew Clark, Barbie comes out on top in Bratz battle, Guardian, 2008 Aug. 27 (four-year dispute over dolls is closely watched intellectual property clash)
Gwyneth Rees, Computer games: Industry acts on illegal downloads, Guardian, 2008 Aug. 20 (those who illegally share files on the internet could be asked to pay £300 to avoid further legal action)
AP, Even free software has copyrights: judge, The Age, 2008 Aug. 15 (in a crucial win for the free software movement, a US federal appeals court has ruled that even software developers who give away the programming code for their works can sue for copyright infringement if someone misappropriates that material)
Economics focus: Commons sense, Economist, 2008 Aug. 2 (why it still pays to study medieval English landholding and Sahelian nomadism)
Rachel Williams, UK designer wins Star Wars court battle, Guardian, 2008 Aug. 1 (props man is 'delighted' with copyright ruling that allows him to sell replica costumes)

Economics and Policy

(see also Money)

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Ross Gittins, Big business can't take care of itself? It's a joke, right?, The Age, 2008 Aug. 25 (the Business Council's claim that its members won't survive emission permits is old and tiresome)
Larry Elliott, World markets fall sharply amid fears that credit crunch has further to run, Guardian, 2008 Aug. 20 (widening money market spreads signal more gloom; former International Monetary Fund chief warns that 'worst is yet to come')
Inflation: Back to the badlands, Economist, 2008 Aug. 16 (as long as prices surge the Bank of England cannot cut interest rates; that will not help a floundering government)
Economics focus: Commons sense, Economist, 2008 Aug. 2 (why it still pays to study medieval English landholding and Sahelian nomadism)
Tim Colebatch, Up or down? Next three months are crucial, The Age, 2008 Aug. 2 (on the usual definition, this has been the longest period of continuous growth the Australian economy has ever seen; but the next three months should tell us whether it is about to end)
Kathryn Hopkins, Revised and official: US economy shrank in Q4, Guardian, 2008 Aug. 1 (speculation that world's largest economy is already in recession after GDP falls 0.2%)

Environment

(see also in Health and Science)

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Jill Tunstall, Community action revives Welsh mountain farm, Guardian, 2008 Aug. 13 (when local residents heard Moelyci farm might be sold to developers they joined ranks to buy and run it; five years on, how is it faring?)
Josh Gordon, Garrett bans African savannah cat, The Age, 2008 Aug. 3 (giant savannah cats have been banned; Environment Minister Peter Garrett has decided they pose an extreme risk to native animals and the environment)
Peter Ker, Dredging fails first bay test, The Age, 2008 Aug. 1 (dredging in Port Phillip Bay has failed an official environmental standard for the first time, raising concerns about the health of rare underwater species and earning the wrath of Victoria's independent monitor)

Fraud and Corruption

(see also in Internet and Social)

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Patrick Collinson, How safe are my bank details?, Guardian, 2008 Aug. 27 (last year, criminals walked away with £535m from credit- and debit-card fraud—a leap of 25% from the year before)
Alex Brett, Corruption is rife, say bosses, Observer, 2008 Aug. 24 (two-thirds of company bosses have experienced some form of actual or attempted corruption, says a PricewaterhouseCoopers survey to be released this week)
Mirko Bagaric, Punters saddled with corruption, The Age, 2008 Aug. 21 (it might be time for mug punters, like mug investors, to accept the game is rigged)
BAE and the Saudi arms deal: Timid justice, Economist, 2008 Aug. 2 (a ruling by the law lords ratifies one law for bullies and another for the rest)

Globalism and Free Trade

(see also in International)

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John Pereira, India: not just a mystery tour, The Age, 2008 Aug. 28 (cries for free trade from the West sound to Indians like requests to dump produce)
Michael Backman, China doing plenty to aid environment, The Age, 2008 Aug. 27 (along with India and Indonesia, China has become an international centre for recycling)
Globalisation and health care: Operating profit, Economist, 2008 Aug. 16 (why put up with expensive, run-of-the-mill health care at home when you can be treated just as well abroad?)
The global economy: Rebalancing act, Economist, 2008 Aug. 16 (America's exports are now growing faster than China's, helping to reduce the strains in the world economy)
Heather Stewart, If the boffins can't tame the market, what hope is there for the rest of us?, Observer, 2008 Aug. 10 (perhaps Gordon Brown give some serious thought about the limitations of the free market)
Patrick Lane, The Business of Sport: Fun, games and money, Economist, 2008 Aug. 2 (sport has become a global business as well as a recreation for billions; but how to make it faster, higher, stronger?; introduction to a special report; other items:    How do you view?: Sport and the media are natural bedfellows ;   Sponsorship form: The value of sport to other kinds of business: the credit-card company Visa is one of the Olympics' 12 leading sponsors, which between them have paid $866m for a four-year association covering the Turin winter games in 2006 as well as the games in Beijing due to start next week;   Go Aigo: how one Chinese company is making a name for itself;   Local heroes: sporting labour markets are becoming global; but what about sports themselves?;   Cricket, lovely cricket: and lolly, lovely lolly;   Chunnis on the tree: sport and sponsorship are not always about fame and fortune;   For the joy of it: despite drug scandals and other problems, sport remains wildly popular)

Management

(see also in Computing)

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Simon Caulkin, Now we see it: the free market isn't always right, Observer, 2008 Aug. 31 (it is tragically the case that after all the frantic activity of the past 11 years, public services are still as much in need of reform)
Ruth Williams, Management material stretched, The Age, 2008 Aug. 27 (Australian managers are overworked to such an extent that their wellbeing, their social relationships and their productivity are suffering, a study produced by the Australian Institute of Management suggests)
Anna Tims, A tussle with Nationwide's so-called technical dept, Guardian, 2008 Aug. 15 (trying to negotiate your way through cyberspace can take more of a toll on health, wealth and sanity than a trip down to your local branch)
Simon Caulkin, Workplace skills are hard to find at head office, Observer, 2008 Aug. 10 (the consequence of living in an organisational economy is that management matters)

Manufacturing

(see also in Technology)

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Business in India: Nano wars, Economist, 2008 Aug. 30 (Tata threatens to make the world's cheapest car somewhere else)
Rise in US durable goods orders, BBC, 2008 Aug. 27 (new orders for long-lasting US manufactured goods rise by a surprise 1.4% in July, led by a big rise in civilian aircraft sales)
Tim Colebatch, Manufacturing jobs fall, The Age, 2008 Aug. 27 (Australian manufacturing shed 16,337 jobs in the two years to June last year, even before the wave of factory shutdowns really got into gear, the Bureau of Statistics reported)
Peter Martin and Ben Schneiders, Ford pressures Canberra for more assistance, The Age, 2008 Aug. 26 (pressure on the Federal Government to boost taxpayer support for the car industry has intensified, with Ford yesterday declaring it would need additional aid to remain competitive beyond 2010)
Randeep Ramesh, Violent protests threaten to delay Tata's plan for world's cheapest car, Guardian, 2008 Aug. 23 (company set to move production from West Bengal if resistance from displaced farmers continues)
Jonathan Glancey, The manual vanishing, Guardian, 2008 Aug. 23 (unfettered consumer culture is depriving us of a deep source of joy and fulfilment—making stuff)
AFP, The ideas factory, The Age, 2008 Aug. 18 (in a step toward the type of future pictured in the hit film Iron Man, a start-up is helping people fabricate items designed in 3D)
Car engines: The old motor roars back, Economist, 2008 Aug. 16 (the internal combustion engine is more than 100 years old, but it still has a future)
Tim Colebatch, Stunning policy switch in Taiwan plan to open manufacturing sector to China, The Age, 2008 Aug. 14 (Taiwan is planning the biggest step yet in its stunning policy reversal to draw closer to China—opening its manufacturing sector to Chinese investment)
The American car market: Detroit's race against time, Economist, 2008 Aug. 9 (will the Big Three's cash last long enough for them to fix themselves?)

Marketing

(see also Competition and in Internet)

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Denis Campbell, Eat more cheese and avoid tap water, food industry tells pupils, Observer, 2008 Aug. 31 ('ambiguous' educational material leads to calls to tighten guidelines over business links)
Simon Jenkins, Doctors lobby for junk food ad review, The Age, 2008 Aug. 30 (doctors have described as "unconscionable" a decision by the communications regulator not to impose tougher restrictions on junk food advertising that targets children)
Marlowe Hood, Think not, your intuition is better, The Age, 2008 Aug. 30 (attempts to manipulate consumers with subliminal messages, flashed onto movie or TV screens, once thrilled admen and panicked the public, but the furore faded when the technique failed to work)
Julian Lee and Vanda Carson, Woolies' new card will trail shoppers, The Age, 2008 Aug. 27 (an unprecedented mountain of data will be amassed by the nation's leading retail company with the launch of a sophisticated new credit card)
Leon Gettler, The changing face of advertising, The Age, 2008 Aug. 23 (inspired by 1950s radio, advertising is going back to the future in an online offensive)
PA, Brand bullying growing, warn teachers, Guardian, 2008 Aug. 11 (poll suggests young people who cannot afford fashionable items are excluded or isolated)
William Birnbauer, Is it the joint-limbering elixir of the ageing, or just another marketing con?, The Age, 2008 Aug. 3 (seen by ageing baby boomers as a miracle elixir for creaking or swollen joints, arthritic pain and general "wear and tear", bottles of glucosamine supplements have been marching off the shelves of the nation's health food stores, supermarkets and pharmacies)
The Business of Sport: Sponsorship form, Economist, 2008 Aug. 2 (the value of sport to other kinds of business; part of a special report)
The Business of Sport: Go Aigo, Economist, 2008 Aug. 2 (how one Chinese company is making a name for itself; part of a special report)
Leo Shanahan, Alternative remedies face review, The Age, 2008 Aug. 1 (the multibillion-dollar complementary medicines industry will face further scrutiny of its advertising claims under tougher regulations to be introduced by the Federal Government)

Media and Television

(see also Newspapers and in Technology)

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Rachel Browne, Ads' 30 seconds of fame under threat, The Age, 2008 Aug. 25 (the traditional 30-second television advertisement is under threat as viewers use new technology to skip ads and companies increasingly turn to product placement to spruik their brands)
Matthew Ricketson, How will Australian media look in five years?, The Age, 2008 Aug. 20 (where is the media going?; it seems a straightforward question, but getting a clear answer is deceptively difficult)
Graeme Philipson, Broadcast TV on the terminal list, The Age, 2008 Aug. 5 (the battle of internet viewing technologies that will replace television has begun—and all of them spell doom for telecasting as we now know it)
The Business of Sport: How do you view?, Economist, 2008 Aug. 2 (sport and the media are natural bedfellows; part of a special report)

Money and Banking

(see also Economics and Wealth)

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Emma Pearson, A foreign posting that opened our eyes to a new financial world, Observer, 2008 Aug. 31 (a life-changing move to the impoverished Congo)
The European Central Bank: Closing the dustbin lid, Economist, 2008 Aug. 30 (banks will soon find it a bit harder to game the euro-zone's liquidity support)
American banks: When sorrows come, Economist, 2008 Aug. 30 (commercial banks prepare, reluctantly, to take centre stage)
Private equity and banks: Loan rangers, Economist, 2008 Aug. 30 (will private equity ride to banks' rescue?)
Ian McIlwraith, Mr Bean warns of more havoc, The Age, 2008 Aug. 27 (if ever you doubted there was terror in global financial markets, Bank of England deputy governor Charlie Bean has fixed that)
Jamie Doward and Naomi Loomes, Town that gave itself a licence to print money, Observer, 2008 Aug. 17 (the East Sussex town of Lewes lives up to its radical history by issuing local currency to save its own heritage)
A film about debt: Another inconvenient truth, Economist, 2008 Aug. 16 (fiscal Armageddon, coming to a cinema near you)
William Cohan, Debt crisis beginning of the end for Wall Street's masters of the universe, The Age, 2008 Aug. 14 (amid the turmoil and confusion on Wall Street these days, a serious message is coming through loud and clear: investment banking is dying)
Peter Martin and Ian McIlwraith, RBA's warning to banks, The Age, 2008 Aug. 14 (the Reserve Bank has challenged Australia's banks to pass on in full the coming cut in official interest rates, saying that they are highly profitable and becoming more so, as their costs dive)
Peter Martin, Now the Reserve says it's worried, The Age, 2008 Aug. 12 (Australia's Reserve Bank has expressed deep concern about Australia's economic outlook, presenting forecasts that suggest it might have lifted interest rates too high)
Problems in the US housing market have pushed mortgage finance company Fannie Mae into the red, BBC, 2008 Aug. 8 (US mortgage finance company Fannie Mae plunges $2.3bn into the red as a result of housing market woes)
Ruth Williams, Annus horribilis, The Age, 2008 Aug. 2 (the US subprime crisis has gone from a small cloud on the financial horizon to a raging storm)

Outsourcing and Consulting

(see also Pay and in Computing and Social)

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Pay and Wealth

(see also Outsourcing and in Computing and Social)

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Mark Milner, Shortages push up pay, Guardian, 2008 Aug. 26 (slump in number of graduates has created a shortage of workers which is fuelling wage inflation)
Jesse Hogan, Telstra chief's pay surges to $13.4m, The Age, 2008 Aug. 14 (running a telecommunications company is good work if you can get it)
Polly Toynbee and David Walker, Meet the rich, Guardian, 2008 Aug. 4 (the widening gap between rich and poor doesn't seem to bother Britain's wealthiest earners; in an extract from their new book, Toynbee and Walker describe the arrogance of the fat cats they encountered)

Privatisation and Private Equity

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Private equity and banks: Loan rangers, Economist, 2008 Aug. 30 (will private equity ride to banks' rescue?)
Clay Lucas, Fire Connex, transport expert says, The Age, 2008 Aug. 20 (rail operator Connex should be sacked and management of Melbourne's suburban trains brought back into public hands, prominent transport academic says)
Nicholas Beaumont, 'Fibre to the home' a must-have only government can provide, The Age, 2008 Aug. 15 (a public FTTH superhighway will solve a lot of competition issues)
Private equity: You only list twice, Economist, 2008 Aug. 2 (KKR tries to float, again)

Publishing and Newspapers

(see also Media)

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Jesse Hogan and Matthew Ricketson, 550 newspaper jobs go as economy slows, The Age, 2008 Aug. 27 (Fairfax Media, owner of The Age, is to cut 550 jobs because of a pessimistic economic outlook, drawing criticism that it could undermine its journalism)
Michelle Grattan and David Rood, Packer's Age bid sunk by Turnbull, The Age, 2008 Aug. 25 (Malcolm Turnbull secretly handed over vital information that forced Kerry Packer to pull out of bid for Fairfax in 1991, ABC's Four Corners set to reveal)
Amrit Dhillon, India's new popular writing is a hip, chick thing, The Age, 2008 Aug. 23 (Penguin India has decided that if Indians won't venture into a bookshop, it will take books to them—on the pavement and at traffic junctions—to encourage young people to read)
Stephen Pritchard, The readers' editor on . . . why newspapers need an independent voice, Observer, 2008 Aug. 17 (narrow thinking is going on in newsrooms all over America as advertising revenues fall and circulations drop)
Matthew Ricketson, Online growth slows as paper readership rises, The Age, 2008 Aug. 15 (the rapid growth of online readership of newspapers around Australia has slowed and the circulation of most print editions has fallen in the April to June quarter)
Jack Schofield, Is the Kindle ebook reader becoming Amazon's iPod?, Guardian, 2008 Aug. 14 (replacing a printed newspaper could be the key to success for the bestselling electronic reader)
Mark I Pinsky, Paper cuts, Guardian, 2008 Aug. 11 (the talk in American newsrooms is all about redundancies; but how did the situation get so bad for US papers—and what hope is there for the future?)
Peter Preston, Freesheets are no easy route to big profits. Seems obvious now, Observer, 2008 Aug. 10 (some 320 free dailies have launched around the world, a quarter have closed down already)
Melissa Kent, Home-grown writers make presence felt on bestseller listings, The Age, 2008 Aug. 3 (despite the economic blues, we're buying more books)

Recycling

(see also in Climate)

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Jon Dee, Recycling must be included in the carbon reduction scheme, The Age, 2008 Aug. 29 (given the significant role that recycling plays in reducing our greenhouse emissions, one has to ask why recycling has not been included in the Federal Government's Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme)
Mel Poluck, Community project convincing builders to recycle waste, Guardian, 2008 Aug. 27 (construction waste makes up a much larger proportion of landfill than household rubbish; is it time the drive to recycle shifted its focus?)
Michael Backman, China doing plenty to aid environment, The Age, 2008 Aug. 27 (along with India and Indonesia, China has become an international centre for recycling)
Justin McCurry, How quest for zero waste community means sorting the rubbish 34 ways, Guardian, 2008 Aug. 5 (Japanese village's strict recycling regime looks to a future free of incinerators and landfill)

Social

(see also Consumerism)

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Technology, business and the law: The big data dump, Economist, 2008 Aug. 30 (a deluge of electronic information may overwhelm American civil justice)

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