2009 August: Business

2009 August: Business

Anchor: Base Index
Other months: July September
Other areas: Climate computing education health international Internet science social technology Others

Topics: Advertising agriculture banking carbon cartels climate coal competition conservation consultancy consumerism copyright corruption credit cards economics environment fraud free trade freight globalism management manufacturing marketing media mining money newspapers outsourcing pay policy politics privatism property publishing recycling social television trademarks wealth

Carbon and Coal

(see also Mining and in Climate: Mitigation & National, and in Technology)

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Josh Gordon, Size trumps technology as big cars dent green gains, The Age, 2009 Aug. 30 (Australia's enduring love affair with big cars means engine technology alone will not be enough to deliver necessary cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, a government report has warned; the report, by the Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics, has added weight to demands for tough new measures to encourage the production of smaller, more efficient vehicles, including mandatory emissions standards)
Mathew Murphy, Carbon cuts may be too little and dangerously late, The Age, 2009 Aug. 26 (the Carbon Disclosure Project, which operates the largest database of corporate climate change information, says the world's top 100 companies, the Global 100, are on track to cut emissions by just 1.9 per cent a year; that is less than the 3.9 per cent annual reduction needed to reach an 80 per cent cut in emissions from developed countries by 2050)
AFP, Greener way to land planes, The Age, 2009 Aug. 12 (aviation group Scandinavian Airlines System has designed a new landing method for aircraft that could slash fuel consumption and emissions of carbon dioxide)
Paddy Manning, Coal shortage may expose our dirty exports, The Age, 2009 Aug. 8 (a study predicts global coal production to peak sooner than expected)
Peter Ker and Adam Morton, Clean-coal technologies may imperil water supply, The Age, 2009 Aug. 6 (controversial "clean coal" technologies could dramatically increase the amount of water used to produce electricity in Australia)
Tom Arup, Emission price caps could threaten power supply, The Age, 2009 Aug. 3 (Australia's chief scientific body, the CSIRO, says the design of Australia's emissions trading scheme could stifle investment in renewable technologies and threaten power supplies)

Competition and Cartels

(see also Marketing)

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Ari Sharp, Hardware takeover 'a threat to small stores', The Age, 2009 Aug. 26 (independent senator Nick Xenophon is calling on the competition watchdog to block Woolworths' takeover of a large hardware supplier, claiming it will be the “final nail in the coffin” for independent home improvement stores)
Peter Martin, Split banks, Senate told, The Age, 2009 Aug. 11 (as official figures confirmed that Australia's banks have all but displaced other mortgage providers, a leading competition expert has told the Senate the competition regulator should take court action to force Commonwealth Bank to sell BankWest, and Westpac to sell St George)

Consumerism and Credit Cards

(see also Social and in Social)

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Peter Martin, Spending soars as we wield the cards and cash, The Age, 2009 Aug. 21 (we are spending more than at any time since the December cash-splash, but spending more carefully; the latest credit-card statistics show we pulled out the plastic an mind-boggling 125 million times in June, roughly twice each week for each adult Australian)
Harry Wallop, Have a butcher's at the latest trend, The Age, 2009 Aug. 16 (butchery classes are enjoying record waiting lists in Britain, with foodies increasingly desperate to know whether they can cut out the supermarket by producing food themselves)
Carmel Egan, The young and the restless, The Age, 2009 Aug. 16 (a new book reveals the live-for-now generation may be short-changing itself in the stocktake of life)
Elizabeth Knight, Delivering goods that appeal to the cautious consumer, The Age, 2009 Aug. 12 (JB Hi-Fi is the kind of business that thrives in the present climate)
Daniella Miletic, Spending through dip in confidence, The Age, 2009 Aug. 10 (a new sense of optimism is beginning to help lift the national shopping spirit, despite uncertainty about jobs)
Steve Butcher, Leading stores caught in $500,000 credit scam, The Age, 2009 Aug. 6 (a string of leading Melbourne retail stores—including Melbourne's premier outlets Myer and David Jones—have been victims of a $500,000 scam whose syndicate ringleaders recruited overseas students)

Copyright and Trademarks

(see also in Internet and Technology)

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Glen Mulcaster, Apple fraud no way to treat Pink Lady, The Age, 2009 Aug. 31 (a 100-tonne shipment of Brazilian apples was rejected in transit when representatives of the Australian plant rights owner pressured a European importer to cancel the order destined for the northern summer markets)

Economics and Policy

(see also Money)

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Tim Colebatch, Confidence in economy premature, The Age, 2009 Aug. 26 (a sustained economic recovery is far from certain, for the world or Australia, three respected economists have warned)
Tim Colebatch, Cash splash feeds seeds of revival, The Age, 2009 Aug. 5 (its not just in Australia, it's happening all over; things are not turning out as bad as we thought)
Lindy Edwards, Greed no longer good in the fickle world of economic fashion, The Age, 2009 Aug. 3 (thinking ethically may be the shake-up that allows us all to prosper)

Environment and Conservation

(see also in Health and Science)

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Michael Hopkin and Marian Wilkinson, Public 'misled over oil spill size', The Age, 2009 Aug. 29 (the company behind the West Atlas oil spill has admitted it has no idea how much oil has leaked into the Timor Sea, or how much will be lost before the leak can be plugged; the admission came yesterday amid accusations the public had been misled over the true size of the spill, and that the slick now spans 180 kilometres)
Peter Ker, Dredging damage mocks Premier's praise, The Age, 2009 Aug. 26 (dredging has caused environmental damage beyond expectation at the entrance of Port Phillip, with scientists reporting a biological shift in marine life there)
Tom Arup and Peter Ker, Gas, oil projects 'hurting parks', The Age, 2009 Aug. 25 (gas and oil projects off north-west Australia are undermining a Government commitment to roll out marine conservation zones in the region, green groups warn; the concerns come as Environment Minister Peter Garrett said his ministerial powers did not allow him to consider Friday's oil leak from the West Atlas rig off the north-west coast in a decision on whether to approve the $50 billion Gorgon gas plant this week)
Peter Ker, Oil to leak for 8 weeks at WA rig, The Age, 2009 Aug. 24 (a massive oil spill off Australia's north-west coast will continue leaking for eight weeks under a salvage plan devised late yesterday; facing a multimillion-dollar clean-up bill as well as possible charges if found to have acted outside its environmental approvals, Thai company PPTEP yesterday vowed to bring a second rig from Singapore to stem the leak at its West Atlas rig, 250 kilometres off the Kimberley coast)
£2m to protect islands' machair, BBC, 2009 Aug. 21 (fertile coastal meadowlands in the Hebrides are to be given greater protection through a new funding package; traditional farming methods will be encouraged)
Indian land 'seriously degraded', BBC, 2009 Aug. 12 (at least 45% of Indian land is environmentally "degraded", air pollution is rising and flora and fauna is diminishing)
Darren Gray, Standing cockatoo on a bridge just far enough, The Age, 2009 Aug. 8 (a rope bridge over the Hume Freeway is bringing animals closer together)

Fraud and Corruption

(see also in Internet and Social)

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Richard Baker and Nick McKenzie, Guns, drugs and money, The Age, 2009 Aug. 22 (a Reserve Bank of Australia subsidiary engaged an arms dealer linked to the supply of weapons to Latin American drug gangs to help it win a bank-note printing deal in Paraguay; polymer banknote maker Securency engaged Paraguay company Perfecta SAMI as its agent in 2003; Securency is half-owned by the RBA)
Dan Oakes, New broadband board has mixed connections, The Age, 2009 Aug. 15 (one of the four board members of the Tasmanian arm of the new national broadband network company is a former Labor staffer and campaign worker; another board member is the chairman of a phone card company found by the Federal Court to have engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct)
Tom Reilly, Death threats at rogue rooming houses, The Age, 2009 Aug. 9 (crackdown on rogue rooming house operators has not resulted in a single penalty being imposed—despite breaches being uncovered and death threats to inspectors)
Melissa Fyfe, Labor mates' linked to lucrative winning tenders, The Age, 2009 Aug. 9 (Metro Trains Melbourne's successful bid for lucrative contract to run city's trains may have had a distinct political advantage, despite strict probity rules)
Paul Austin, David Rood and Royce Millar, Coalition wants anti-corruption body, The Age, 2009 Aug. 8 (lobbyists will be banned from receiving “success fees” and required to declare all dealings with cabinet ministers if the Coalition wins next year's state election)

Globalism and Free Trade

(see also in International)

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Ross Gittins, Why China is thriving despite the downturn, The Age, 2009 Aug. 15 (there's more to economic growth (and hence a need for imports) than just the production of exports, especially if you're a rapidly developing country with a population of 1.3 billion)

(see also in Computing)

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Vanda Carson, Crown jewels turn to paste, The Age, 2009 Aug. 28 (a $1.7 billion write-down on assets bought by Crown reveals the scale of the disaster of James Packer's forays into the US and British gambling markets)
Clay Lucas, Train radios run late and over budget, The Age, 2009 Aug. 20 (the train radio system is being replaced by a system that will improve train safety, efficiency and reliability; but the new system will now not begin operation until 2012, at least 18 months late, the report shows; and it will cost $152 million, not the $135 million promised last year)
Mark Hawthorne, CBA owns up: the computer did it, The Age, 2009 Aug. 6 (the systemic problem was that Commonwealth Bank used a computerised property "valuation assessment system" dubbed VAS to determine the value of properties against which loans were being made—as property values increased on the computer system, the amount that could be borrowed also increased)

Manufacturing and Mining

(see also Coal and in Science and Technology)

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Andrew Darby, Ford threat as supplier collapses, The Age, 2009 Aug. 26 (production at Ford's giant Broadmeadows plant is under threat after the collapse of a Tasmanian parts supplier that produces a unique bearing; Ford spokeswoman Sinead McAlary said if ACL Bearings went under it could seriously affect Ford's ability to make cars, but she would not speculate on the possibility of job losses)
Sue Nelson, Silicon Valley's secret recipe, BBC, 2009 Aug. 2 (high-purity quartz: this ultra-pure mineral is essential for building most of the world's silicon chips)

Marketing and Advertising

(see also Competition and in Internet)

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Ari Sharp, Expert slams teen drink ads, The Age, 2009 Aug. 24 (a leading health expert attacks alcohol industry-funded campaign warning against under-age drinking as an attempt by the industry to distract from more effective solutions)
Steve Butcher, Judge demands alcohol curbs, The Age, 2009 Aug. 22 (a judge has called on the Victorian Government and the liquor industry to do more to curb excessive drinking that “wreaks havoc” on Melbourne streets)
Julian Lee, Flick go the ad arrears, quick, quick, click, The Age, 2009 Aug. 13 (just because an ad isn't clicked on, does that mean it isn't worth anything?; judging by the latest figures on the two areas that seem to have had the greatest growth—search and performance-based advertising—the internet is all about clicks)
Harold Mitchell, One way or another, we'll all be paying, The Age, 2009 Aug. 13 (increasingly, everyone is getting the information they want, including the news, and not paying for it; but now the big publishers have started planning a worldwide program to get readers to pay for the information they have been giving away for the past 10 years; everyone, sellers and buyers alike, are going to the web, and quickly; the next big wave on the internet will be surfed by the retailers as they find clever ways to sell their products)
Paul McIntyre, 'Junk food' chains confident of self-regulation, The Age, 2009 Aug. 13 (the advertising, food and soft drinks industries are increasingly hopeful the threat of a harsh new regulatory regime on junk food and advertising to children has been thwarted as the Federal Government prepares to unveil a report from the Preventative Health Taskforce)
Jill Stark, How fast food took a leaf out of tobacco's book, The Age, 2009 Aug. 9 (as the Government reluctantly tackles the junk food industry, health experts say that just as low-tar cigarettes still cause cancer, a chocolate bar containing less fat is still fattening)

Media and Television

(see also Newspapers and in Technology)

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Miriam Steffens, ‘Click and pay’ key as internet dilutes ad dollars, The Age, 2009 Aug. 10 (media companies will increasingly have to rely on consumers' wallets to drive growth and offset the permanent loss of advertising dollars in the shift to the digital world, a study has found)
Paul McIntyre, Networks plan full onlining, The Age, 2009 Aug. 6 (the Seven Network and Channel Nine have at last approved plans for all their television shows to be streamed as full episodes on their respective online portals, Yahoo!7 and ninemsn)

Money and Banking

(see also Economics and Wealth)

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Nick McKenzie and Richard Baker, Funny money business, The Age, 2009 Aug. 22 (as revelations keep on coming about Securency's questionable global dealings with shady middlemen and corruption-prone countries, the Reserve Bank and Canberra remain conspicuously silent about how the bank could have exposed itself to such a high-risk operation)
Ed Pilkington, The sniff of dirty money, The Age, 2009 Aug. 19 (researchers from the American Chemical Society in Washington have discovered that the practice of consuming cocaine through rolled-up paper money is far more than a cinematic cliché; they found that in big cities in the US up to 90 per cent of the notes tested positive for traces of the drug)
Louise Greenwood, Africa's mobile banking revolution, BBC, 2009 Aug. 12 (millions of Africans are using mobile phones to pay bills, move cash and buy basic everyday items; so why has a form of banking that has proved a dead duck in the West been such a hit across the continent?)
Ross Buckley, Money doesn't make the world go round, The Age, 2009 Aug. 12 (we need a functional global financial system)
Peter Martin, Split banks, Senate told, The Age, 2009 Aug. 11 (as official figures confirmed that Australia's banks have all but displaced other mortgage providers, a leading competition expert has told the Senate the competition regulator should take court action to force Commonwealth Bank to sell BankWest, and Westpac to sell St George)
Paul Krugman, Big bucks go to wrong people, The Age, 2009 Aug. 6 (crashing the economy and fleecing the taxpayer are not Wall Street's only sins; even before the crisis and the bail-outs, many financial industry high-flyers made fortunes through activities that were worthless if not destructive from a social point of view; and they're still at it; consider two recent news stories)
British banks defend bonuses, The Age, 2009 Aug. 5 (top banks Barclays and HSBC have made a passionate defence of the City of London's bonus culture amid a growing public backlash about the return to a big pay bonanza barely a year after the Government bail-out; banks compared their high-flyers to footballers and movie stars to try to explain the bonuses)

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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Dan Harrison, Women still trail in pay stakes, The Age, 2009 Aug. 31 (a woman starting work today will retire having earned $1 million less than a man doing the same job, and with less than half the superannuation of her male counterparts; responding to that pay gap, unions are now pushing for companies to be forced to disclose what they pay their employees)
Christopher Webb, Fund manager's performance fee tops $5 million, The Age, 2009 Aug. 9 (details were in the annual accounts filed late on Friday by Platinum Capital, a listed international share fund presided over by the highly cerebral and massively rich Kerr Neilson)
British banks defend bonuses, The Age, 2009 Aug. 5 (top banks Barclays and HSBC have made a passionate defence of the City of London's bonus culture amid a growing public backlash about the return to a big pay bonanza barely a year after the Government bail-out; banks compared their high-flyers to footballers and movie stars to try to explain the bonuses)

Privatisation and Private Equity

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Clay Lucas, Train radios run late and over budget, The Age, 2009 Aug. 20 (the train radio system is being replaced by a system that will improve train safety, efficiency and reliability; but the new system will now not begin operation until 2012, at least 18 months late, the report shows; and it will cost $152 million, not the $135 million promised last year)

Publishing and Newspapers

(see also Media and in Others)

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Shaun Carney, The time for sampling is over at the great internet show, The Age, 2009 Aug. 26 (online news sites realise the free ride must end for their product to survive)
Daniella Miletic, Rumours of the death of paper maps exaggerated, The Age, 2009 Aug. 24 (the RACV has reported a surge in sales of printed maps this year, and demand for Melway directories is also strong; anecdotal evidence suggests the lift is partly due to more people choosing driving holidays because of the economic downturn)
Leon Gettler, Media revolution will change the world, The Age, 2009 Aug. 19 (charging for online content is a turning point in the narrative of the future of newspapers and high-end journalism, one of many experiments to find a business model that works in a revolution; expect the unexpected; no one yet knows how this will pan out; revolutions are like that)
Steve Foley, The battle of Sunday, The Age, 2009 Aug. 16 (in the lead-up to the 20th anniversary of The Sunday Age, Foley unravels the secret history of Melbourne's Sunday habit)
David Carr, Even for Murdoch, web U-turn mightn't click, The Age, 2009 Aug. 11 (consumers are unlikely to pay for news)
Tom Hyland, Stop the presses, The Age, 2009 Aug. 9 (the future of newspapers, and journalism, is under attack from the web; can online pay walls save them?)
Tom Hyland, Fairfax, News to charge for online, The Age, 2009 Aug. 9 (loyalty of readers accustomed to getting their news online free to be tested, as Australia's largest newspaper groups prepare to charge for websites)
Stephen Hutcheon, Not happy, Rupert: readers say they won't pay for online news, The Age, 2009 Aug. 7 (readers of the Rupert Murdoch-owned news.com.au website have panned his announcement that pay walls are to be erected around all News Corp-owned news websites)
Miriam Steffens, Murdoch hangs future on online fee, The Age, 2009 Aug. 6 (Rupert Murdoch has vowed to make consumers pay for news on its websites in the next 12 months, determined to cut News Corp's dependence on the shrinking advertising revenue that led to a $US3.4 billion full-year loss)

(see also in Climate and Health)

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Social and Property

(see also Consumerism)

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Paul Krugman, Big bucks go to wrong people, The Age, 2009 Aug. 6 (crashing the economy and fleecing the taxpayer are not Wall Street's only sins; even before the crisis and the bail-outs, many financial industry high-flyers made fortunes through activities that were worthless if not destructive from a social point of view; and they're still at it; consider two recent news stories)