2009 February: Business

2009 February: Business

Anchor: Base Index
Other months: January March
Other areas: Climate computing education health international Internet science social technology Others
Topics: Agriculture banking carbon cartels climate competition conservation consultancy consumerism copyright corruption 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

(see also in Climate: Mitigation and National)

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Tom Arup, Wong 'undeterred' on emissions trading scheme, The Age, 2009 Feb. 20 (the Federal Government has sought to lock in the design and timeline of its emissions trading scheme despite increasing calls from green and industry groups to dump or alter the poli)
Tom Arup and Adam Morton, Price plunge hits carbon trade plan, The Age, 2009 Feb. 18 (collapse in international price of carbon threatens Federal Government's ability to pay for compensation packages in emissions trading scheme without drawing on budget)
Greenhouse gases: Accounting from above, Economist, 2009 Feb. 14 (two new satellites will monitor carbon-dioxide emissions)
Tom Arup and Adam Morton, Review for emissions plan, The Age, 2009 Feb. 12 (Treasurer Wayne Swan orders another review of Federal Government's emissions trading scheme, prompting Opposition to accuse it of abandoning climate change policy)
Roger Harrabin, UK's CO2 plan 'certain to fail', BBC, 2009 Feb. 11 (the UK's plans to cut emissions by 80% by 2050 are almost certain to fail, according to a US scientist)

Competition and Cartels

(see also Marketing)

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Chris Berg, Bring on the acid bath, The Age, 2009 Feb. 15 (protectionism will only hamper the growth of a rich Australian literary tradition)
Japan's brokerages: Anything but cordial, Economist, 2009 Feb. 14 (more competition is emerging for Japan's downtrodden brokers)

Consumerism

(see also Social and in Social)

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Matt Wade, Slum economy offers hope in Delhi, The Age, 2009 Feb. 14 (domestic consumption is keeping the world money crisis at bay in India)
The rise of haggling: Cash-strapped consumers are haggling their way to big savings, Economist, 2009 Feb. 7 (the hotel business is reeling as firms and families cut their travel budgets; but it is not the only industry that has become more willing to grant discounts to confident hagglers)

Copyright and Trademarks

(see also in Internet and Technology)

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Chris Berg, Bring on the acid bath, The Age, 2009 Feb. 15 (protectionism will only hamper the growth of a rich Australian literary tradition)
Tax Gap: GlaxoSmithKline, Guardian, 2009 Feb. 3 (the title to more than 40 GlaxoSmithKline trademarks went to a factory in Puerto Rico)
Tax Gap: AstraZeneca, Guardian, 2009 Feb. 3 (the rights to the top-selling AstraZeneca drugs placed in a tax haven in Puerto Rico include those for Zomig)
Tax Gap: Shell, Guardian, 2009 Feb. 3 (ownership of the iconic scallop sign has migrated to a Swiss tax haven)
John Naughton, Digital rights management isn't music to everyone's ears, Observer, 2009 Feb. 1 (rule number one in ideological warfare is to capture the terms in which the debate is conducted)

Economics and Policy

(see also Money)

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Economics focus: Domino theory, Economist, 2009 Feb. 28 (where could emerging-market contagion spread next?)
Ross Gittins, I want to help, Joe, so here are a few tips, The Age, 2009 Feb. 21 (if new shadow treasurer Joe Hockey is to avoid the gaffes made by his predecessor Julie Bishop, he faces a steep learning curve; so let me help—here's your first tutorial, Joe)
America's economy: The second derivative may be turning positive, Economist, 2009 Feb. 21 (when the going gets tough, the tough get their maths books out)
Remittances: Trickle-down economics, Economist, 2009 Feb. 21 (migrants are less fickle sources of cash than foreign creditors)
Economics focus: The case for transparency in financial markets is not clear-cut, Economist, 2009 Feb. 21 (transparency is amorphous; it can, frustratingly, be anything but transparent and, implemented wrongly, may harm the very interests it is supposed to serve)
Michael West, Nation's hand always out for foreign funds, The Age, 2009 Feb. 20 (Australia's ever-growing current account deficit is the great unspoken fear)
Irving Fisher: Out of Keynes's shadow, Economist, 2009 Feb. 14 (today's crisis has given new relevance to the ideas of another great economist of the Depression era)
Economics focus: Pharaoh capitalism, Economist, 2009 Feb. 14 (the costs and benefits of “pyramid” business groups)
Tim Colebatch, Going for broke?, The Age, 2009 Feb. 7 (to avoid further meltdown, key economists are prescribing big spending; but we risk coming out the other side with debilitating national debt)

Environment and Conservation

(see also in Health and Science)

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Environmental politics: As the planet heats up, so do disputes between environmentalists, Economist, 2009 Feb. 14 (a growing fear that the environment is on the brink of collapse is making many greens less willing to compromise, even with each other; and George Bush's departure from the White House has removed a common adversary)
David Shukman, Galapagos damage 'must be curbed', BBC, 2009 Feb. 11 (famed for their unique biological treasures, the Galapagos Islands face irreversible damage unless the growth in tourism is curbed, according to conservationists)
Richard Black, EU gives shark protection teeth, BBC, 2009 Feb. 5 (the European Commission unveils proposals to conserve sharks, many of which are threatened with extinction)
John Feeney, Population: The elephant in the room, BBC, 2009 Feb. 2 (environmentalists must accept that uncontrolled population growth threatens to undermine efforts to save the planet)

Fraud and Corruption

(see also in Internet and Social)

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The Stanford affair: An $8 billion scandal goes a long way , Economist, 2009 Feb. 28 (the allegation of an $8 billion fraud against Sir Allen Stanford is causing financial worries across the region, not least in Antigua, home to his main bank)
Lynnley Browning, Swiss bank spilling the beans, The Age, 2009 Feb. 20 (UBS, Switzerland's largest bank, has agreed to divulge the names of well-heeled Americans whom the authorities suspect of using overseas accounts at the bank to evade tax)
John Garnaut, Packer's Macau casinos in bribes scandal, The Age, 2009 Feb. 20 (two casinos partly controlled by billionaire James Packer's Crown Ltd have been linked to a major bribery and money-laundering case in Macau)
James Glanz, Senior US officers face Iraq graft probe, The Age, 2009 Feb. 17 (US authorities examining the early, chaotic days of the $125 billion effort to rebuild Iraq have significantly broadened their inquiry to include senior US military officers who oversaw the program)
Jenny Culshaw, At-home work scams 'on the rise', BBC, 2009 Feb. 7 (scammers targeting people who want to work from home are using the downturn to cash in, the Office of Fair Trading says)
William Brittain-Catlin, How offshore capitalism ate our economies—and itself, Guardian, 2009 Feb. 5 (convoluted networks of tax havens became a model for the abstract financial wizardry that led to the current crisis)
Lawrence Donegan, Fair play?, Guardian, 2009 Feb. 4 (forget drug-taking—the biggest threat to modern sport is match-fixing; from snooker to football, the allegations keep coming; can we really believe what we're watching any more?)
Vincent Cable, This crisis must spur us to take on the tax avoiders, Guardian, 2009 Feb. 3 (the shocking scale of systematic corporate tax avoidance strikes a particularly ugly note in these straitened times)

Globalism and Free Trade

(see also in International)

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Malcolm Fraser, The global economy needs a makeover, The Age, 2009 Feb. 28 (boom countries such as China must have a greater role in our financial systems)
Walid El-Gabry, End of free market, The Age, 2009 Feb. 24 (George Soros said the economic upheaval had its roots in the financial deregulation of the 1980s and signalled the end of the free-market model that had since dominated capitalist countries)
Turning their backs on the world: The integration of the world economy is in retreat on almost every front, Economist, 2009 Feb. 21 (nobody ever said globalisation had ended economic ups and downs, but this feels different: prima facie evidence of big problems at least, and possibly of the failure of globalisation to deliver many of its advertised benefits, especially to the poor)
Michael West, Nation's hand always out for foreign funds, The Age, 2009 Feb. 20 (Australia's ever-growing current account deficit is the great unspoken fear)
Peter Martin, Japan plunges into depression, The Age, 2009 Feb. 17 (Australia's biggest and most reliable customer, Japan, has plunged into depression, with federal Treasurer Wayne Swan now warning of the worst global downturn "in our lifetimes")
Guy Rundle, Winds of change, The Age, 2009 Feb. 15 (yes, the global financial crisis is about money, but it's also about a deep cultural shift in the relationship between East and West)
G7 pledges to avoid protectionism, BBC, 2009 Feb. 14 (leading industrial countries promise to avoid protectionism as they describe stabilising the world economy as the "highest priority")
Globalisation under strain: A great financial retrenchment is under way, Economist, 2009 Feb. 7 (the product of both market forces and political pressure on banks to lend at home rather than abroad; in other industries globalisation looks harder to unpick)
Carmakers: Too many moving parts, Economist, 2009 Feb. 7 (politicians are desperate to support domestic car industries—but these days there's no such thing)
Larry Elliott, Is free trade the best way to beat recession?, Guardian, 2009 Feb. 4 (backlash against globalisation has prompted fears that the world stands on the brink of a new protectionist era)
Polly Toynbee, These strikes are the upshot of a decade of blunt mantra, Guardian, 2009 Feb. 3 (Brown's tin-eared faith in unchecked globalisation has propelled inequality; and workers are right to fear that worse is to come)

(see also in Computing)

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Lessons from the telecoms bubble (2): Adulation, Economist, 2009 Feb. 28 (tips on taking charge of a basket case in a broken industry, from KPN's boss)
Corporate planning: Managing in the fog, Economist, 2009 Feb. 28 (the struggle to make meaningful forecasts in a downturn)
Prediction markets: An uncertain future, Economist, 2009 Feb. 28 (a novel way of generating forecasts has yet to take off)
Starbucks: The ailing giant turns to instant coffee for a pick-me-up, Economist, 2009 Feb. 21 (on February 17th in New York, Howard Schultz unveiled Via, an instant coffee which, he claims, tastes just as good as Java brewed in the shop by one of the firm's baristas)
Economics focus: Pharaoh capitalism, Economist, 2009 Feb. 14 (the costs and benefits of “pyramid” business groups)

Manufacturing and Mining

(see also in Science and Technology)

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John Legge, Manufacturing a future, The Age, 2009 Feb. 27 (Australian manufacturing is slowly bleeding to death: the departure of Pacific Brands and the collapse of Drivetrain Systems International are just two of the most recent milestones—or tombstones—on the path to oblivion)
Tim Colebatch, Death knell sounds for clothing industry, The Age, 2009 Feb. 26 (it is hard not to see the closure of Pacific Brands' seven factories and the loss of 1850 jobs as a virtual death notice for the Australian clothing industry)
Leader, The economy: The collapse of manufacturing, Economist, 2009 Feb. 21 (the financial crisis has created an industrial crisis; what should governments do about it?)
The American car industry: General Motors and Chrysler say they need more help, Economist, 2009 Feb. 21 (so do their suppliers)
German manufacturing: A thousand cries of pain, Economist, 2009 Feb. 21 (a ferociously efficient manufacturing and exporting economy is grinding to a halt, as demand across the world melts away; yet until quite recently the notion that Germany would be beset by the global downturn seemed unthinkable)
Sharp fall in UK car production, BBC, 2009 Feb. 20 (the number of new UK-made cars fell dramatically in January, says the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders)
Lucy Battersby, Rush for gold gives local producers a windfall, The Age, 2009 Feb. 19 (gold prices are reaching record highs as investors lose their confidence in traditional markets of currency and stocks)
John Garnaut, Recession fear as iron, coal prices set to dive, The Age, 2009 Feb. 19 (Australia's iron ore and coal miners are facing price cuts of between 30 and 50 per cent, which would slash export income by the equivalent of 4 per cent of GDP)
Anne Davies, Car crisis clouds Obama's new deal, The Age, 2009 Feb. 18 (Obama Administration anticipates moment of triumph as President set to sign his $787 billion stimulus bill into law at ceremony in Denver)
Rio Tinto and Chinalco: Undermined, Economist, 2009 Feb. 14 (the crash in commodity prices lets China grab a prize)
Mining: Miners lead the rush to raise equity, Economist, 2009 Feb. 7 (since January 26th three leading firms—Rio Tinto, Freeport-McMoRan and Xstrata—have indicated that they will probably try to raise equity in one form or another)

(see also Competition and in Internet)

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Is it recession-proof?: Nothing can entirely escape the economic downturn, Economist, 2009 Feb. 14 (but leading sports come close)
The rise of haggling: Cash-strapped consumers are haggling their way to big savings, Economist, 2009 Feb. 7 (the hotel business is reeling as firms and families cut their travel budgets; but it is not the only industry that has become more willing to grant discounts to confident hagglers)
Lucy Barrett, Advertising: 'Blue ocean' thinking can create waves, Guardian, 2009 Feb. 2 (Nintendo's decision to target an audience that its' competitors had left untouched was a master stroke)

Media and Television

(see also Newspapers and in Technology)

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The film industry: Cinderella story, Economist, 2009 Feb. 14 (two of Hollywood's biggest brands, Disney and DreamWorks SKG, form an unexpected partnership)

Money and Banking

(see also Economics and Wealth)

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Gold: Burnished by bad news, gold looks like a good each-way bet, Economist, 2009 Feb. 28 (buying by investors has more than made up for a slump in gold-jewellery purchases in key markets, such as India and Turkey, where higher prices and wilting exchange rates have crushed demand)
American banks: A ghoulish prospect, Economist, 2009 Feb. 28 (nationalisation carries risks, but it may still be the best way to deal with American banking's undead)
Bank capital: Stress-test mess, Economist, 2009 Feb. 28 (American regulators are “stress testing” banks; what might be the result?)
Lessons from the telecoms bubble (1): Crash course, Economist, 2009 Feb. 28 (what can banks learn from the clean-up after the telecoms crash of 1997-2003?)
Anne Davies, Obama to tighten financial controls, The Age, 2009 Feb. 27 (on the eve of his first budget, President Barack Obama has turned to overhauling regulation of the US financial system, blamed for the excessive risk-taking that led to the collapse of major banks and continuing paralysis in the credit markets)
Robert Winnett, Brown blamed for banking crisis, The Age, 2009 Feb. 27 (Prime Minister Gordon Brown helped fuel Britain's banking crisis by pressuring the City regulator not to intervene and stop reckless lending, the head of the Financial Services Authority has said)
Lynnley Browning, Swiss bank spilling the beans, The Age, 2009 Feb. 20 (UBS, Switzerland's largest bank, has agreed to divulge the names of well-heeled Americans whom the authorities suspect of using overseas accounts at the bank to evade tax)
Lloyds defends staff bonus plan, BBC, 2009 Feb. 15 (banking group Lloyds defends plans to reward retail and commercial staff with bonuses, worth a reported £120m)
America's banking crisis: Worse than Japan?, Economist, 2009 Feb. 14 (look carefully and the answer could be yes)
America's bank bail-out: Dashed expectations, Economist, 2009 Feb. 14 (Tim Geithner hopes to restore stability to the banking system by luring in private investors; the devil will be in the missing detail)
Larry Elliott, Overmighty banks lost the people's trust—they can't recover without regaining it, Guardian, 2009 Feb. 2 (confidence will be restored in the banking system only when there is a return to fairness and integrity)

Outsourcing and Consulting

(see also Pay and in Computing and Social)

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Hotels: Outsourcing as you sleep, Economist, 2009 Feb. 21 (reservations are plunging, but virtual hotel chains should escape the worst)
A quick fix: Companies are seeking outsiders' help to squeeze more out of their equipment, Economist, 2009 Feb. 7 (managers faced with a cash crunch have been turning to “asset maintenance” companies, which specialise in taking over all or part of a firm's servicing activities and then running them more efficiently)
Michele Hanson, As the financial crisis deepens, should the Bank of England be worrying about how its staff dress?, Guardian, 2009 Feb. 3 (consultants are cunning parasites, worming their way into someone else's business, and running off rich and fat)

Pay and Wealth

(see also Outsourcing and in Computing and Social)

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Katharine Murphy, Swan eyes CEO excess, The Age, 2009 Feb. 28 (executive salaries could be capped after a fresh political furore over golden parachutes and million-dollar bonuses at a time of economic downturn)
Executive pay: Will Barack Obama's reform of executive pay work?, Economist, 2009 Feb. 7 (after the outrageous payment of billions of dollars in bonuses by Wall Street firms that had survived only because many more billions had been injected into them by the government, the executives should probably be grateful for getting off so lightly)
Lloyds defends staff bonus plan, BBC, 2009 Feb. 15 (banking group Lloyds defends plans to reward retail and commercial staff with bonuses, worth a reported £120m)

Privatisation and Private Equity

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Private equity: Return to earth, Economist, 2009 Feb. 14 (buy-outs are souring at an alarming rate as banks turn away)

Publishing and Newspapers

(see also Media)

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News Corporation: Home alone, Economist, 2009 Feb. 28 (the departure of Rupert Murdoch's second-in-command raises big questions)
Electronic-book readers: Well read, Economist, 2009 Feb. 14 (electronic books are becoming popular; will newspapers follow?)
News agencies: High wires, Economist, 2009 Feb. 14 (with newspapers in crisis, newswires may learn to live without them)

(see also in Climate)

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Leader, The waste industry: A load of rubbish, Economist, 2009 Feb. 28 (what's wrong with policies on waste, and how to get them right)

Social and Property

(see also Consumerism)

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Gregory Rodriguez, Overwhelmed? Alienated? Welcome to an intravidual world, The Age, 2009 Feb. 28 (despite predictions of leisure-rich workers, our multiple selves are being pulled in more and more directions)
Victory gardens: Digging their way out of recession, Economist, 2009 Feb. 28 (allotments by any other name)
Corporate etiquette: Manners maketh the businessman, Economist, 2009 Feb. 14 (the economic crisis prompts an outbreak of politeness in business)
Naomi Klein, ¡Que se vayan todos!—that's the global backlash talking, Guardian, 2009 Feb. 6 (it's not just governing elites that the world is rising up against—it's the entire model of deregulated capitalism)