2009 March:   Business
Anchor:   Base Index
Other months:    February  April
Other areas:    Climate  computing  education  health  international  Internet  science  social  technology  Others
Topics:   Advertising  agriculture  banking  carbon  cartels  climate  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(see also in Climate: Mitigation and National)  last  down    top   back  on

Barry Park, Charge car in Tassie to help save the world, The Age, 2009 Mar. 31 (figures released by the University of South Australia reveal how much carbon dioxide an electric vehicle will produce for each kilometre travelled in each state or territory based on how the electricity is generated)
Guy Pearse, Polluters' blank cheque, The Age, 2009 Mar. 30 (real cuts in emissions are impossible under the Federal Government's scheme)
Geo-engineering: Who ate all the algae?, Economist, 2009 Mar. 28 (using phytoplankton to trap carbon dioxide faces a snag)
Andrew Darby, Hopes sink of artificially capturing carbon in seas, The Age, 2009 Mar. 27 (the most determined attempt to make the ocean soak up more greenhouse gas has failed to make a significant dent)
Royce Millar and Adam Morton, Cabinet talks on target's futility, The Age, 2009 Mar. 24 (future of Victoria's greenhouse emissions target is in doubt as the Brumby Government grapples with advice that its policies will make little difference to Australia's carbon reduction plans)
Tom Arup, Emissions trading at centre of high-stakes game, The Age, 2009 Mar. 23 (Xstrata says it would also halt investments in new coal mines worth $7 billion, which the company says would destroy 4000 jobs that otherwise would have been created)
Adam Morton, Why carbon trading targets matter, The Age, 2009 Mar. 23 (if carbon trading gets up, the Federal Government will "cap" or put a limit on how much greenhouse gas can be emitted in a given year. That much is reasonably widely understood; what remains less well understood is that, in doing so, that cap will also put a limit on the cuts to emissions possible that year too)
Guardian, China's new carbon card, The Age, 2009 Mar. 19 (China wants consumer countries to take responsibility for the carbon emissions generated in the manufacture of goods, not the producer countries that export them, according to its top climate change negotiator)
Mathew Murphy, Tough times 'make carbon targets easier', The Age, 2009 Mar. 16 (there is no need to delay the introduction of Australia's emissions trading scheme according to a highly respected carbon analyst)
America and climate change: Sins of emission, Economist, 2009 Mar. 14 (Barack Obama is keen to curb greenhouse-gas emissions with a cap-and-trade scheme; can Congress come round to his way of thinking?)
George Monbiot, Scrap scrappage, it's the biggest scam of them all, The Age, 2009 Mar. 11 (scrappage payments are being proposed by almost everyone linked to the British motor industry: the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, most of the big car companies, the AA, which represents drivers, the unions and the Opposition; it's bunkum)
Leader, Climate change: The illusion of clean coal, Economist, 2009 Mar. 7 (the world is investing too much cash and hope in carbon capture and storage)
Carbon capture and storage: Trouble in store, Economist, 2009 Mar. 7 (politicians are pinning their hopes for delivery from global warming on a technology that is not quite airtight)
The budget and the environment: Whom the cap fits, Economist, 2009 Mar. 7 (a mighty dust-up awaits the president's plan for cap-and-trade)
Tom Allard, Indonesia flushes target down carbon sink, The Age, 2009 Mar. 6 (Indonesia approves big increase in logging of tropical forests, a decision that could lead to a major jump in carbon emissions)
Kenneth Davidson, Climate change won't wait for recession's end, The Age, 2009 Mar. 5 (delaying measures to reduce emissions is economically unsound)
Competition and Cartels(see also Marketing) up  down    top   back  on

Coca-Cola and China: China indicates the real targets of its anti-monopoly law to be outsiders, Economist, 2009 Mar. 21 (even as China publicly urges other countries to commit to opening their markets to Chinese investment and trade, it is imposing yet another barrier to outsiders)
Jason Steger, Open-market push worries writers, publishers, The Age, 2009 Mar. 20 (prospect of open market for books a step closer as Productivity Commission releases draft report that recommends winding back protection for new books)
Ari Sharp, Bunnings magic to revive office supplier, The Age, 2009 Mar. 5 (the team that made Bunnings a household name for home improvement products is trying to weave its magic at fallen office supplies king Officeworks, but cut-throat competition is making the challenge a formidable one)
David Hirst, Stealing words to hide theft from pockets, The Age, 2009 Mar. 4 (having undermined the economy, vested interests are now making language a victim)
Consumerism and Credit Cards(see also Social and in Social)  up  down    top   back  on

Caroline Marcus, Hagglers flourish as times get tough, The Age, 2009 Mar. 29 (the recession has delivered a boost to the age-old art of haggling, with sellers of most goods increasingly willing to negotiate in tough times)
Daniella Miletic, Credit card fraud up 50% in past year, The Age, 2009 Mar. 25 (credit card fraud involving transactions made online, by phone or by mail has increased by about 50 per cent over the past year, according to the Reserve Bank)
Andrew Tillett, Unit price rules in by end of year, The Age, 2009 Mar. 24 (you see them at Coles and Woolies all the time, fumbling with their calculators or mobile phones as they work out whether the Wondersoft 18-pack of toilet paper is better value than Sorbent's dozen rolls)
Daniella Miletic, Credit card schemes offer scant reward, The Age, 2009 Mar. 20 (credit card industry offers little reward to consumers who spend less than $2000 a month, investigation by nation's leading consumer group finds)
Guardian, China's new carbon card, The Age, 2009 Mar. 19 (China wants consumer countries to take responsibility for the carbon emissions generated in the manufacture of goods, not the producer countries that export them, according to its top climate change negotiator)
Rational consumer: Just click to park, Economist, 2009 Mar. 7 (as the amount of on-board electronics increases, cars are gradually getting closer to being able to park themselves automatically; part of a Technology Quarterly)
Copyright and Trademarks(see also in Internet and Technology)  up  down    top   back  on

Michael Heyward, Writing off an industry, The Age, 2009 Mar. 24 (territorial copyright enables copyright holders to be paid properly for their work in their own country by preventing the unauthorised importation of foreign editions that characteristically pay a much lower royalty; the 30-day rule guarantees Australian copyright and full domestic royalties for Australian writers; the US, Britain and Canada all support territorial copyright for books)
Malcolm Knox, Google library a windfall for authors, The Age, 2009 Mar. 14 (in recent weeks several Australian publishing industry bodies, such as the Australian Society of Authors, the Copyright Agency Limited and the Australian Publishers' Association, have been contacting members to let them know about the settlement Google has reached with American authors and publishers)
Online brand abuse 'on the rise', BBC, 2009 Mar. 9 (online brand abuse, including cyber-squatting, is on the rise, says a report)
Asher Moses, CityRail puts brakes on iPhone timetable app, The Age, 2009 Mar. 5 (RailCorp is threatening a Sydney man with legal action after he created an iPhone application that allows people to monitor timetables for Sydney trains and ferries)
Economics and Policy(see also Money) up  down    top   back  on

Daniel Cloud, Markets are ruled by human foibles, not by science, The Age, 2009 Mar. 31 (economists cannot predict the future)
David James, Know when to shoot your stockbroker, The Age, 2009 Mar. 30 (a boom-and-bust theory of economics identifies three stages; or is that four?)
Ross Gittins, The time is right for US to dish out new money, The Age, 2009 Mar. 21 (the economic jargon of the week is “quantitative easing”; it's a euphemism for what we used to call “printing money”; but doesn't printing money cause inflation?; not right now it doesn't)
Ross Gittins, The GFC and secret economists' business, The Age, 2009 Mar. 16 (your guide to the ideology behind the global financial crisis)
Harold Meyerson, Deal-making does not make for prosperity, The Age, 2009 Mar. 16 (Europe is showing the way to a better, fairer capitalist system)
Leader, World economy: The jobs crisis, Economist, 2009 Mar. 14 (it's coming, whatever governments do; but they can make it better or worse)
Charles Moore, Captains did not see the iceberg, The Age, 2009 Mar. 9 (the clever people who got us into this economic mess now have more power than ever)
Buttonwood: The grand illusion, Economist, 2009 Mar. 7 (how efficient-market theory has been proved both wrong and right)
Economics focus: Give me your scientists . . ., Economist, 2009 Mar. 7 (restricting the immigration of highly skilled workers will hurt America's ability to innovate)
Environment and Conservation(see also in Health and Science)  up  down    top   back  on

Poland reverses to spare wetland, BBC, 2009 Mar. 25 (Poland has chosen a new route for a planned motorway to save a pristine wetland, the environment minister says)
Tom Arup, Green law lacks teeth, The Age, 2009 Mar. 23 (Australia's key environmental protection law is weak, underfunded and does little to protect the environment, two independent studies have found)
Adam Morton and Cosima Marriner, Oil spill to require lengthy eco-monitoring, The Age, 2009 Mar. 17 (ecological fallout from Queensland oil spill could include albinism in mangrove plants and reduced fish populations, scientists warn)
Fraud and Corruption(see also in Internet and Social)  up  down    top   back  on

Daniella Miletic, Credit card fraud up 50% in past year, The Age, 2009 Mar. 25 (credit card fraud involving transactions made online, by phone or by mail has increased by about 50 per cent over the past year, according to the Reserve Bank)
Mex Cooper, Scammers steal $500,000 from city teller machines, The Age, 2009 Mar. 25 (teller machines across Melbourne may have been compromised by an international crime syndicate believed to have stolen $500,000 from ANZ customers in the past month)
Andrew Clark, United states of 'Ponzimonium' as financial tide retreats, The Age, 2009 Mar. 23 (financial authorities in the US are investigating "hundreds" of individuals and entities over suspected Ponzi schemes as turmoil on the global financial market exposes fraudsters, whose ill-gotten gains have remained undetected for years)
Vanda Carson and Matt O'Sullivan, Receiver probes ABC assets transfer, The Age, 2009 Mar. 21 (assets of failed ABC Learning Group may have been improperly transferred to "third parties", Federal Court hears)
Nick McKenzie and Richard Baker, Hospitals fraud claim goes to police, The Age, 2009 Mar. 16 (the Victoria Police fraud squad receives a file that alleges major public hospitals are manipulating patient waiting list data to cash in on bonuses or avoid fines)
Dan Oakes, Time to get tough on text scams, The Age, 2009 Mar. 13 (consumer watchdog accuses phone companies of turning blind eye while text message "scammers" use their networks to target unsuspecting customers)
Walter Hamilton, Madoff eyes deal to save $109m fortune, The Age, 2009 Mar. 9 (disgraced New York financier Bernard Madoff may be nearing a deal to plead guilty to one of the most shocking financial crimes in history)
Nick Miller, Apology for misleading drug claims, The Age, 2009 Mar. 5 (big drug company mails apology to all Australian doctors after being caught out making misleading claims about controversial new anti-depressant)
Globalism and Free Trade(see also in International)  up  down    top   back  on

Globalisation and trade: The nuts and bolts come apart, Economist, 2009 Mar. 28 (as global demand contracts, trade is slumping and protectionism rising)
John M Legge, Who'd buy a used policy from this man?, The Age, 2009 Mar. 9 (Australia must reject George Bush's free-trade ideology)
Peter Martin, World Bank says collapse has arrived, The Age, 2009 Mar. 9 (the World Bank has broken a taboo, becoming the first official organisation to predict the global economy will shrink during 2009, to collapse for the first time in more than 60 years)
Anthony Faiola, Globalisation's demise sinking Singapore, The Age, 2009 Mar. 9 (this shimmering city-state was the house globalisation built; but Singapore is now a window into the reversal of the forces that brought unprecedented global mobility to goods, services, investment and labour)
Management(see also in Computing) up  down    top   back  on

Ari Sharp, New league table pushes directors to measure up, The Age, 2009 Mar. 31 (already facing pressure to rein in their executives, disclose margin loans and tread carefully in related-party transactions, non-executive directors now face scrutiny of their performance on another front)
Melissa Fyfe, Room for ruin in police IT strategy, The Age, 2009 Mar. 22 (a range of problems have plagued the police IT department over the past decade)
Stephen Rodgers-Wilson, A symptom of ill health, The Age, 2009 Mar. 20 (management strategies encourage hospitals to doctor their figures)
Ben Schneiders, Company morale tumbling, The Age, 2009 Mar. 9 (restructuring is failing to deliver results in many companies, with staff morale being hit and critical skills at risk of being lost to employers, a new study says)
Bunnings magic to revive office supplier, Bunnings magic to revive office supplier, The Age, 2009 Mar. 5 (the team that made Bunnings a household name for home improvement products is trying to weave its magic at fallen office supplies king Officeworks, but cut-throat competition is making the challenge a formidable one)
Manufacturing and Mining(see also in Science and Technology)  up  down    top   back  on

Sheryl Gay Stolberg and Bill Vlasic, GM chief a high-profile crash victim, The Age, 2009 Mar. 31 (White House pushes out chairman of General Motors and instructs Chrysler to form partnership with Italian car maker Fiat within 30 days as conditions for receiving another much-needed round of Government aid)
Barry FitzGerald, Coking coal prices slashed, The Age, 2009 Mar. 21 (Australia's export revenue will take $20 billion hit in 2009-10 after collapse in world steel production forces coking coal producers to wear 60 per cent price cut in contract prices)
Barry FitzGerald, Meeting on BHP deaths, The Age, 2009 Mar. 21 (BHP Billiton called in by Western Australian Mines Minister Norman Moore to explain spate of deaths at group's iron ore operations in the Pilbara)
Pennsylvania's burning mines: Fire in the hole, Economist, 2009 Mar. 14 (what to do about smouldering acres underground)
Philip Hopkins, Manufacturing is fighting against the tide, The Age, 2009 Mar. 9 (manufacturing knows how to hit the headlines. Its survival has been called into question yet again by Pacific Brands' decision to sack 1800 workers and close most of its Australian manufacturing operations)
Rio Tinto may delay Oyu Tolgoi, The Age, 2009 Mar. 9 (Rio Tinto could again delay its $US3 billion Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold joint venture with Ivanhoe Mines, even if the Mongolian Government signs a long-awaited agreement within days)
Les Lothringer, Bleak times for TFC groups that live by brands, The Age, 2009 Mar. 4 (outsourcing may just be a step towards a more difficult future)
Jorn Madslien, GM Europe 'could run out of cash', BBC, 2009 Mar. 3 (GM's European divisions could collapse within weeks without European governments' help, its top executive warns)
Marketing and Advertising(see also Competition and in Internet)  up  down    top   back  on

Jill Stark, Liquid assets: sport's alcohol dependency, The Age, 2009 Mar. 29 (there are growing calls from health experts to wean our major codes off the bottle, but the political will is still lacking)
Martin Sorrell, WPP boss shares his views, BBC, 2009 Mar. 15 (Sir Martin Sorrell is the chief executive of WPP, the company he founded in 1986, which is now the world's largest group of advertising, marketing and communications companies)
Marketing to women: Recession-hit companies target female customers, Economist, 2009 Mar. 14 (in America, where female consumers make more than 80% of discretionary purchases, companies have started tailoring their products and messages to appeal to women, in an effort to boost their sales)
Sam Leith, Anti-ageing sales built on lies and self-loathing, The Age, 2009 Mar. 8 (the beauty industry thrives by making us hate the present and fear the future)
New guidelines on behavioural ads, BBC, 2009 Mar. 4 (the online advertising industry has launched a set of guidelines for a genre of adverts that have been causing controversy)
Alcohol on TV 'prompts drinking', BBC, 2009 Mar. 4 (people are more likely to drink alcohol while watching TV if they see drinking being portrayed in films or view adverts for alcohol, a study has found)
Media and Television(see also Newspapers and in Technology)  up  down    top   back  on

Andrew Murfett, Labels out of tune as pirates rule the sound waves, The Age, 2009 Mar. 23 (music labels are struggling to monetise digital growth)
Andrew Murfett, Music industry ponders its future as CDs lose their shine, The Age, 2009 Mar. 16 (introduced 27 years ago, CDs are a high-margin product that increased recorded music sales exponentially; however, the conversion to a digitally driven market has been brutal)
Asher Moses, A 3D film revolution, but not in homes, The Age, 2009 Mar. 8 (the technology has matured and is hitting the mainstream as more theatres and the big movie studios adopt the technology in an effort to entice people back to the cinema)
Money and Banking(see also Economics and Wealth)  up  down    top   back  on

Paddy Manning, Canny credit unions are back in fashion, The Age, 2009 Mar. 30 (prudent lending means co-ops are holding their own against 'Godzilla' banks)
Mark Crosby, Even the greenback must be treated with caution, The Age, 2009 Mar. 27 (the governor of China's central bank this week described a need for an alternative to the US dollar as the main reserve currency held by central banks)
Economics focus: Money's muddled message, Economist, 2009 Mar. 21 (today's fattened central-bank balance-sheets evoke fears of inflation; deflation is the bigger worry)
Banks, graft and development: When bankers are pimps, Economist, 2009 Mar. 14 (why parts of Africa and Central Asia, for example, remain chronically poor, even—indeed, especially—where abundant natural resources could in theory be used to finance roads, schools and local enterprise)
Regulating banks: A spat looms over reforming bank capital-adequacy rules, Economist, 2009 Mar. 14 (banks should be encouraged to save more for a rainy day; but the importance of Spain's system has been oversold)
Malcolm Maiden, US gold reserve might bring back some of the glitter, The Age, 2009 Mar. 9 (the gold vaults help explain why US bonds continue to be bought)
Andrew Macaskill and Jon Menon, Lloyds the latest UK bank to be rescued, The Age, 2009 Mar. 9 (Lloyds Banking Group, Britain's biggest mortgage lender, will cede control to the British Government in return for state guarantees covering $A572 billion of risky assets)
Monetary policy: Now for something completely different, Economist, 2009 Mar. 7 (the Bank of England acts to boost the money supply)
State-owned banks: The go-between, Economist, 2009 Mar. 7 (can a new agency put the banks back on track?)
Outsourcing and Consulting(see also Pay and in Computing and Social)  up  down    top   back  on

Les Lothringer, Bleak times for TFC groups that live by brands, The Age, 2009 Mar. 4 (outsourcing may just be a step towards a more difficult future)
Pay and Wealth(see also Outsourcing and in Computing and Social)  up  down    top   back  on

Ian McIlwraith, Eddington slams excessive payouts for executives, The Age, 2009 Mar. 21 (fat payouts for senior executives "nonsense" and should not be offered, according to one of the Federal Government's senior business advisers)
Katharine Murphy, Business fury at moves to limit payouts, The Age, 2009 Mar. 19 (business groups have reacted angrily to a Federal Government plan to stop executives receiving huge "golden handshakes" by giving shareholders a veto over termination payouts)
Edmund Andrews and Peter Baker, AIG to pay $150m in bonuses, The Age, 2009 Mar. 16 (despite being bailed out with more than $US170 billion, American International Group is preparing to pay about $US100 million in bonuses to executives)
Stephen Gibbs, Mexican 'drug lord' on rich list, BBC, 2009 Mar. 12 (Mexico's most wanted man Joaquin Guzman makes it to Forbes' latest list of the world's billionaires)
Leader, Bankers: Scapegoat millionaire, Economist, 2009 Mar. 7 (Sir Fred Goodwin is a bad banker and a dishonourable man; he is also a dangerous distraction)
Shaun Carney, Greed without end, The Age, 2009 Mar. 4 (a lack of morality is at the heart of executive salaries, which no legislation can fix)
Goodwin's pension hits £703,000, BBC, 2009 Mar. 3 (Sir Fred Goodwin's pension from the bank RBS is in fact £703,000 a year, not the £693,000 previously stated)
Privatisation and Private Equity up  down    top   back  on

Brad Vann, New debate needed on merits of PPPs, The Age, 2009 Mar. 27 (since their debut in Australia, public-private partnerships have been the subject of heated debate—and plenty of criticism)
Kenneth Davidson, The deals that are shrouded in secrecy, The Age, 2009 Mar. 26 (private firms running public services do not give taxpayers value for money)
Kenneth Davidson, Water lot of PPPosturing over desal, The Age, 2009 Mar. 23 (there are three reasons why the $3.5 billion desalination plant at Wonthaggi is unlikely to go ahead: there is no appetite by financial institutions to back infrastructure plants of this magnitude; there has been no credible environmental effects statement which gives the project a clean bill of health; and the two French finalists in the bid to build, own and operate the plant—Veolia and Suez—will lose their Paris water licences when they come up for renewal on December 31)
Publishing and Newspapers(see also Media) up  down    top   back  on

Jason Steger, Open-market push worries writers, publishers, The Age, 2009 Mar. 20 (prospect of open market for books a step closer as Productivity Commission releases draft report that recommends winding back protection for new books)
Andrew Clark, Seattle adds to dark days for US newspapers, The Age, 2009 Mar. 19 (trade was unusually brisk for Wilbur Hathaway, a newspaper vendor near Seattle's Pike Place waterfront market)
Miriam Steffens, Bad news for media jobs, The Age, 2009 Mar. 8 (first the boss went part-time; now, as the downturn bites, workers at media companies such as News Ltd and Network Ten are being asked if they too would cut back on their hours)
Recycling(see also in Climate) up   down    top   back  on

Adam Morton, Recyclers fear collapse of industry, The Age, 2009 Mar. 24 (leading industrial waste recycler tells Premier John Brumby it faces closure unless Government stops recyclable rubbish going to landfill)
Peter Ker, Minister to oppose 10¢ refund, The Age, 2009 Mar. 12 (plans to pay Victorians 10 cents for every drink container they recycle will be opposed by State Environment Minister Gavin Jennings)
Jason Dowling, Bottle-drive for refund scheme, The Age, 2009 Mar. 6 (the first step in introducing a 10-cent bottle refund for all drink containers in Victoria will be taken in State Parliament on Tuesday)
Social and Property(see also Consumerism) up   first    top   back  on

Daniella Miletic, More, and richer, people filing for bankruptcy, The Age, 2009 Mar. 25 (personal insolvencies in Australia have climbed by more than 250 per cent in the past two decades and bankruptcy is increasingly claiming richer people with higher status occupations, a report has shown)
James Kirby, Now it's mum and dad investors who are the ‘greedy bastards’, The Age, 2009 Mar. 21 (the headline in the New York Post a few days ago said it all: “Not so fast, you greedy bastards”)
David Hirst, Dealing cards for blind man's buff, The Age, 2009 Mar. 21 (those in the upper middle class who have put their money in the hands of reputable institutions have lost heavily; but many don't have the vaguest idea of the extent of their terrible setbacks)
Physiognomy and economics: About face, Economist, 2009 Mar. 7 (people's creditworthiness, it seems, can be seen in their looks)
Michael West, On balance, it's a PR plague, The Age, 2009 Mar. 4 (a different story lies behind the balance sheet double-speak and gloss)
David Hirst, Stealing words to hide theft from pockets, The Age, 2009 Mar. 4 (having undermined the economy, vested interests are now making language a victim)