2009 May: Business

2009 May: Business

Anchor: Base Index
Other months: April June
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 and Coal

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Tom Arup and Adam Morton, Polluters to get $12.5 billion in carbon hand-outs, The Age, 2009 May 20 (Australia's six biggest polluting industries will get an extra $1.1 billion compensation over five years under changes to the Government's emissions trading scheme)
Adam Morton, Scientists back climate bill despite target doubts, The Age, 2009 May 14 (Australia's leading climate scientists believe the Federal Government is not doing enough to cut greenhouse emissions; but they want its climate legislation quickly passed in Parliament anyway)
Coal-fired power plants: The writing on the wall, Economist, 2009 May 9 (only green compromises will allow them to survive)
Kenneth Davidson, Time the sun set on carbon scheme, The Age, 2009 May 4 (it looks as if the Rudd Government's Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme is dead in the water; the Greens hate it because they believe it gives Australia's biggest polluters a licence to pollute; the Coalition hates it because they believe it doesn't offer enough concessions to big polluters)

Competition and Cartels

(see also Marketing)

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Economics focus: What's mine is yours, Economist, 2009 May 30 (when should firms be required to share their intellectual property with rivals?)
Intel's antitrust ruling: A billion-euro question, Economist, 2009 May 16 (are the chipmaker's pricing policies anticompetitive?)
Jamie Freed, Battle for food shoppers is freshening, The Age, 2009 May 4 (the battle between the supermarket giants and specialty fresh food retailers has heated up as Woolworths and Coles seek to steal market share from independent operators and increase their profit margins)

Consumerism and Credit Cards

(see also Social and in Social)

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Lawrence Money and Lorna Edwards, Frustrated callers unite to bypass the prompts, The Age, 2009 May 26 (Sean Riley, 27, of Brisbane offers salvation to weary consumers with his website ihateholding.com; the user-edited site reveals the phone short cuts to bypass those annoying prompts to get through to who you want at many of Australia's more caller-unfriendly organisations)
Credit card code to combat fraud, BBC, 2009 May 13 (a credit card with a built-in display is being tested by Visa with the aim of reducing online fraud)
Ari Sharp, New loyalty schemes pay for retailers, The Age, 2009 May 11 (use your Myer One loyalty card often enough when you shop at the department store chain and you will gain more than just the occasional voucher that comes with most reward schemes)
Fear holding back online shopping, BBC, 2009 May 11 (a lack of consumer confidence is preventing online retailing from reaching its full potential, says a report)
Ross Gittins, Rich get richer but are the poor that poorer?, The Age, 2009 May 9 (there's an argument that the situation isn't as unfair as it seems)
American consumers: Off their trolleys, Economist, 2009 May 9 (consumer spending may have hit bottom, but America's mountain of debt means the climb back up will be slow and painful)
Ben Cubby, Target bans plastic bags next month, The Age, 2009 May 1 (retail giant Target has confirmed it will ban plastic shopping bags in its Australian shops next month, saving an estimated 100 million bags a year)

Copyright and Trademarks

(see also in Internet and Technology)

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French net piracy bill signed off, BBC, 2009 May 13 (French MPs pass a bill to combat copyright piracy by disconnecting from the internet people who illegally download films and music)
Jason Steger, A robust book industry helps the economy, The Age, 2009 May 11 (changing copyright laws will mean jobs and Australian voices will be lost)
George Cole, Hollywood v the $30 DVD copier, The Age, 2009 May 7 (last week saw the start of a trial that pitches Hollywood studios against the technology industry, and whose outcome could change the face of home entertainment; the trial, in San Francisco, centres on a $30 software package published last year called RealDVD)
Louise Adler, Protect or be damned, The Age, 2009 May 3 (abolishing territorial copyright would decimate Australia's book industry)
Court win for McCurry, The Age, 2009 May 1 (after an eight-year legal battle, a Malaysian court has ruled a local curry house did not infringe on the McDonald's trademark by using the prefix "Mc")

Economics and Policy

(see also Money)

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Economics focus: What's mine is yours, Economist, 2009 May 30 (when should firms be required to share their intellectual property with rivals?)
Government v market in America: The visible hand, Economist, 2009 May 30 (Americans have grown slightly more receptive to the idea of an activist government; will they go along with Barack Obama's aspirations?)
Satyajit Das, Recipe for world recovery may be a fizzer, The Age, 2009 May 23 (one of the first to predict the financial crisis, Das suggests that governments may have chosen the wrong route with their vast spending)
Joseph Stiglitz, Light on, but tunnel still long, The Age, 2009 May 12 (recovery will come but it won't be sustained if changes aren't made)
Economics focus: Opening the floodgates, Economist, 2009 May 9 (imports can be as useful to developing countries as exports are)
Barry Ferguson, Economic policy and a road as yet untrod, The Age, 2009 May 1 (let's hope the Government receives the Cutler report in a spirit of innovation)

Environment and Conservation

(see also in Health and Science)

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Darren Gray, Farmers blue over forests that ate the landscape, The Age, 2009 May 23 (the increasing number of foxes now, compared to what there used to be—before the blue gums—is just unbelievable)
Peter Ker, Losing the Murray, The Age, 2009 May 20 (the first rescue attempt of the Murray has ended with little gained; its successor may be too late to save some of the river's most valued wetlands)
Stephen Cauchi, Green groups call for war on weeds, The Age, 2009 May 17 (conservationists are calling for a crackdown on garden plants—and the sale of their seeds in nurseries—in an effort to stop the devastation of native flora in national parks)
Barry Gardiner, Biodiversity is the spark of life, BBC, 2009 May 7 (biodiversity is not getting the attention it deserves on the international agenda; we need to understand the true value of ecological services before it is too late)

Fraud and Corruption

(see also in Internet and Social)

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Paul Austin, Victoria has become a dirty state, The Age, 2009 May 25 (Ted Baillieu has branded Victoria a corrupt state, as the Opposition seeks to make integrity in government a key battlefield in the lead-up to next year's election)
Richard Baker and Nick McKenzie, Revealed: the RBA's dodgy global deals, The Age, 2009 May 23 (the Reserve Bank of Australia has been involved in the payment of multimillion-dollar commissions to shady middlemen in its drive to win banknote printing deals with foreign governments)

Globalism and Free Trade

(see also in International)

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Julian Lee, Online pricing in line for some soul-searching, The Age, 2009 May 29 (they might not be evil, but how fair are Google and co's tax practices?)
Julian Lee, Google silent on disparity, The Age, 2009 May 23 (Google is refusing to explain the yawning gulf between its latest revenue and almost $1 billion paid out by Australian companies to buy up internet search terms)
Asian economies: Crouching tigers, stirring dragons, Economist, 2009 May 16 (the Asian economies are likely to be the first to pull out of the global recession)

Management

(see also in Computing)

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Julian Lee, Google silent on disparity, The Age, 2009 May 23 (Google is refusing to explain the yawning gulf between its latest revenue and almost $1 billion paid out by Australian companies to buy up internet search terms)

Manufacturing and Mining

(see also in Science and Technology)

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Seabed mining: The unplumbed riches of the deep, Economist, 2009 May 16 (and why they'll wait a while longer before being disturbed)
Barry Park, General wins safety stars with Holden Cruze, The Age, 2009 May 12 (a car destined to play key part in ensuring Australian manufacturer Holden's long-term survival receives top score for crash safety)
Philip Hopkins, Taking the plunge into reinvention, The Age, 2009 May 4 (“manufacturing is not dead; it's an industry that continually needs to reinvent itself; you have to continue to move forward”)
Barry Fitzgerald, Ballarat gold project spoils spectacular start to year for Lihir, The Age, 2009 May 1 (Lihir's $600 million Ballarat gold project has marred an otherwise strong production effort in the March quarter)

Marketing and Advertising

(see also Competition and in Internet)

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Kate Hagan, Merck mocked idea of risk, court told, The Age, 2009 May 20 (drug company Merck made fun of alleged cardiovascular risks attached to its anti-arthritis drug Vioxx in a marketing team skit, a court has heard)
Advertising's new model: Clock-watchers no more, Economist, 2009 May 16 (a movement to pay advertising agencies for value, not hours, takes off)
Bloomberg, FTC says telemarketers violated 'do not call' rules, The Age, 2009 May 15 (the US Federal Trade Commission today sued telemarketers Voice Touch and Transcontinental Warranty, accusing them of deluging people with as many as a billion automated phone calls offering car repair contracts)
Kate Hagan, Merck 'watered down' warning on Vioxx, The Age, 2009 May 12 (drug company Merck watered down warning on heart risks attached to its drug Vioxx to make it more "palatable", court hears)

Media and Television

(see also Newspapers and in Technology)

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Television in Spain: Zapped, Economist, 2009 May 16 (a plan to banish advertising from state-run television proves unpopular)
Miriam Steffens, Print to hold sway on web, for now, The Age, 2009 May 11 (Rupert Murdoch's push to have readers pay for access to newspapers online has been called into question by a world survey that found readers are unlikely to pay for general news they can get free elsewhere)
George Cole, Hollywood v the $30 DVD copier, The Age, 2009 May 7 (last week saw the start of a trial that pitches Hollywood studios against the technology industry, and whose outcome could change the face of home entertainment; the trial, in San Francisco, centres on a $30 software package published last year called RealDVD)

Money and Banking

(see also Economics and Wealth)

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Why banks sponsor sport: Banks are still packing stadiums despite the crisis, Economist, 2009 May 30 (why do shareholders—and taxpayers—play along?; for a start, sponsorship gets you noticed, especially in a new market)
Michael Shmith, Well-spent, the echidna may join the zack and the two-bob, The Age, 2009 May 26 (maybe a nickname could save the lowly five-cent coin)
Richard Baker and Nick McKenzie, Revealed: the RBA's dodgy global deals, The Age, 2009 May 23 (the Reserve Bank of Australia has been involved in the payment of multimillion-dollar commissions to shady middlemen in its drive to win banknote printing deals with foreign governments)
David Hirst, 5-cent piece not worth a cracker, The Age, 2009 May 23 (the Royal Australian Mint is believed to be poised to scrap the five-cent piece as part of an overhaul of Australian coins that will also give the Queen a makeover)
Daniella Miletic, Customers hand banks $5bn in fees, The Age, 2009 May 22 (Australian households have handed banks about $5 billion in fees during the past year, including deeply unpopular penalty fees for late payments and overdrafts on credit card and deposit accounts, the Reserve Bank says)
Chris Zappone, Bank fees soar despite slowdown, The Age, 2009 May 21 (banks earned nearly $1 billion more in fees from customers last year, showing healthy growth in transaction costs from businesses and consumers amid the economic downturn, data released by the Reserve Bank today shows)
Eric Dash, Banks seek quick, cheap way out of debt, The Age, 2009 May 20 (Americans were promised a reward for rescuing their banks; in return, the banks essentially gave share options to the Government—a potential jackpot for taxpayers once the crisis blew over; but now banks, eager to get Washington out of their hair, are pushing to undo these investments quickly and cheaply. If the Obama Administration agrees, billions of taxpayer dollars could be left on the table)
Leader, The banking industry: Three trillion dollars later …, Economist, 2009 May 16 (there is no single big remedy for the banks' flaws; but better rules—and more capital—could help; includes a link to the introduction to a special report: International Banking: Rebuilding the banks)
Catharine Munro, Big lenders rule the roost, The Age, 2009 May 13 (Housing Finance figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics confirm that banks are enjoying more market share than ever, having written 92.4 per cent of all home loans in March)
Robin Brant, Is Islamic finance the answer?, BBC, 2009 May 12 (experts in Islamic finance believe their way of doing business has shielded them from the global credit crisis)
Anne Davies, Ten US banks buckle under stress tests, The Age, 2009 May 9 (ten of America's biggest banks have been told they must raise nearly $US75 billion in capital to withstand a more dramatic downturn in the US economy)
Mark Hawthorne, Indian help for ANZ's big customers, The Age, 2009 May 5 (forget call centre job claims; as the cuts get deeper at ANZ, the bank is relocating crucial financial planning roles to its Bangalore operations centre)
Ashley Seager, British bankers reward themselves with $14.4bn bonuses, The Age, 2009 May 1 (bankers set to reap nearly $A14.4 billion in bonuses in the coming months even though the British Government has been forced to pump tens of billions of pounds into the banks to prevent them collapsing)
Bankers made 'astonishing mess', BBC, 2009 May 1 (the effects of the continuing banking crisis will be felt for generations, a committee of UK MPs has warned)

Outsourcing and Consulting

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Buying farmland abroad: Outsourcing's third wave, Economist, 2009 May 23 (rich food importers are acquiring vast tracts of poor countries' farmland; is this beneficial foreign investment or neocolonialism?)
Valerie Khoo, Just a mouse click away, The Age, 2009 May 5 (offshore outsourcing isn't just for huge companies)
Mark Hawthorne, Indian help for ANZ's big customers, The Age, 2009 May 5 (forget call centre job claims; as the cuts get deeper at ANZ, the bank is relocating crucial financial planning roles to its Bangalore operations centre)

Pay and Wealth

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Restraints on executive pay: Attacking the corporate gravy train, Economist, 2009 May 30 (the global downturn has sparked outrage over executive compensation; only some of it is justified)
Anne Davies, US hunts billions as Obama hits 'tax scams', The Age, 2009 May 6 (a clampdown on the use of tax havens by multinationals, one of President Barack Obama's campaign promises, will yield the US more than $US200 billion in extra revenue over the next 10 years, the President said as he unveiled his plans for the new laws)
Ashley Seager, British bankers reward themselves with $14.4bn bonuses, The Age, 2009 May 1 (bankers set to reap nearly $A14.4 billion in bonuses in the coming months even though the British Government has been forced to pump tens of billions of pounds into the banks to prevent them collapsing)

Privatisation and Private Equity

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Publishing and Newspapers

(see also Media and in Others)

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Ed Pilkington, How the NY Times was scooped on Watergate, The Age, 2009 May 27 (two former Times journalists say they had the story before Woodward and Bernstein)
Alka Marwaha, New chapter as books go digital, BBC, 2009 May 21 (with the success of downloadable music, TV and film, it comes as no surprise that the literary world is not far behind)
The news business: Tossed by a gale, Economist, 2009 May 16 (it isn't just newspapers: much of the established news industry is being blown away; yet news is thriving)
Reprieve for Boston Globe, The Age, 2009 May 6 (the New York Times Company has postponed its threat to close the Boston Globe after reaching agreement with six of the seven unions at the paper on cost-saving measures)

Recycling

(see also in Climate and Health)

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Adam Morton, Ministers click on scheme to recycle e-waste, The Age, 2009 May 23 (environment ministers are claiming a breakthrough on recycling ahead of a national scheme to keep electronic waste - mainly computers and televisions—from landfill)
Ben Cubby, Plan to keep old TVs out of landfill in the digital era, The Age, 2009 May 16 (as people begin the switch to digital television, recyclers are expecting a glut of analog TVs to swell the nation's already-bulging stockpiles of electronic waste)

Social and Property

(see also Consumerism)

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Fiscal stimulus in Jersey: Islanders gently push the boat out, Economist, 2009 May 23 (beneath a plaque to Sir Walter Raleigh, who governed the island from 1600 to 1603, ministers, deputies and constables of the States of Jersey debate heatedly how to spend their way out of economic crisis)
Corporate social responsibility: A stress test for good intentions, Economist, 2009 May 16 (the recession is a test of companies' commitments to doing good)
Michael Leunig, More greed and more loneliness, The Age, 2009 May 25 (the self-imposed walls of our constant craving hold us bound)