Australian bonds sharply rebound on hopes of rise in unemployment rate
Jul 19, 2017 04:08 am UTC| Commentary Economy
The Australian bonds sharply rebounded Wednesday on expectations of a rise in the countrys unemployment rate and ahead of the countrys labour market report for the month of June, scheduled to be released on July 20. The...
How risky are you? Why insurance works better with less discrimination
Jul 18, 2017 14:16 pm UTC| Insights & Views Economy
Discrimination is a great taboo of our times, and yet one huge industry gets away with it every day. The insurance sector looks at us as risk with legs. It puts us into groups, and if we are in a group deemed riskier, we...

Taxing empty homes: a step towards affordable housing, but much more can be done
Jul 18, 2017 14:06 pm UTC| Insights & Views Economy
Vacant housing rates are rising in our major cities. Across Australia on census night, 11.2% of housing was recorded as unoccupied a total of 1,089,165 dwellings. With housing affordability stress also intensifying, the...

Death toll mounts in Rio de Janeiro as police lose control of the city -- and of themselves
Jul 18, 2017 13:53 pm UTC| Insights & Views Economy Life
On June 30, a baby was shot in his mothers belly in Rio de Janeiro. After the rifle fire hit 29-year-old Claudinéia in the hip in the Favela do Lixão neighbourhood, her son Arthur was delivered via emergency...
Fact Check: would banning zero-hours contracts harm more people than it would help?
Jul 18, 2017 13:14 pm UTC| Insights & Views Economy
So while Matthews report is clear that many workers value the flexibility that zero-hours contracts offer them, and that banning such contracts altogether would harm more people than it would help, it is important that we...

Forget workers going out on strike – in future it should be consumers
Jul 18, 2017 12:58 pm UTC| Insights & Views Economy
I belong to a generation that has been told there is no other choice other than to be flexible in the labour market. It means being flexible about where you go to work, when you go to work, and about what you work you are...
How companies should fend of attacks from activist investors
Jul 18, 2017 12:55 pm UTC| Insights & Views Economy
Activist investors are often presented as the bad guys of financial markets. They burst onto the scene, shout loudly their plans and can offer brutal verdicts on the performance of company bosses. Naturally, CEOs would...