Turned to writing at 60, reckon that'll do for the next 30 years, then I'll become a musician - after that, who knows, maybe a wizard...
Tariffs, shares, bonds and China’s ‘nuclear option’. Making sense of Trump mayhem
Donald Trump has declared a trade war, the share market is down, and US t-bond yields are rising. But how did it all start, and what’s next? Michael West and Kim Wingerei with the lowdown. They say that truth is stranger than fiction, and when it comes to what Trump...
The Gravity of Global Warming
There are people out there who still doubt the gravity of global warming, including politicians who should know better. Ignorance is no excuse. Climate science commentator Charles Nagy lays down the irrefutable facts.
Condemning neoliberalism
Condemning neoliberalism as Richard Denniss does in his recent Quarterly Essay is all well and good, but to change how policy formulation is done in our broken democracy we need to look at the root causes and reform the system, not just change the labels.
Why are we so afraid?
The debate about My Health Records is reminiscent of every such debate since the failed Australia Card scheme back in the eighties. Australians have a privacy obsession. What are we so afraid of?
The ABC needs relevance, not lifestyle!
The ABC Lifestyle initiative is an own goal. Instead of pandering to the lowest common denominator of content, it should focus on quality content and continue to excel its online delivery.
You cannot kill what’s already dead!
Apparently, the sale of Fairfax to Nine is the end of journalism in Australia, the triumph of the cheque book as the only arbiter of a good story and the death knell of democracy. Paul Keating – that most eloquent and cerebral of political alley cats – was particularly scathing in his assessment, but he isn’t alone.
The stakes are too high – the party is over!
Party politics has been allowed to take control over the political discourse at all levels. The voters are disillusioned and disengaged. How do we break the Gordian Knot of partisan control over democracy?
The Naked President
The problem with Trump is not Donald Trump. The really scary part is that nobody is standing up to him.
The Three Pillars of Democracy are Shaking!
Democracy is a system of government designed to protect and uphold the rights of the people. And to protect the people from government. In that sense, the case of the ‘Canberra Two’ is both scary and illuminating.
We need to talk (about) Turkey
Democracy is under threat. From Vienna to Washington, Caracas to Istanbul, men with scant regard for the institutions that uphold democracy have been elected, threatening civic freedoms not just in their own countries, but setting dangerous precedents for others to follow. Could it happen here?