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Keywords: Stock Market

  • ECONOMICS

    Finance needs common sense, not cleverness

    • David James
    • 10 December 2020
    1 Comment

    The world’s financial markets are afflicted by a deep irrationality that imperils their very existence. On the surface, finance looks logical enough with its numbers, charts, mathematics, forecasts, ‘modelling’ and so on. But this only masks the fact that the system itself has been working on underlying assumptions that are either contradictory — such as that you can ‘deregulate’ finance when finance consists of rules — narrow minded or absurd.

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  • INTERNATIONAL

    Biden's middle class in a divided America

    • Andrew Hamilton
    • 19 November 2020
    9 Comments

    The priority given to the middle class was not new — Biden stressed it in speeches through the primaries and again as a candidate. And it is no doubt important. But when seen in the light of the passionate polarisation of the campaign, the closeness of the results, and the continuing mutual antipathy of the supporters of each party, rebuilding the middle class seems an unlikely source of healing.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    The odd heroism of doing nothing

    • Joel Hodge
    • 27 March 2020
    7 Comments

    We are living in a time of pandemic but it seems so many people have been more focused on panic buying or flouting restrictions on social distancing and public gatherings. Why is it that many are less concerned about the virus than what they can buy or do?

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Jobs key to reviving flailing economy

    • Joe Zabar
    • 18 October 2019
    3 Comments

    Treasurer Josh Frydenberg's attack on banks for failing to pass on the full rate cut to consumers is a political distraction. There are two clear signals coming out of the latest cut. First, monetary policy is not enough to spark a revival of the economy. Second, it's now all about jobs. Frydenberg and his officials would be wise to heed these signals.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Reframing aspiration as a collective force

    • John Falzon
    • 26 September 2019
    13 Comments

    We're taught to think that aspiration means what you do alone, what sets you apart. As such it is a concept that is both lauded and loaded. Aspiration, neoliberal style, is a secular version of the gospel of prosperity so loved by the prime minister. God, or the Market, smiles on those who aspire to greater things.

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  • INTERNATIONAL

    Messiness unleashed by the attack on Saudi oil

    • Binoy Kampmark
    • 16 September 2019
    9 Comments

    All of this has the hallmarks of danger. Previous US administrations have been cavalier with using stretched evidence, to justify military action. The region still labours with the fantasies that drove the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. The dangers of misreading also extend to the cognitive failings of US foreign policy in the Middle East.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    A common good frame for economic stimulus

    • Joe Zabar
    • 26 August 2019
    3 Comments

    While the current economic climate is cause for concern, it is not the time to panic. A more sensible alternative to austerity is for governments, business, unions and charities to look for ways we can together soften the impact of any global downturn. This will require bipartisan agreement to sacrifice some or all of the budget surplus.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Facts belie positive spin on homelessness

    • Eliza Berlage
    • 18 July 2019
    4 Comments

    Housing Minister Luke Howarth came under fire for saying he wanted to put a 'positive spin' on homelessness, but worse than his comments is the misinformation. While his claim that 'half a per cent of the population don't have a permanent roof over their head' is correct, that still means one in 200 Australians is experiencing homelessness.

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  • ECONOMICS

    Could Labor fuel a property revolution?

    • David James
    • 07 May 2019
    5 Comments

    The Australian economy rests on a decades-long property gamble that has disenfranchised younger generations. It is why the differing policies of the two major parties at the federal election take on an unusual significance. The voters' choice will go a long way towards determining if that generational split will get better or worse.

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  • ECONOMICS

    What are banks for?

    • Colin Long
    • 18 January 2019
    6 Comments

    The opening of the finance sector to scrutiny provides an opportunity to examine its position in the structure of the Australian political-economy, and, most importantly, to make the changes necessary to place it at the service of the people, rather than allowing it to continue to prey on us.

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  • ECONOMICS

    Compound interest is the root of banks' evil

    • David James
    • 04 December 2018
    7 Comments

    The problem goes much deeper than a few crooked operatives and it will not be fixed by changing the corporate 'culture'. The fundamental evil is the arithmetic of compound interest. Interest on debt rises exponentially, while economic activity is linear. That means that sooner or later those in a weaker position are unable to pay.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    A Migrant and Refugee Week stocktake

    • Carolina Gottardo and Nishadh Rego
    • 20 August 2018
    13 Comments

    This remarkable policy of what Dr Eve Lester calls 'planned destitution' combines the most extreme instincts of neoliberal, nationalist and authoritarian thinking. Fundamentally, it derives from the Minister for Home Affairs' far reaching powers to determine the rights and entitlements of non-citizens such as people seeking asylum.

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