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Created
Thu, 24/03/2022 - 18:25

Overwhelmingly, Australia’s top economists would rather the budget funds measures to cut carbon emissions than cuts income tax or company tax.

They are also dead against rumoured cuts to petrol tax and the tax on beer.

The Conversation’s pre-budget survey of a panel of 46 leading economists selected by the Economic Society of Australia finds almost half want a budget deficit smaller than the A$99.2 billion expected for 2021-22 and the $98.9 billion forecast for 2022-23 in the December budget update.

Created
Thu, 24/03/2022 - 05:01
I’ve written the guest editorial for a special edition of the International Journal on Homelessness. The guest editorial provides a general overview of homelessness in Canada (and I believe it serves as a helpful stand-alone reading for practitioners, researchers, students and advocates). My guest editorial can be found here (in English): https://ojs.lib.uwo.ca/index.php/ijoh/article/view/14810/11659 My guest editorial can be found here (in [...]
Created
Wed, 23/03/2022 - 18:20

The biggest question relating to the management of the economy right now has nothing to do with next week’s budget. It has everything to do with the Reserve Bank and the board meetings that will follow it.

The question facing the board – the biggest there is when it comes to how the next few years are going to play out – is whether to hike interest rates just because prices are climbing.

On the face of it, it seems like no question at all. It is widely believed that that’s what the Reserve Bank does, mechanically. When inflation climbs above 3% (it’s currently 3.5%) the board hikes interest rates to bring it back down to somewhere within the bank’s target band of 2-3%.

Created
Sat, 19/03/2022 - 16:26
At long last, the much delayed Data Extract 250/251 double issue has been released! DWCA committee members have packaged it all up for the post and it will arrive in the letterboxes of club members this week. Make sure your membership is up to date so you don’t miss out! The double issue includes an exclusive interview with Katy Manning on her long connection to Australia, Pete McTighe takes us behind the scenes on the short films made for the Blu-ray collection releases, it has a tribute to Louise Pajo (Gia Kelly from The Seeds of Death), written by her… Continue reading
Created
Sat, 19/03/2022 - 06:39
Liabilities denominated in foreign currency have established a permanent role on emerging market firms' balance sheets, which implies that changes in both global liquidity conditions and in the value of the currency may have a long-lasting effect for them. In order to consider the financial conditions that may encourage (discourage) structural change in a small, open economy, we adopt the framework put forward by the "monetary theory of distribution" (MTD).
Created
Thu, 17/03/2022 - 21:26

There was that huge curved ball that CBS/Paramount bowled late last year when they removed Star Trek Discovery from Netflix just days before it was due to premiere. The press release was a classic example of working to the rules of positivity when a more empathic approach was needed for an action that affected every fan who didn't live in North America. The bottom line was "No more new Star Trek until your country gets Paramount+ as a streaming service. 

Created
Thu, 17/03/2022 - 12:12
I was asked by John who runs the @Bionic_Tweets Twitter account. He'd seen my work and wanted me to produce some annuals featuring popular characters from the TV shows 'The Six Million Dollar Man' and 'The Bionic Woman' for the Christmas period. We settled on four titles featuring 'Oscar Goldman' (the non-bionic boss of lead characters Steve Austin and Jaime Sommers), 'Bigfoot' (a space android disguised as the legendary US crypto-beast Sasquatch), the 'Fembots' (android doppelgangers used to infiltrate whatever the script writers deemed interesting that week... and inspiration for the villains of the same name in the Austin Powers movies) and, last but by no means least, Max the Bionic Dog (the fence and shark jumping German Shepherd looked after by Jaime Sommers). 
The covers used some lovely hi-res photographs from the series and I was able to create some designs that had a colourful feel for the period.