Episodes
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Journalist Ed Conway went on a journey to discover where the things we use in everyday life come from. He narrowed that search down to six vital materials: sand, salt, iron, copper, oil and lithium. These materials, he says, are like a gateway allowing us to see the spectrum of different things around us that really do matter. These materials from the ground that have enabled us to connect with each other, to provide energy and make machines.
Guest:
Ed Conway, Economics and Data Editor of Sky News and columnist for The Times and Sunday Times. He is the author of:
Material World: a substantial story of our past and future published by Penguin.
Credits:
Presenter: Richard Aedy
Producer: Kate MacDonald
This program was first broadcast on 15th February, 2024
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After nine terrific years explaining how the economy and everything in it works, Richard Aedy looks back at the highlights of the decade as well as Australia's economic future with Danielle Wood, Chair of the Productivity Commission.
Guest - Danielle Wood, Chair of the Productivity Commission
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The NDIS is vitally important, but because it was not designed to do everything, there are many areas where disabled Australians need more philanthropic support, assistance for those who want to start their own businesses or enjoy easeful, diverse travel experiences.
A story for IDPWD (International Day of People with a Disability) 3rd December
Guests:
Simon Darcy, Professor of Management, UTS Business School
Emma Dawson, Executive Director of PerCapita
Kirsty Nowlan, Executive Director of The Achieve Foundation
Lorna Hallahan, Associate Professor at Flinders Uni and non-executive board member of The Achieve Foundation
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Not many of us care for Mondays, and statistically it really is the most dangerous day of the week as opposed to Black Friday where the biggest danger is watching your money disappear.
Guest:
Fleur Brown from the Australian Retailer's Association
Milad Hagani from the University of NSW
Also, why are we not spending more on upskilling and training our workforce?
Andrew Barker Head of Research at CEDA
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Germany's economic dominance as Europe's biggest economy is in danger. A new book argues that the weaknesses have been brewing for decades, leaving Germany over-reliant on Russian gas, too focused on old industries and unable to adapt to the digital realities of the 21st century.
Guest: Wolfgang Munchau, former Financial Times associate editor, and author of Kaput: The End of the German Miracle, outlines the myriad economic problems and a possible way out.
Kaput will be published by Allen and Unwin on February 4, 2025
And the Federal Government has decided to mandate keeping cash available for essential business, but this will come at a cost to small business.
Guest: Steve Worthington, Professor at Swinburne University of Technology
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Donald Trump's economic agenda is clear: less taxation and regulation; more tariffs. But some of his programs will require a lot of money, which means America will need to borrow more. Those borrowings and the impact of tariffs will affect small, open trading economies, like Australia.
Guests
Professor Susan Stone, Credit Union SA Chair of Economics, University of South Australia
Win-Li Toh, Principal, Taylor Fry
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Australians fork out much more on dental care than any other kind of health care. Which is why increasingly, people are delaying or skipping dental care, and 27% of kids aged between 5 and 10 had untreated decayed or missing teeth.
So should, or could dental care be brought under the Medicare umbrella, and what might this cost?
Guests:
Peter Breadon, Program Director for Health and Aged Care at the Grattan Institute
Dr Angie Nisson, Board Member of the Australia Dental Association and Clinical Director of Oral Health in Northern NSW
Dr Elizabeth Deveny, CEO of the Consumers Health Forum of Australia
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One of the factors determining how people vote is the economy, and while America's is doing incredibly well right now, consumer confidence has slumped and most Americans are not feeling at all happy.
Guests:
Betsey Stevenson, Professor of Economics and Public Policy at the University of MichiganRobert Armstrong, US Financial commentator at the Financial TimesChristopher Rugaber, covers the US economy and Federal Reserve for Associated Press -
There's a seismic change heading our way that will drive up electricity and water usage and it has to do with the uptake of generative AI, including Chat GPT.
Giant tech companies are investing in nuclear power for their AI-fuelled race, however data centres also need clean, drinking-quality water.
Guests:
Ben Geman, energy reporter at Axios.com and the author of the daily Axios Generate newsletter, covering the world of energy business and politics.
David Berreby, science writer based in New York
Gordon Noble, Research Director, Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney
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Obesity and associated health problems cause a significant burden on health systems, but should weight-loss drugs be offered under our PBS just for weight loss?
In Britain, there is to be a trial of the weight loss drug Mounjaro, that will also seek to measure the economic impact of those benefits. Britain's Health Minister argues that weight loss drugs will be '"life-changing, help them get back to work and ease the demands on our NHS".
Guests:
Dr Norman Swan, co-presenter of ABC Radio National's Health Report, and the podcast 'What's That Rash?'
Jonathan Karnon, Professor of Health Economics at Flinders University
Nial Wheate, Pharmaceutical Chemist and Professor of Academic Excellence at Macquarie University
And the Albanese Government this week announced a crack down on unfair and excessive card surcharges, promising to get a better deal for Australians and small business. The declining use of cash and the rise of electronic payments means more Australians are getting hit by often hidden surcharges.
Guest:
Brad Kelly, Co-founder of the Independent Payment Forum
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The continuing wars in Ukraine and the Middle East have horrified the world with the loss of life and devastation, raising the question, what's the cost of weaponry? World military expenditure surpassed $US2.44 trillion for the first time in 2022.
Latest available figures show at $US916 billion, the US spends the most and it's also the world's largest exporter of weapons. Also US spending on Israel's military operations and related US operations in the Middle East this year total $22.76 billion, and that is only a partial figure. So how are some of these sums broken down?
Guests:
William Halsortung, Senior Research Fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, and author of Prophets of War: Lockheed Martin and the Making of the Military Industrial ComplexSiemon Wezeman, Senior Researcher in SIPRI's Arms Transfers Program. (Stockholm's International Peace Research Institute)Dr Marcus Hellyer, Head of Research at Strategic Analysis Australia -
In a new economic analysis of religions, Paul Seabright argues that religions are not the antithesis of economics, instead he likens them to competing businesses, attracting people by providing services such as community and a greater sense of meaning in life.
The Divine Economy, published by Princeton University Press
Guest:
Paul Seabright, teaches economics at the Toulouse School of Economics. Prior to that he was a Fellow of All Souls College at the University of Oxford. -
Australian's love affair with paying by card - and not cash - has now surpassed 90% of transactions. And each time we tap our card, the merchant incurs a cost that's passed onto you, the customer, to the tune of billions of dollars a year.
So who gets the money? As part of a Review of Retail Payments Regulation, the RBA is expecting the industry - the banks, card companies and payment terminal companies - to cut processing costs by using what's called 'least cost routing'.
Brad Kelly, Managing Director of Consulting Company, Payment ServicesWes Lambert, CEO of the Australian Restaurant and Cafe AssociationThe ACCC is seeking significant penalties for Coles and Woolworths in the Federal Court, alleging they systematically misled customers with their 'Prices Drop' and 'Down Down' claims.
Neil Rechlin, Partner at NextGen Group -
The recent Senate Economics Reference Committee chaired by Andrew Bragg, delivered an extremely critical report on the performance of the corporate regulator, ASIC. It was recommended that the Australian Securities and Investments Commission be split into two bodies to address a perceived lack of competence.
Guests:
Andy Schmulow, Associate Professor in the School of Law at the University of WollongongDr Jason Harris, Professor of Corporate Law, Interim Deputy Dean and Interim Deputy Head of School at the University of Sydney Law SchoolWhat's our environment worth? In 2025, the ABS will release its first set of national data to measure the value of our ecosystems, across terrestrial, freshwater and marine realms.
Guest:
Penny Johnson, Head of the Centre of Environmental Accounts at the Australian Bureau of Statistics -
Treasurer Jim Chalmers recently said that 'high interest rates had smashed the economy'. And the Albanese Government has been set on driving through changes recommended in last year's independent review of the RBA - the biggest overhaul of the Reserve Bank in decades. But after the LNP withdrew its support for reform, Labour is now looking to the Greens.
So how will we know whether the RBA is doing a good job or not?
Guests:
John Simon, former Head of Economic Research at the Reserve Bank, now Adjunct Professor at Macquarie UniversityJohn Quiggan, VC Senior Fellow in Economics at the University of QueenslandAnd how much pocket money are children getting these days?
Guest:
Matthew Bowen, Head of Consumer and Marketing Insights, ING Bank of Australia -
Free to air TV was once the only place to watch your favourite football match, but that could change as streaming services and tech companies now compete for sports media rights.
Sports bodies sell their rights to broadcasters, who then sell advertising slots or subscriptions, so the clubs and athletes get paid. While this mostly remains the case in Australia, the global value of these rights will this year surpass $US 60 billion with Amazon Prime, NBC and ESPN joining up for the rights to both men's and women's basketball.
Guests:
Minal Modha, Head of Sport at research firm, Ampere Analysis
Ben Strauss, Sports and Media Reporter at The Washington Post
David Rowe, Emeritus Professor of Cultural Research at the University of Western Sydney
Tim Burrowes, publisher of the media and marketing industry newsletter, Unmade.
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We're almost a quarter of the way into the 21st Century and already it's clear money has changed.
It's increasingly mobile. It's (relatively) cheap and more and more digital. Economist Richard Holden is charting the changes.
Guest: Richard Holden, Professor of Economics at the University of NSW Business School
Author of "Money in the 21st Century; Cheap, Mobile, and Digital' published by University of California Press.
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It is a bird? Is it a plane? Well, yes, it is a plane, but it's also something much more.
We all know that airlines fly passengers and freight around the country and the world. But they're also like banks, and data collecting businesses. And that's because of the growing importance of their frequent flyer programs. Though you no longer need to fly to gain points. As customers we're not sure what these points are worth. But to the airlines, loyalty programs are so lucrative that they are a core part of their business.
Guests:
Katharine Kemp, Associate Professor at UNSW Law and Justice
Daniel Sciberras, Editor in Chief at Point Hacks
Ganesh Sitaraman, Professor of Law at Vanderbilt University and author of Why flying is miserable and how to fix it, published by Columbia Global Reports
Leona Tam, Professor at UTS Business School.
This program is repeated from March, 2024
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During RN's Science Week we focus on the business of space and the new global race to put people on the Moon. The space economy is predicted to be worth $US1.8 trillion in ten years time and one of the first steps is the construction of a Lunar Gateway, serving as a pathway to Mars.
So what are the likely benefits for us on earth from this re-energised space race?
Peggy Hollinger, Space Industry Editor for the Financial TimesProfessor Anna Moore, Director of the ANU's Institute for SpaceRyan Brukardt, Senior Partner in Global Management Consulting at McKinsey and Co -
The Paris Olympics were designed to be 'infrastructure light' to avoid outlandish construction costs, yet the overspend is estimated at $US1 billion.
Since the 2016 Rio Olympics' budget overrun by 352 per cent, many cities withdrew their bids in the face of strong public opposition. So should Olympic Games be held in one permanent location every four years? And how are plans for Brisbane's 2032 Olympic Games progressing?
Andrew Zimbalist, Professor of Economics at Smith College, Massachusetts. Author of Circus Maximus and Boston Olympics: How and Why Smart Cities Are Passing on the TorchMichael Bleby, Deputy Property Editor at the Australian Financial Review - Show more
