Cost-of-living pressures and the economy are critical issues in most election campaigns, and they certainly are in this one, argues聽William Briggs.
Economy
Alex Salmon reviews Thomas Piketty's new book, which argues for a world beyond capitalism.
French economist Thomas Piketty became something of a global phenomenon when Capital in the Twenty-First Century topped The New York Times鈥 Best Seller list in 2014. He has now produced a follow-up work, Capital and Ideology, writes聽Neville Spencer.听
As the urgency of climate action is once again reinforced by a by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, editor Ian Angus looks at seven new books for an ecosocialist bookshelf.
Below are five new books for the 鈥渆cosocialist bookshelf鈥 on climate change and human health, ecology and imperialism, environmental economics, capitalism and universities, and the meaning of hegemony.
They have been compiled by Ian Angus, the editor of , where this first appeared. Angus is the author of , which has just been published by Monthly Review Press.
To most South Australians, Labor Premier Jay Weatherill鈥檚 plan for a vast outback dump to host imported high-level nuclear waste is dead, needing only a decent send-off.
Nevertheless, the Premier keeps trying to resurrect the scheme. Why?
Substantial changes proposed for East Timor鈥檚 Petroleum Fund law will expose the nation鈥檚 finances to high risk and open the door to corruption.
Just a few years ago the fund was widely praised as a model of prudential and sustainable management, and a means of possibly escaping the 鈥渞esource curse鈥 of waste and corruption.
That is all about to change.
East Timor's AMP government, led by Xanana Gusmao, has a bill before parliament that removes most of the prudential controls on the fund.
The Republic of Ireland鈥檚 financial crisis, which has caused unemployment to rise from 4.3% in 2006 to 14.1% in October, has deep roots.
The conditions of the European Central Bank (ECB)/International Monetary Fund (IMF) 鈥渂ailout鈥 package for the Irish government will total 鈧85 billion 鈥 at a higher interest rate than that tied to the Greek bailout in May. It is tied to the Irish government carrying out huge government spending cuts, tax rises for workers and wage cuts for public sector employees.
Irish workers are being told to pay for a crisis they did not cause.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard knew just who she was talking to when she gave her address to the Australian Industry Group鈥檚 annual dinner on October 25.
The AIG and its affiliates represent more than 60,000 bosses, according to its website. This includes Veolia, the privatisation juggernaut.
But just so she didn鈥檛 rustle too many feathers, Gillard spoke to them in the kind of arcane riddles she hoped only they could understand.
The following statement was adopted by the Trade Union Climate Change Conference held in Melbourne on October 9.
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This conference of Victorian union activists and local climate activists commends the report by Beyond Zero Emissions and Melbourne University鈥檚 Energy Research Centre. The report outlines a technically feasible and economically viable way for Australia to transition to 100% renewable energy within 10 years.
The Australian dollar has become a favourite for international currency speculators. Fuelled by expectations of rising interest rates, the A$ has increased in value from US$0.82 in June, to almost $0.98 on October 12.
Some expect the $A could surpass the value of the US$ in coming weeks.
After a month of thundering that a rise in the official interest rate was close, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has kept interest rates on hold at its monthly board meeting on October 5.
Most financial commentators were betting on a rate rise of 0.25%, with banks expected to increase their mortgage rates by an even larger margin, despite their record profits, to account for higher costs of borrowing overseas. However, the dark financial clouds over Europe and the US appear to have put the kibosh on the financiers鈥 party.
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