Insights

Glenn Stevens has become the latest central bank governor to acknowledge the rise of bitcoin and the potential for speculative problems with the virtual currency.

Westpac chief executive Gail Kelly has backed Glenn Stevens' campaign to talk down the Australian dollar, saying the high currency continued to obstruct the expansion plans of many businesses.

Regional NSW carrier Brindabella Airlines is feared to be in a precarious financial position now that eight of its 10 aircraft are grounded by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority for maintenance reviews.

The telecommunications industry is bracing for more changes to the regulations surrounding the national broadband network, after the company overseeing construction proposed a significant rethink of the $41 billion project.

Against the backdrop of surging domestic gas prices, independent explorer and producer AWE has attracted takeover interest, prompting a trading halt on Friday after it received a "non-binding and conditional" merger proposal.

'When I was a lad", confided an old-timer many years ago to your humble essayist, "we used to like American cars and European women. But the young people these days" - he shook his head - "they like European cars and American women."

Calls for a lower dollar by the RBA governor are taking effect, writes Glenda Kwek.

Despite a relief rally on Friday, local shares fell over the past week as speculation increased that the US Federal Reserve might start to cut stimulus next week.

Gold prices fell sharply early on Friday as upbeat US retail sales data boosted the American dollar and stoked expectations that the Federal Reserve could reduce its bond-buying stimulus soon.

The Abbott government clocks up 100 days since its September 7 election win on Monday. It was sworn in on September 18. The 100-day window on that measure passes on December 27 by my count.

We are nearly at the end of a crucial year in our history. The issues that face us seem to be mounting and there is a constant and overriding concern about leadership.

Figures for the economy's productivity performance haven't looked good for the past decade, causing consternation among economists and business people. But a careful study by the Productivity Commission has failed to find any particular problem, nor anything we could do to make the figures look better.

Drink boating blitz

Australian-designed, the clever Quickboat is making waves worldwide. We finally got our chance to test the folding craft on Pittwater last weekend.

There is an old management joke that when a new CEO takes a job, the predecessor hands over three envelopes to open when things go pear shaped. In the first envelope the message reads "blame your predecessor". The second letter reads "announce a reorganisation", and if that doesn't work reach for the third envelope, which advises "prepare three envelopes".

Almost 50 years ago Toyota bought the land in Altona, west of Melbourne, it now uses to produce more than 100,000 cars annually. Yet the Japanese car maker didn't open a manufacturing facility there until 1978, instead relying on a partnership with Australian Motor Industries to assemble vehicles in Port Melbourne.