EDITORS' PICKS
In this week's essential reading guide Kohler sifts through China's 12th five-year plan, Gottliebsen laments Canberra's approach to climate change policy, Bartholomeusz reveals a Wayne Swan fib and Maley watches on as PIMCO abandons US bonds.
Rupert's online reckoning
Alan Kohler
After championing lowbrow journalism for so many years, Rupert Murdoch's conversion to the cause of paid-for quality journalism is not so much irony as a decision, knowingly or not, to forgo influence for money
Keeping China in bloom
Alan Kohler
China's 12th five-year plan is a devastating assertion of economic strength. If they can pull it all off, and have a smooth transition of totalitarian power, it would be a miracle – but who's to say they can't do it?
Gillard's caught in Rudd's carbon trap
Robert Gottliebsen
If Julia Gillard wants her carbon plan to work, she must put a carbon tax on imports but leave exports alone. But that would be too logical for Canberra's bureaucracy, which clearly doesn't have the skills to organise a carbon scheme.
The threat of credit shock
Robert Gottliebsen
The worrying trends in business credit isolated by Dun & Bradstreet will not on their own reverse economic upturns. But if events turn nasty because of an adverse situation – like an oil shock – they will multiply the effects.
Swan's dubious credit claim
Stephen Bartholomeusz
It was NAB's decision to differentiate itself, not Wayne Swan's reforms, that sparked the latest round of banking competition. These so-called reforms are ad hoc, unnecessary and potentially quite damaging to banks and customers.
Rio Tinto's last stand
Stephen Bartholomeusz
Rio Tinto's final bid for Riversdale will almost certainly fall short of its minimum acceptance requirements. All Rio can hope is that the new terms put pressure on stubborn major shareholder, Tata Steel.
PIMCO pops Ben's bubble
Karen Maley
By dropping all US government-related debt, PIMCO's Bill Gross has put action to concerns that the QE program only covered up symptoms of a sick US economy and issued a vote of no confidence in Ben Bernanke's policies.
Awaiting another euro eruption
Karen Maley
Behind the bond market's growing concern about the debt levels of Greece, Spain and Portugal, is a growing recognition that the eurozone's approach to the debt crisis has failed and restructuring is inevitable.
CLIMATE SPECTATOR: No climate for fossil fuels
Giles Parkinson
While the Middle East unrest adds urgency to the low-carbon campaigns of China and the UK, other countries, like Australia, don't seem to be feeling the fear.
Why Australia's property pulse is threading
Steve Keen
Just as the rise in mortgage debt was what drove house prices up, its recent decline explains why Australian house prices are now falling – and why they've got further to drop.
New Zealand is in a dangerous debt spiral
Oliver Marc Hartwich
New Zealand is the one industrialised country that shows a debt profile similar to Europe's stricken PIGS. The recent earthquake will only worsen its problems.
Only carbon fools rush in
Ziggy Switkowski
As Australia's emissions strategy will have no environmental impact without a global agreement, the Gillard government should be focussing on technological outcomes that will prepare us for a low carbon economic future.
Can Abbott keep his carbon captures?
Alister Drysdale
Labor can expect a months-long voter backlash over its carbon tax initiative. But later in the year when the detail is released the landscape will alter. And that's where it gets interesting for the Liberals.
Alan Kohler
After championing lowbrow journalism for so many years, Rupert Murdoch's conversion to the cause of paid-for quality journalism is not so much irony as a decision, knowingly or not, to forgo influence for money
Keeping China in bloom
Alan Kohler
China's 12th five-year plan is a devastating assertion of economic strength. If they can pull it all off, and have a smooth transition of totalitarian power, it would be a miracle – but who's to say they can't do it?
Gillard's caught in Rudd's carbon trap
Robert Gottliebsen
If Julia Gillard wants her carbon plan to work, she must put a carbon tax on imports but leave exports alone. But that would be too logical for Canberra's bureaucracy, which clearly doesn't have the skills to organise a carbon scheme.
The threat of credit shock
Robert Gottliebsen
The worrying trends in business credit isolated by Dun & Bradstreet will not on their own reverse economic upturns. But if events turn nasty because of an adverse situation – like an oil shock – they will multiply the effects.
Swan's dubious credit claim
Stephen Bartholomeusz
It was NAB's decision to differentiate itself, not Wayne Swan's reforms, that sparked the latest round of banking competition. These so-called reforms are ad hoc, unnecessary and potentially quite damaging to banks and customers.
Rio Tinto's last stand
Stephen Bartholomeusz
Rio Tinto's final bid for Riversdale will almost certainly fall short of its minimum acceptance requirements. All Rio can hope is that the new terms put pressure on stubborn major shareholder, Tata Steel.
PIMCO pops Ben's bubble
Karen Maley
By dropping all US government-related debt, PIMCO's Bill Gross has put action to concerns that the QE program only covered up symptoms of a sick US economy and issued a vote of no confidence in Ben Bernanke's policies.
Awaiting another euro eruption
Karen Maley
Behind the bond market's growing concern about the debt levels of Greece, Spain and Portugal, is a growing recognition that the eurozone's approach to the debt crisis has failed and restructuring is inevitable.
CLIMATE SPECTATOR: No climate for fossil fuels
Giles Parkinson
While the Middle East unrest adds urgency to the low-carbon campaigns of China and the UK, other countries, like Australia, don't seem to be feeling the fear.
Why Australia's property pulse is threading
Steve Keen
Just as the rise in mortgage debt was what drove house prices up, its recent decline explains why Australian house prices are now falling – and why they've got further to drop.
New Zealand is in a dangerous debt spiral
Oliver Marc Hartwich
New Zealand is the one industrialised country that shows a debt profile similar to Europe's stricken PIGS. The recent earthquake will only worsen its problems.
Only carbon fools rush in
Ziggy Switkowski
As Australia's emissions strategy will have no environmental impact without a global agreement, the Gillard government should be focussing on technological outcomes that will prepare us for a low carbon economic future.
Can Abbott keep his carbon captures?
Alister Drysdale
Labor can expect a months-long voter backlash over its carbon tax initiative. But later in the year when the detail is released the landscape will alter. And that's where it gets interesting for the Liberals.
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