EDITORS' PICKS

Mourning Gillard's mining disaster
Alan Kohler
The mining tax was supposed to address the issue of a two-speed economy. Instead, the Labor government has had two cracks at it and somehow left everybody worse off.

Germany's inescapable surrender
Alan Kohler
Germany can protest euro printing as vehemently as it likes but in the end it will give in to necessity and become as enthusiastic as the US about money printing.

The sting in a China property tale
Robert Gottliebsen
As Chinese apartment buyers become thin on the ground in Australia, the risk is Sydney apartment prices will fall 10 per cent – and that's not where the damage will end.

One misstep to an Aussie banking calamity
Robert Gottliebsen
The freezing of Australia's access to global wholesale deposits could create a massive credit squeeze, triggering a feedback loop with damaging consequences.

A plum job for Westpac's wunderkind
Stephen Bartholomeusz
The appointment of Brian Hartzer to Westpac doesn't suggest Gail Kelly is going anywhere soon, but the bank now has a clear succession plan for when she does.

Bracing for a local credit shock
Stephen Bartholomeusz
While the potential exposure of Australian banks to the eurozone crisis has been widely discussed, less attention has been paid to the significant level of Australian corporate borrowings maturing in 2012.

Testing Germany's steely resolve
Karen Maley
Fears that the eurozone debt crisis will infect Germany are rising, but Berlin is steadfastly sticking to its hard line against eurobonds and greater ECB intervention.

The market's Spanish inquisition
Karen Maley
Mariano Rajoy may have won Spanish voters over with his tactic to avoid specifics on plans to boost the economy, but markets won't tolerate it for much longer.

Unions wrestle over a super pie
Rob Burgess
Even with the MRRT, it's clear that corporate Australia will be the key contributor to the compulsory super boost, so union demands for pay rises at the same time appear a bit rich.

MRRT cuts to the Constitution
Rob Burgess
The mining tax and its likely passing may be a precious victory for the Gillard government, but it has also set numerous precedents that further undermine the influence of the states.

Twisting the RBA's arm
Christopher Joye
The Reserve Bank's November cut showed that public opinion can have a real impact on rates, and it's clear that markets and politicians now smell blood.

Europe's hidden doomsday machine
Oliver Marc Hartwich
All eyes may be on the eurozone's spiralling sovereign debt crisis, but in the background a potentially more destructive balance of payments crisis is escalating.

CLIMATE SPECTATOR: BHP's Texan water torture
Giles Parkinson
BHP is busily trumpeting its $60 billion shale gas play in the US. But if this is a bet that Texas won't run out of water, the company's top brass may have to join one of Rick Perry's prayer meetings.

TECHNOLOGY SPECTATOR: Kurzweil's singular vision
Supratim Adhikari
Futurist Ray Kurzweil says innovation may be unpredictable, but technology is going to transform everything from manufacturing to human longevity. Meanwhile, on video, James Kirby discusses these ideas with Kurzweil.

China's lopsided balancing act
John Lee
Yesterday's local market sell-off betrayed a lack of understanding of the imbalances within China's economy, and the forces shaping its response to an exports decline.

On the verge of an IR deluge
Leon Gettler
Recent industrial disputes are just the beginning of a coming storm, with a review of the Fair Work Act due and a spate of enterprise bargain agreements expiring.