EDITORS' PICKS

Dozing through an IR nightmare
Alan Kohler
The government's review of the Fair Work Act won't involve consultation with business, meaning the legislation's failings on flexibility and productivity will go untended.

Tracking NewSat's satellite ambitions
Robert Gottliebsen
Australia's NewSat is set to play a key role in the Asian/Middle Eastern satellite communications industry, but it must first shore up its financing.

What's in store for retail?
Stephen Bartholomeusz
As retailers battle against a storm of cyclical and structural challenges, the shift in shop-front and online strategies may shake up their landlords' business model sooner than expected.

ANZ's silver lining in Europe
Stephen Bartholomeusz
It's been obvious for some time that European banks would need to ditch non-core assets but there's been surprisingly little activity on that front. In a boon for ANZ, that may be about to change.

LUNCH WITH MALEY: Peter Hunt's social vision
Karen Maley
The Caliburn co-founder discusses the social challenges of our times, investment banking's distorted focus on short-term profits and how government red tape is stifling the not-for-profit sector.

Europe's prophet of doom
Karen Maley
Eurozone leaders no longer have the luxury of time, according to Dominique Strauss-Kahn, with the region possibly just weeks away from catastrophe.

Disposable house price myths
Christopher Joye
Australian households in 2011 have more income left over after mortgage repayments than at any other time since 1985. On this basis, housing affordability has never been better.

A new age of deleveraging
Steve Keen
Bank of Canada's Mark Carney may well be the first OECD central bank governor to acknowledge the inevitability of debt defaults, but his models understate the problem.

A wild forecast for Euro pain
Oliver Marc Hartwich
Europe looks set for another year of turmoil, filled with glimmers of hope followed by despair, and it will continue until politicians concede the euro can't be saved.

TECHNOLOGY SPECTATOR: Sending the wrong NBN message
Paul Budde
The current political debate on the NBN is mired in miscommunication and a misplaced focus on costs rather than the benefits of the network.

CLIMATE SPECTATOR: Why Durban matters
Andrew Light
Those who say Durban climate talks were a failure are missing the big picture: it advanced several substantive agreements that together can make a critical impact.

Taking a shot of Christmas courage
Christopher J Tipler
No force in business is as powerful or pervasive as fear. Rather than papering over this, we can learn to bring fear to the surface and embrace it.

Coke shakes up a household name
Daniel Palmer
A social media frenzy has Coke confident its latest marketing campaign may be one of its best ever, but what makes it so successful?

Management: 10 breakthrough decisions of 2011
Caleb Samson
From the Centro directors ruling, to the return of Mark McInnes and the Qantas grounding, we look back at this year's seminal management decisions.